Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Draft Visits Update

Posted March 29th, 2026 | Comments Off on Draft Visits Update

The draft is now less than a month away. Most of the work is done, but teams are still bringing players in for visits and/or meeting with them. Let’s talk about that and take a look at what info the visits give us.

Teams are looking for every possible edge when it comes to the draft. Every pick can be a franchise-changer, in a good or bad way. If you get the wrong guy, you’ve wasted a valuable resource and have a hole in your roster. If you hit a home run, you’ve got good young talent at a cheap price for four or five years. That’s invaluable. Just think about the Eagles getting Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in the same draft. That was huge.

Meeting with players is a way to get an extra bit of information. The scouts have already graded the players. This is a way to get a bit more info. Some visits are for medical reasons. The Eagles medical staff might want to get a better feel for an injury situation. There is also the benefit of getting a better feel for the prospect as a person. About a decade ago the Eagles brought in a prospect for a visit. He clashed with the assistant coach he met. The coach called Big Dom and told him to take the player right back to the airport. That meeting told the coach the player wasn’t right for the Eagles.

The scouting process has several layers.

Regular season games
Visits to the schools
All star games
Scouting Combine
Pro Days
30 visits / meetings

Scouts go to games and practices during the season to gather the bulk of the information. They do a lot of character research as well as tape study. They will talk to all kinds of people to get a feel for the prospect. This is mainly background info and not direct interaction with the players.

All star games used to be an important source of info for player/team meetings. That has changed in the last five years. The games now set up formal meetings so that every single player meets every single team. If you want to know if the Eagles met with someone at the Senior Bowl the answer is yes, all of them. The meetings involve mostly scouts. Some teams do send their coaching staff, but that is done less than in the past.

Combine meetings involve the head coach, GM and scouts. They are short meetings because there are 350 prospects and 32 teams. Teams can’t meet every player. The focus is often on underclassmen since the team didn’t scout them as thoroughly during the regular season and wasn’t able to meet them at an all star game.

Pro Days are important when you see members of the coaching staff involved. Area scouts and personnel people go to Pro Days as part of their job. It isn’t news that an Eagles scout was at the Miami Pro Day. That’s expected. It is newsworthy when DL coach Clint Hurtt is there. That shows special interest.

You will hear about players meeting with teams at their Pro Days. This can be a meeting to get some additional info on a player and show genuine interest. It could also be something as simple as a scout verifying a prospect’s phone number because he could be a UDFA target for the team and they want to be able to call him.

Here is what I’ve got listed so far. I’m not listing any all star game info because it doesn’t have the meaning that it used to.

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30 Visits

OG Vega Ioane – Penn State
OT Markell Bell – Miami
OT Travis Burke – Memphis
OT Max Iheanachor – Arizona State
TE Nate Boerkircher – Texas A&M
WR Omar Cooper – Indiana
WR Chris Bell – Louisville

ED Dani Dennis-Sutton – Penn State
ED Romello Height – Texas A&M
S Jalen Kilgore – South Carolina

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PRO DAYS

*** Clemson – DL coach Clint Hurtt was there
DL Damonte Capeheart
DL Peter Woods
ED TJ Parker
ED Cade Denhoff

*** Miami – DL coach Clint Hurtt was there
ED Rueben Bain
ED Ahkeem Mesidoor
DL David Blay

RB Deamonte Trayanum – Toledo – met with him at Pro Day

LB Scooby Williams – Texas A&M – met with him at his Pro Day

DT Jayden Loving – Wake Forest – met with him at his Pro Day

DT Josiah Green – Duke – met with him at his Pro Day

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SPECIAL INTEREST

LB Ernest Hausmann – Michigan – had dinner with him

TE Dae’Quan Wright – Ole Miss – virtual meeting

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What can we tell from the info above? The Eagles are focused on drafting an OT. I wrote about some of the prospects recently. Some people wondered about the wisdom of taking an OL early this year. Anyone who watched last year’s OL play should fully support adding line help. That was a bit of a worst case scenario with Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens and Lane Johnson all missing time or massively struggling due to injuries. All five starters are back this year and seem to be trending in the right direction health wise.

The reason you go for OL help in the draft is that you can’t find good OL help at the pro level without paying megabucks. You have to go to the draft to find players to bring in and develop. There is a shortage of good O-linemen in the NFL. And you can’t draft one player and assume the situation is fixed. You need to add multiple players and have them battle it out. First round pick Andre Dillard didn’t pan out for the Eagles, but seventh round pick Jordan Mailata did. Expect the Eagles to take at least two OL in this class.

The Eagles are checking out first round guys, but also looking at others in case they can’t land one they want at pick 23.

Howie wants to add a top talent behind Lane Johnson. He’s trying to make sure the Eagles have as many options as possible. It is ideal to add the player this year so he can be ready to take over for Lane when he finally does retire.

The Eagles are also focused on adding an edge rusher. Clint Hurtt went to those Pro Days to check out Bain, Mesidoor and Parker. The Eagles would have to trade up for Bain. Mesidoor could make it to 23. Parker should be there. Bringing in DDS and Height also tells us something. DDS had 8.5 sacks each of the past two seasons. Height had 10 sacks last season. It sure feels like there is an emphasis on production. There are some prospects who are disruptive, but don’t make as many plays (Keldrick Faulk). DDS and Howell made plays.

I was glad to see WR Chris Bell visited Philly. He had a great season, but tore his ACL in December. Bell would be good value in the second round. I’m sure the Eagles wanted to get a closer look at his knee to figure out if they’re comfortable with him.

Bell will remind you of AJ Brown in a couple of ways. Both have a similar size/build. Both can work the middle of the field because of their size and strength. Both have great RAC ability. I would love for the Eagles to get Bell in the second round.

Final note, the Eagles are looking at late round DTs with good athletic ability. They have a good DL already, but always want to find interesting depth pieces. It won’t shock me if they take a DL in the middle rounds. If that doesn’t work out, they’ll target some late gguys.

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Tackle Talk

Posted March 26th, 2026 | 3 Comments »

Les Bowen has covered Philly sports for a long time. He’s so old that he even pre-dates Brandon Graham coming to Philly and that’s really saying something. One of Les’s best attributes is that he can be one hell of a devil’s advocate. Les has been arguing with some fans on Twitter about the Eagles getting a good offensive tackle at pick 23.

Les is thinking the Eagles should be aggressive to get a top tackle and not just sit at 23 and see who drops there. He’s concerned the guys who would last to that point might not be adequate replacements for the great Lane Johnson. Let’s talk about this.

First, I like the OT class quite a bit. There will be a run on them in the first round, but I think the Eagles will have good options make it to pick 23. Here are some thoughts on the first round OTs.

Monroe Freeling – 6-7, 315 – Georgia – If you asked me which player had any chance of developing into a Lane Johnson type of player, Freeling is the guy. He is big, highly athletic and has a nasty streak. He has really good feet. The thing he’s missing is experience. He only started one season at UGA, playing LT. His potential is through the roof and that’s the reason I think he’ll go well before 23. If Howie is trading up for a tackle, this is the guy who could be worth it.

Francis Mauigoa – 6-6, 329 – Miami – 3-year starter at RT for the Hurricanes. Good pass protector. Has strong hands and quick feet. Even better as a run blocker. A bully who likes to put defenders on the ground. Will be a Top 10 pick. Could kick inside if a team prefers him at guard.

Spencer Fano – 6-6, 311 – Utah – 3-year starter, the first at LT and the last two at RT. Athletic OT who ran 4.91 at the Combine and has good feet. Also a good run blocker and physical player. Doesn’t have the longest arms (32 7/8) and some think he could be even better at guard than tackle. Daniel Jeremiah has him going 9th overall in his latest mock draft.

Caleb Lomu – 6-6, 313 – Utah – 2-year starter at LT. Good athlete and you can really see that in the run game. Does a good job of blocking on the move and getting to the second level. Also a good pass blocker. You can see his good feet on game tape and his Combine workout. Could go in the 15-25 range. I tend to think he’ll go before 23 because of his experience as a LT, which is such a critical position and it is so hard to find those guys.

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Here are the three OTs I think have the best chance of making it to pick 23.

Kadyn Proctor – 6-7, 352 – Alabama – The thinking last summer was that Proctor would have a great year and be a Top 10 pick. Didn’t happen. He was overweight and was inconsistent during the season. Proctor got in good shape for the Combine and had an excellent workout. Men his size shouldn’t move the way he did. He has good footwork for such a big guy. Proctor played LT for the Tide. The Eagles would move him to RT and have him learn behind Lane. Proctor could also help at OG if needed. He’s got the strength and power to play inside. He’s got tremendous potential and is the kind of prospect Howie loves to go after. I could see a small move up to get him.

Blake Miller – 6-7, 317 – Clemson – Daniel Jeremiah says that Ozzie Newsome used to tell his scouts you can’t go wrong hitting doubles. If you go for the home run, you may strike out (as Phillies fans well know). If you hit the double, you’re more likely to have a higher average. Proctor is a home run type. Miller is a double. He doesn’t have the potential to turn into a special player, but Miller has started 54 games in college. He has size, strength, footwork and good skills. This is a guy you could plug in at RT this season and he can play well for you.

Max Iheanachor – 6-6, 321 – Arizona State – Miller is the polished player, Iheanachor is the project. He grew up in Nigeria and doesn’t have a lot of football experience. That didn’t seem to limit Jordan Mailata, of course. Iheanachor did start for 2.5 years at RT for the Sun Devils. He played his best football in 2025 and earned a trip to the Senior Bowl. Iheanachor opened some eyes with his performance in Mobile.

He had a strong workouut at the Combine, running 4.91 and showing good footwork as you can see above. This is a big man who can really move. He has a real nasty streak. I think he is probably the guy who makes the most sense at 23. He can sit behind Lane and work on whatever issues the coaching staff thinks he needs to iron out. Iheanachor could kick inside to guard if there are injuries and he’s needed there.

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It is possible that all seven OT prospects are gone by pick 23. The Eagles are doing their homework on players who will be available on Day 2 in case of a worst case scenario. I feel strongly that the Eagles will be able to target one of the players above at 23. It isn’t likely that all of them are gone.

The real question is if Howie and the Eagles covet one of the prospects. If so, do they try to move up for that player. I think the cost for Freeling will be too high. Proctor could be the guy that they decide to go get at a reasonable cost.

The goal here is to find the RT of the future. Lane Johnson can’t play forever. I do think we need to be careful when talking about replacing Lane. He is the best RT that I’ve seen in the NFL. He will be a Hall of Fame player. You aren’t likely to replace him with anyone close to that level. But you also don’t need to. Seattle just won the SB with Abraham Lucas at RT, a former third round pick. He’s never even been a Pro Bowl selection. The Chiefs had the struggling Jawaan Taylor at RT for their SB win in 2023.

The Eagles need to find someone that can be a good starter. If the player develops into a star, that’s even better.

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