Eagles Rookie Free Agent Signing Analysis

Eagles Rookie Free Agent Signing Analysis:

Best Defensive Signing:

Destiny Vaeao, DT – he had an okay senior year with 40 tackles, 12 for a loss, and 4.5 sacks. He

didn’t do much any other year. He is also athletic enough and strong enough to play the position. He is quick off of the snap and has a good pad level. Vaeao has a decent shot to make the team and contribute.

Best Offensive Signing:

Bruce Johnson, C – Johnson is probably athletic enough to play the position and tested well at the combine. He started his entire senior year at center and his offensive line was fifth in rushing offense and second in passing offense in 2014. The offense struggled in 2015, but Johnson still did a good job. He was given the Rimington Award as the best center in the FCS. He very well might make the team. He also has long arms at 33.50 which are the second longest for any center.

Other Singings:

Aziz Shittu, DE – Not strong enough to play DT at this point unless he comes in on third down in obvious pass situations. He also isn’t athletic enough to play end.  He does have long arms and some agility. He didn’t really come on until his senior year, but he had a decent year playing 60 percent of the time. He has a chance to make the team.

Connor Wujciak, DE – Needs to get stronger and will have to play DT. He has short arms, and comes off the snap high. He is pretty athletic but doesn’t explode off the line. Poor stats for his career, but did test well at the combine. He looks unimpressive on tape. He probably wont make the team.

Byron Marshall, RB – Looks very similar to Kenjon Barner and Wendell Smallwood, but he doesn’t look quite as good at cutting as Kenjon. He catches the ball well and went for over 1000 yards his junior year. He also rushed for 1877 yards and a 6.1 yard average during his career. It looks like he will be as likely as Smallwood to make the team, but smallwood does have a faster top speed. I’m still a bigger fan of KenJon Barner. He looks like he’s better than Smallwood and Marshall at this point. We should have drafted Jonathan Williams instead.

Hunter Sharp, WR – Doesn’t seem athletic enough to play WR in the nfl based on his measurable, but looks better on tape. His stats are mediocre. He’s also a body catcher and has some character issues. He will likely not make the team.

Quentin Gause, LB – His stats are not that impressive but he does have a lot of solo tackles. He has a few tackles for losses, but hardly any sacks or passes broken up. He tested well at the combine and had an excellent shuttle and cone. Made some nice plays on tape and has some speed. I’m concerned about his coverage ability because of the limited pbu. He does have a chance to make the team as a backup and special teamer.

C.J. Smith, CB – He comes from a small school, the same one as Carson Wentz. He had a good senior season with 16 passes broken up and 4 interceptions. His is probably not athletic enough to play cornerback and he isn’t big enough to play safety unless he puts on 20 lbs.  He definitely has hand skills though and has a shot to make the team.

Cedric O’Neal, RB – He had a thousand yards and a six yard average during his senior year. His measurable are at the lower acceptable level. He pretty good feet and can juke guys out with his lean. He isn’t super agile though. He has a little more power than Smallwood and Marshall, but nothing to write home about. He probably will not make the team.

Myke Tavarres, LB – He had excellent stats his senior year with 110 tackles 22.5 for a loss and 8.5 sacks. He didn’t test very well at the combine though and only weights 230 lbs. He ran a 4.8 40 and a 4.51 shuttle. Both are very poor numbers. He looks quicker than he tested on tape though. He has a shot to make the team.

Marcus Johnson, WR – He has very poor production and while his 40 time, verticals and broad jump are all very good. His shuttle and cone are bad. There is no tape, but he seems like a straight ahead guy who will have trouble cutting fast enough in his routes to get open. He will probably not make the team.

Eagles NFL Draft Grade

Eagles Overall Draft Grade: C Because of trade. (If we had these picks and didn’t trade it would be a B)

Carson wentz, QB- If we had the number two pick in the first place and wanted to make this pick it

would be a B. If we factor in the many picks that we gave up to trade up, then the pick would be a D. The reason the pick gets a D is because we already had two capable QBs. It doesn’t make sense to sign Bradford and Daniels to huge contracts if we didn’t have faith in them. If we were going to trade up we should not have signed Bradford.

Carson has potential. He is big, has a strong arm, and goes through his progressions well. He is athletic, but not super athletic. He played in the former 1AA level, which is below the top level of football. He also only started a year and a half. He could work out and if he does, it will be a good move. The odds of it working out are probably forty percent. If it doesn’t work out we will be hard pressed to be a good team since we lost so many draft picks.

Grade: B, if we didn’t trade up. Grade: D, since we traded up.

Isaac Seumalo, G – I like Isaac a lot. I hoped that we would be able to get him later in the draft though since he was originally projected to go in the 5th. He is one of the more athletic guards. He needs to get a little stronger, but otherwise he has good potential to start at guard in the near future. He could potential play tackle also since he has good feet and is athletic. He’s a little shorter than a lot of OTs, but he has good arm length.

Grade: A-

Wendell Smallwood, RB – On first inspection Wendell seems like he could be a good running back. He had 1,519 rushing yards and a 6.4 yard average. He also caught the ball well during his career and had 618 receiving yards in three years. He also has good measurable. A 4.42 and a 6.83 3cone. His other numbers are reasonable, but not great. Everything looks good until you put on his tape. He is a one speed player. If a hole is there he can go through it and he is reasonably fast. He doesn’t seem like a 4.4 player though. He isn’t very explosive through the hole either. He doesn’t have power and his lateral agility isn’t that impressive for being a smaller guy. He simply isn’t that impressive. He is pretty much the same running back as Kenjon Barner (the Eagles third RB), but he isn’t as fast or explosive and doesn’t cut as well. The Eagles missed out on DeAndre Washington earlier in the round which isn’t their fault, but Jonathan Williams was still available. He is better at cutting and quicker feet even though he weights 12 more pounds. He is more explosive and way more powerful. He doesn’t have the same top speed, but he will be a much better running back. Alex Collins was also a better back that was still available. Lastly, if we were going to take a running back that isn’t good, we should have taken Kentrell Brothers ILB.

Grade: D -

Halapoulivaati Vaitai, OT – I’m really wary about Halapoulivaati. He is big at 320 6’6, and he benches well, but he doesn’t have the core strength needed to play guard at this time. He could develop it so he has a chance to be a good Guard. He doesn’t seem to be athletic enough to play tackle and will get beat by speed rushers. There were times that he got destroyed by speed. His feet aren’t good enough to play tackle. He also plays with too high pad level, which will give him problems with bull rushers. He is taller than preferred to play guard, but it seems like he’s going to have to play guard. Lastly, he doesn’t get much push in the run game. He has potential, but I would have chosen Mortiz Boehringer WR or Elandon Roberts ILB.

Grade: C-

Blake Contess, CB – He has some potential. He seems to be athletic enough based on his measurable. His statistics are reasonable also. He is light though at 184 and isn’t great in run support since he takes bad angles and is weak. He will probably have to play nickel corner. If we didn’t trade up to take Wentz, I would have taken Brandon Allen QB here. We could have also considered Mitch Mathews WR or James Cowser LB.

Grade: B-

Jalen Mills, FS – He is athletic enough for Safety or even corner back. He has good size at 6 foot, but if he is going to play safety he should bulk up from his current 191 weight. He adds depth and has potential to be a slot corner back. He could play safety if he gets bigger and gets better against the run. For a seventh round pick he isn’t bad. We could have considered Dwayne Washington RB, or Aaron Green RB or James Cowser LB, or Tyler Matakevich LB here.

Grade: B+

Alex McCalister, DE – He has potential. He shows ability to rush the passer. He is much too small though to play DE right now. He needs to put on 20 lbs at least. He is athletic and could probably bulk up and keep his speed. He is a project with some upside. He had pretty good statistics for being a part time rusher. He simply needs to get much bigger and stronger. He also has some character concerns according to NFL.com I don’t hate the pick but once again I would have probably taken We could have considered Aaron Green RB, James Cowser LB, Scooby Wright III, or Tyler Matakevich LB here.

Grade: B+

Joe Walker, ILB – Joe has potential. He is athletic enough to play linebacker in the NFL. He has reasonable statistics, but nothing that impressive. On tape he seems to be athletic enough, but he takes bad angles and is fooled by jukes. He doesn’t seem that impressive on tape but there is limited tape. He has some potential for a 7^th round pick. I would have considered Aaron Green RB, Brandon Burks RB, James Cowser LB, Justin Zimmer DT, or Beau Sandland TE here.

Grade: B