Birds hope new guys build character, not just a roster
PHILADELPHIA >> Players, not personalities win football games.
The Eagles meticulously drafted players with understated personalities that seem to suit the culture they’re building with Carson Wentz.
Start with first-round draft pick Derek Barnett, who should see considerable action rushing off the edge in all of those sub packages the Eagles play extensively.
Barnett (6-3, 259, 4.88 in 40) doesn’t have the height, weight and speed measurable. The Eagles see him as a worker among workers, a guy who gets energized being part of a team. They were impressed by the cover letter he wrote to all of the NFL teams for the Players Tribune.
Barnett described his experiences at Tennessee and the love he has for his mother, who sometimes worked three jobs. He stuck the landing on the ending.
“Right now, you might know me as the kid who broke Reggie White’s sack record at Tennessee,” Barnett wrote. “But that’s not the only thing I’m going to be remembered for by the time I leave this game. “I promise you that.” Barnett has his work cut out, that’s for sure.
Second-round draft pick Sidney Jones was a surprise pick for the Eagles, who were searching for immediate help at cornerback. A gruesome torn Achilles’ tendon suffered at his pro day knocked him out of the first round. Eagles scouting director Anthony Patch was at the workout. He was the only scout who sent Jones a “get well” letter that was well received.
The Eagles rolled the dice with Jones, with the aid of positive medical reports. Every injury is different and there’s no way of predicting how Jones will respond, although the Eagles think he’ll be as good as he was before the tear. They’re OK if he doesn’t play in 2017. They also said they didn’t think Jones would have lasted to the third round.
To help keep Jones comfortable, and to add depth at defensive tackle the Eagles selected his Huskies teammate, Elijah Qualls, in the sixth round.
“I consider Sid like one of my little brothers,” Qualls said on a conference call. “I took him under my wing when he first got to Washington. I didn’t have to teach him much but I just kind of helped him grow into his role and just made sure he knew he had somebody up here. Same for me. We are kind of similar. We don’t get out of our apartments much, honestly. But I know that if I ever needed to call somebody, I can call him and he would pick up and do anything he can for me.”
Fast forward to cornerback Rasul Douglas (62, 209), who intercepted eight passes last year for West Virginia.
East Orange. N.J. product Douglas spoke of sleeping on floors and ordering off the dollar menu at McDonald’s during junior college.
“You order five things and you eat two of them at 12 o’clock and you save the other two for later on in the day,” Douglas said.
Pro football was the last thing on his mind until Douglas got to West Virginia, where it came together last year. Coincidentally, perhaps, he has a lot of Mountaineers company with the Birds. The list includes running back Wendell Butler and Shelton Gibson, a deep threat who caught 17 touchdown passes over the past two seasons. Gibson is a fifthround pick.
“We had the last class of the day together before every practice,” Douglas said. “So we’ll talk to each other and then as soon as practice comes, we hate each other … Very competitive.”
Gibson figures he would wind up with the Eagles even if they didn’t draft him. After his trip to Philly he felt it was the place to be if he had to take the priority free agent route.
“Coming up there on a visit, knowing Wendell,” Gibson said on a conference call. “And now it’s the chance to go and be with Rasul and compete with him, I know he’s going to make me better, just like I’m going to make him better in practice every single time.”
Fourth-round pick Mack Hollins (6-4, 221) set the North Carolina career record with a 20.6 yardsper-catch average, having worked his way up to a draft pick after arriving as a walk-on. The product of Rockville, Md. and Fork Union Military Academy likes football, fishing and exotic animals. He’s thinking about bringing his boa and python snakes along.
The Eagles felt Hollins was a bargain on the third day as he was coming off a broken collarbone.
He also has a “connection” with Wentz, who he played catch with through the sports agency they use.
“He is the type of quarterback where it’s almost like you don’t even have to catch the ball, he puts it where it needs to be,” Hollins said. “Immediately, you can kind of feel that connection with him. He is not a guy that’s going to alienate you or anything like that. He makes you feel comfortable. That was the first time we really threw together but he made me feel comfortable as a receiver, running routes with him and putting in some of the stuff he has been doing with the Eagles that I will obviously eventually be doing. Installing that with me and teaching me what I needed to do just for that throwing session, the connection was immediate, really.”
Eagles player personnel boss Joe Douglas is an unabashed fan of pint-sized running back Donnel Pumphrey, the Eagles trading up in the fourth round to secure the 5-9, 177-pound dynamo who set the NCAA FBS career rushing record with 6,405 yards. Pumphrey not only broke Marshall Faulk’s records at San Diego State, he’s the only player to collect more than 5,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in a career.
“Don’t let the size fool you,” Douglas said. “This guy, he’s a little dog that thinks he’s a big dog and he plays that way. I love the way he plays and I love how productive he is.”
Fifth-round pick Nathan Gerry (6-2, 218) of Nebraska was an elite sprinter in high school. He broke the South Dakota state record for the 100-meter dash, clocking a 10.3. If his research is right, he could be the first Sioux Falls product to reach the NFL.