The NFL Combine will begin next week. What prospects and drills should the Philadelphia Eagles’ fans be watching?
The Combine. Increasingly a televised, PR event, draft experts debate the value of the drills and what they reveal about prospects. Count me firmly among the Combine’s proponents. Getting measurements and precipitating athletic scores on all of the prospects comprises a significant part of each individual grade. Ultra-productive players must prove they have the physical traits to compete at the next level; natural athletes must demonstrate their football talent in positional drills.
Of course, you can also get a solid feel for a prospect’s athleticism from his tape. On-field chase downs correlate to 40 yard dashes; forklift blocks correspond to bench press reps; change of direction, to three-cone times.
And undoubtedly, play speed and athleticism matter far more than Combine speed and athleticism. Mind-blowing 40 times mean very little if a player can’t replicate that speed with shoulder pads and a helmet. But the Combine can help you identify those projects that can develop into football players with time and coaching.
However, in investigating a player’s athleticism on tape, an evaluator is more often than not left with a question or two. And, specifically in my process, that’s where the Combine is most valuable. It helps me answer those nagging athletic questions.
Each NFL staff will arrive at the Combine already armed with grades and notes on the prospects. They’ll be looking for players at certain positions to reach measurement benchmarks, like 33″ arms for tackles or 9″ hands for wideouts. They’ll keep an eye out for athletic diamonds in the late-round rough, to snag and develop. But they’ll also take an extra long look at those prospects who have desirable tape, but serious athletic questions to answer.
In this post, I’ll highlight 5 prospects in which I think the Philadelphia Eagles have a distinct interest, and who have questions to answer at the Combine this year.
Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford
I’m a huge McCaffrey fan, and I’m not friends with people who aren’t. He has absolutely everything you want as a running back: vision, patience, burst, open-field evasiveness, ball security, and a presence in the passing game as both a receiver and a blocker. He has a Round 1 grade from me, and I think he’s worthy of a Top-25 selection. His best fit? A West Coast offense, a la Doug Pederson.
The thing is, there are going to be plenty of running backs that are better athletes than McCaffrey. Players like Alvin Kamara and D’Onta Foreman, while not nearly the football players that McCaffrey is, will likely have more impressive Combine performances. McCaffrey has perfectly serviceable NFL burst, but Kamara’s likely more agile. His second-level speed is just fine, but Foreman’s speed/size ratio will tantalize those watching.
Philadelphia Eagles fans should actually hope that McCaffrey doesn’t have that impressive of a Combine performance. There is no doubt in my mind that McCaffrey can be a three-down player at the next level, but there will likely be greater value available for Philadelphia with their Top-15 selection. With a great Combine, McCaffrey could cement himself as a Round 1 pick, even despite the devaluation of running backs. It’s highly unlikely he would drop down to the middle of the 2nd, when the Philadelphia Eagles pick next.
But, if McCaffrey doesn’t stand out at the Combine, there’s a good chance he drops out of Round 1, and within striking range for Philadelphia. While there’s plenty of ball-carrying talent in the later rounds of the draft as well, McCaffrey is a game-changing prospect who, paired with a 1st-round wide receiver, could complete Philadelphia’s young offensive nucleus.
Joe Mathis, DE, Washington
Another important aspect of the Combine: medical rechecks. Those medical evaluations were actually the Combine’s original purpose. That’s why it was created.
Through the process, players have to go through multiple bone, muscle, and joint examinations with all 32 NFL teams. Every previous injury will be meticulously scrutinized numerous times over; MRI and X-ray images across multiple years will be distributed for further investigation; blood and urine tests will be taken.
Some players with injuries long-since forgotten will lose stock if the healing process didn’t go perfectly. Other players will learn about physical issues they didn’t even know they had. Even more still, like Joe Mathis, will have the opportunity to demonstrate that they have fully recovered from their in-season injury and can contribute at training camp.
Before electing to have season-ending surgery on his foot, Mathis strung together a solid senior campaign, with 7.5 tackles for loss and 5 sacks over 6 games. On his tape you see a complete edge defender against the run and the pass, a player just scratching the surface of his pass-rush potential, and a freak athlete.
If the Philadelphia Eagles believe in Mathis’ recovery, he’s a dynamic edge defender who could be had at a discount price due to his injury history. And if Mathis is behind in the healing process, he’ll fall even further down boards. Should the Eagles nab a hampered Mathis, DE Vinny Curry could start in the beginning of the season, while Mathis continued to heal without a timeline, entering the defensive end rotation only once healthy.
Damontae Kazee, CB, San Diego State
Kazee is one of my favorite under-the-radar prospects this year. An aggressive corner, he does bite too often on fakes and double-moves, but his ball skills rank among the top in this class. He plays with nice length and physicality in press, and with fluid hips and quick-twitch athleticism, he has potential as a boundary cornerback in the NFL. Watch him during the positional, change-of-direction drills for DBs. I expect him to shine.
But, of course, there’s a “but”. Kazee lacks the recovery speed of a true CB1. If he loses the battle at the line of scrimmage or gets swallowed up by a fake, he’s often burned over the top. This lack of speed will push him down draft boards everywhere.
However, teams with a rangy free safety (read: Rodney McLeod) have a better chance of playing with a slower corner on the edge. If Kazee can put a solid 40-yard dash out on the field (4.50-4.54 range) he has a chance as a CB1 in the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense. Honestly, I think Schwartz will love his competitiveness, his willingness in the run game, and his knack for finding the football regardless. The speed would just assuage my concerns.
If the Philadelphia Eagles draft Kazee, he’s likely the second CB they’ve taken, as he’ll go late Day 2/early Day 3. A Round 1 prospect, like Sidney Jones or Quincy Wilson, gets the start as CB1. Kazee plays opposite him, not required to track the opposing team’s WR1, but available to in a pinch. 2nd-year LSU product Jalen Mills moves into the nickel, where he belongs. And the Philadelphia Eagles’ league-worst cornerbacking core gets some desperately-needed help.
Curtis Samuel, RB/WR, Ohio State
Some of the most interesting storylines in every NFL Combine are those of positional switches (read: Jabrill Peppers). The big one that will matter to Philadelphia this season? Ohio State running back turned wide receiver Curtis Samuel.
Samuel played more as a ‘weapon’ than anything else in Ohio State’s offense. He took snaps out of the wildcat, received traditional hand-offs, ran reverses, and aligned as both a boundary and slot WR. Given his frame (5’11, 195 lbs), slot receiver projects as his best position in an NFL offense.
When watching Samuel’s tape for a wide receiver, it’s important to remember his lack of practice time at the position. While he regularly flashes the quick-twitch athleticism and route running of an NFL slot, his coverage diagnosis could go for some improvement. Furthermore, he rarely had to catch in traffic/through contact at Ohio State, and his hands betray him sometimes.
While the Combine won’t have him receiving in any sort of contact, he will have to run the gauntlet and catch passes while running routes with quarterbacks. Samuel’s stock can only go down, in my estimation. His athleticism and YAC ability surely makes scouts salivate as they watch his tape. But if he flashes poor hands during the Combine, teams could take a pass come draft day.
Some folks have likened Samuel to Kansas City WR Tyreek Hill, but I don’t know if Samuel has that sort of game-breaking speed (hey, watch his 40, too!). However, in Doug Pederson’s Andy Reid-esque offense, Samuel would likely serve a role similar to Hill’s. After cutting Josh Huff last year, the Eagles’ offense sorely lacked that dynamic element. Samuel could easily become the Philadelphia Eagles’ top option as a replacement, if he impresses at the Combine.
Carlos Henderson, WR, LA Tech
Listen, I promise you, the Carlos Henderson train will come hurtling out of the station post-Combine. Best to hop on now.
The Louisiana Tech product spent the majority of the year unknown among draftniks and bloggers, but has exploded onto the scene as of late. A YAC maven who rarely falls at first contact, he has the ability to climb the ladder and make contested catches, create separation with physicality at the line, and catch away from his frame. Dude’s a straight beast. He’s starting to show up at the tail-end of Round 1 mock drafts, and I expect those appearances in greater frequency as time continues. I haven’t finished his grading yet, but as of right now he’d come in at WR4.
Will Henderson have questions to answer at the Combine? Honestly, no. You can’t deny his long speed, lateral agility, and explosiveness when watching his tape. His jumps, short shuttle, and three-cone should rank among the best in the class, along with his 10-yard split in the 40. Strong Combine performances always help prospects make a little extra cash by boosting their stock, but nobody has as much to gain as Henderson. The word ‘meteoric’ come to mind.
Next: Should The Eagles Trade Matthews?
If the Philadelphia Eagles already have tabs on Henderson, they’ll watch solely to affirm their belief in his extraordinary potential. However, the increased buzz will likely make the buying price of Henderson higher and higher. Is he worth a selection at #15? Right now, I’ll take a pass. On a positive note, small-school WRs don’t have a great history in the making it into Round 1 unless they’re undeniably elite (e.g. Corey Davis). If Henderson slips into Round 2, every WR-needy team will try to pounce. Philly just has to hope to get there first.