NFL history is filled with terrific stories about undrafted players who went on to become superstars and Super Bowl winners. One of them _ Kurt Warner _ was even a Super Bowl MVP. This, of course, would be a good time for the Eagles to find one of those hidden gems.
Having used their first-round selection on a quarterback (Carson Wentz) they hope sits and learns this season and having made just one selection (offensive lineman Isaac Seumalo) in the first four rounds on a player who might actually help them this season, the Eagles desperately need to hit on one of the 16 undrafted free agents they officially revealed Thursday. That's something they have rarely done since Andy Reid's departure as head coach.
Reid and his band of talent evaluators never found an undrafted superstar, but they consistently signed solid contributors and were also fortunate and competent enough to inherit and develop a couple of terrific undrafted free agents in defensive tackle Hollis Thomas and tight end Chad Lewis.
The Eagles also traded for one of the greatest undrafted free agents in history during Reid's tenure when they got Jason Peters from Buffalo. That deal, of course, will go down as one of the best in team history.
The best of the Reid-era undrafted free agents included centers Hank Fraley and Jamaal Jackson, cornerback Rod Hood, wide receiver Greg Lewis, safeties Clinton Hart and Quintin Mikell, and defensive tackle Cedric Thornton.
Only Thornton, who left as a free agent to sign with Dallas this offseason, was signed during Howie Roseman's time as a general manager. The only other starting undrafted free agent signed during the Roseman era was offensive lineman Matt Tobin, who has made 20 starts at guard during his three seasons. The Eagles re-signed Tobin this offseason, but they also looked to replace him as a starter.
Fraley and Jackson allowed the Eagles to go nearly a decade without drafting a starting center and the team went to five NFC championships and a Super Bowl during that run. Hood developed into the Eagles' nickel cornerback in his second NFL season and held the position for three seasons before leaving as a free agent to be a starter with the Arizona Cardinals. With Hart filling in for Brian Dawkins, the Eagles went 9-1 on the way to the NFC championship game in 2003. Lewis, who is back as the wide receivers coach, stuck around for six seasons and was far more productive than former first-round pick Freddie Mitchell because he was also a valuable contributor on special teams.
Mikell, meanwhile, was by far the best of the Reid-era undrafted free agents, spending eight seasons with the team, including the final four as a starter. He played in the Pro Bowl and was named to a couple of all-pro teams. He, too, is back with the Eagles now as a sounding board for the current players, a role that used to belong to Harold Carmichael.
The first thing he should tell the incoming undrafted free agents is that Philadelphia is the land of opportunity.
In addition to having a dearth of picks in the first four rounds, the Eagles also invested some of their later-round picks in guys with sketchy pasts. Among them was fifth-round running back Wendell Smallwood, a true talent at West Virginia and perhaps a real find if he stays on the straight and narrow.
Still, the Eagles' depth chart at running back is thin on experience and durability, which could work out well for Oregon's Byron Marshall and Valdosta State's Cedric O'Neal, the two running backs among the 16 undrafted free agents the team announced Thursday. As well as Ryan Mathews ran last season, he still missed three games and averaged only 9.8 touches in the games he played. He's at the top of the depth chart. Darren Sproles is No. 2 and he'll be 33 next month. At best, he's a support player. His touches went up last season and his production went down. Kenjon Barner, third on the depth chart, has as much to prove as the three rookies who figure to be in training camp.
Of the two undrafted rookies, Marshall is the more interesting. The 5-foot-10, 205-pound back out of Oregon rushed for 1,038 yards and 14 touchdowns as a sophomore, then caught 74 passes for 1,003 yards and six touchdowns as a junior. He missed all but four games last season with a leg injury, which is probably why he was not drafted in the later rounds.
O'Neal had more dominant numbers, albeit at Division II Valdosta State, where he rushed for 4,145 yards and 49 touchdowns.
The closest thing the Eagles have ever had to a star undrafted free agent at a skill offensive position was Lewis, and even though the former tight end made three Pro Bowls and caught a couple of touchdown passes in the biggest playoff victory of this century, he was not a star.
So maybe this is finally the undrafted class that yields that hidden gem at a skill position. Regardless of the position, the Eagles need someone from this undrafted class to rise up and be a quality contributor. It is something that has rarely happened during Roseman's time as the guy making the final personnel decisions.
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