March 06, 2015
Last offseason, Chip Kelly visited 12 college pro days to get an extra look at some draft prospects. They were, in chronological order: Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Temple, Alabama, Louisville, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Navy, Penn State, and LSU.
The Eagles' top two picks were Marcus Smith (Louisville) and Jordan Matthews (Vanderbilt), who worked out in front of Kelly during that tour. The Eagles also reportedly targeted CB Kyle Fuller (Virginia Tech), WR Odell Beckham Jr. (LSU), ILB C.J. Mosley (Alabama), and S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (Alabama) in the first round, all of whom were also part of Kelly's Pro Day tour. In other words, evidence would suggest that Chip Kelly's whereabouts at Pro Days may mean something, except for when he visits Temple, in which case he simply has nothing better to do.
The first school on Kelly's road trip this year... Clemson. The two obvious players of interest at Clemson are speed rusher Vic Beasley and ILB Stephone Anthony.
Beasley is highly unlikely to fall to the Eagles at 20, if, you know, the Eagles don't trade up for Marcus Mariota. Beasley absolutely lit up the Combine with an extraordinarily impressive display of athleticism.
He also has 33 sacks the last three seasons in 34 games. Beasley could be a top 10 pick.
The more interesting prospect in terms of the Eagles' potential interest is Anthony. The Eagles reportedly dined with him:
Interesting note: Philadelphia Eagles had dinner with Stephone Anthony/LB/Clemson yesterday...more to come
— Tony Pauline (@TonyPauline) March 5, 2015
The Eagles' interest in ILBs is curious, considering they just traded for Bills ILB Kiko Alonso, they have a good young ILB in Mychal Kendricks, and they still haven't taken any action on DeMeco Ryans and his $6.9 million salary in 2015.
Tommy Lawlor of IgglesBlitz.com opined:
Anthony is one of the best ILBs in the draft. He should be a 2nd round pick.
I understand the need for depth, but Alonso and Kendricks are young ILBs. Can you really turn around and spend an early pick on another ILB?
The only way that makes sense is if Kendricks is traded.
Stay tuned.
Anthony has good size at 6'3, 243. You can read a scouting report on him here.
I'm sure Chip probably goes home in between trips, but...
This, per Tim McManus of Birds 24/7:
Todd Herremans is visiting the Colts today, per source.
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) March 6, 2015
Good for the ToddFather. The Colts would be a nice landing spot for him. As long as Andrew Luck stays healthy, the Colts are a Super Bowl contender.
So far this offseason, the Eagles have cut James Casey, Todd Herremans, Trent Cole, and Cary Williams. Obviously, they also traded LeSean McCoy. They've done this before. During the 2010 offseason, they either cut or traded the following players:
This was a question I got repeatedly on Twitter over the last day or so. It turns out that it was brought up by Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, via video:
Nonsense. Players care about one thing:
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
