July 29, 2015
As we come to the end of our Eagles rookie NFL player comparisons, we'll profile the Eagles' final pick, DE Brian Mihalik of Boston College, who the Eagles selected in the seventh round. Mihalik was by far and away the most difficult draft pick to match up with a current NFL player, simply because of his dimensions. Mihalik is 6'9, 302, which is a very tall, slender frame for a 3-4 DE.
There aren't many NFL players with a similar body. There's Arizona's Calais Campbell, who lists at 6'8, 300, but to compare Mihalik to Campbell would be entirely unreasonable, as Campbell had a very good college career and is among the best 3-4 DEs in the NFL. The other player who makes a lot of sense from a height-weight standpoint is the Titans' Ropati Pitoitua, who stands at 6'8, 298, but my buddy Tommy Lawlor of IgglesBlitz.com is already making that comparison for his piece the Eagles Almanac, so I won't duplicate that.
Otherwise, there isn't much left to choose from, in terms of tall, sleek interior defensive linemen with outstanding athletic ability. For Mihalik, we'll eschew our efforts to find a player who mirrors his body type / athletic measurables, attributes, and production like we did with the other Eagles rookies, and we'll make more of a general comparison.
The player he reminds me of, in terms of athletic upside is the 49ers' Lawrence Okoye, who is an elite athlete, and a former British track and field standout. Per Wikipedia (I know, sorry), Okoye is the British record holder in the discus event and had a promising career in junior rugby union. A comparison of their Pro Day measurables:
| Event | Lawrence Okoye | Brian Mihalik |
| Height | 6'6 | 6'9 |
| Weight | 304 | 302 |
| 40 yard dash | 4.84 | 4.89 |
| 20 yard dash | 2.75 | 2.76 |
| 10 yard dash | 1.67 | 1.70 |
| Bench reps | 30 | 23 |
| Vertical jump | 36" | 35.5" |
| Broad jump | 127" | 122" |
| 20 yard shuttle | 4.65 | 4.37 |
| 3 cone drill | 7.42 | 7.23 |
It's pretty remarkable that Mihalik's measurables compare that favorably with an elite athlete such as Okoye, especially at a height of 6'9. However, both guys are projects as football players.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
