October 29, 2022
During the college football season each year, as long as you're watching the games, we point out five players each week to keep an eye on who make logical sense for the Eagles in the following year's draft.
Verse is a lesser known edge rusher in this draft cycle who transferred to Florida State from Albany after a 10-sack season a year ago. In his first year at FSU, Verse has 23 tackles, 4 sacks, and 8.5 tackles for loss in 6 games. A quick look at some highlights from his time at Albany:
And here is a breakout game this season against LSU:
Verse is a little bit of a late bloomer, but his burst at the snap gives him some intriguing upside. If he can continue to produce negative plays in the backfield this season, he can begin garnering some Day 2 consideration.
Penn State produces its share of athletes, and Strange is a tight end who should test well at the Combine. He lines up all over the formation, as an in-line TE, flexed out in the slot, and sometimes out of the backfield. At 6'3, 247, he's a little undersized, but he's a willing blocker both in the run game and in pass protection.
Strange is having a nice as a receiver, with 17 catches for 245 yards (14.4 YPC) and 4 TDs through his first 7 games.
As a redshirt freshman in 2020, Joseph picked off six passes in eight games. Here are all six, including an incredible one-handed pick while covering likely 2022 10th overall pick Garrett Wilson man-to-man in the red zone:
Joseph followed up his stellar 2020 season with 79 tackles and 3 INTs in 2021.
Joseph is highly intelligent both on the field and off of it, as he was recruited by Harvard, Penn, Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Cornell, among other schools known more for their academics than their football programs. He originally played at Northwestern for three seasons before transferring to Notre Dame in January.
Though there are some tackling concerns that need to get cleaned up, Joseph is an instinctive safety with deep zone coverage chops, which should translate well to the Eagles' defense.
It's crazy how good Georgia's defensive front was a season ago, with Travon Walker, Jordan Davis, and Devonte Wyatt all being taken in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Carter has virtually no production so far this season (5 tackles in 5 games), partly as a result of an MCL injury, and he is still being thought of by some as a better prospect than any of those three 2022 first-rounders, including Walker, who was the No. 1 overall pick.
Carter has a extremely impressive blend of quickness, power, change of direction, and hustle.
The concern with Carter is going to be his lack of experience, as he was a rotational player in Georgia's stacked defense until this season. When he returns from his MCL injury (he may not play against Florida), he'll have a chance to put some of those concerns to bed, but he is a lock top 10 pick regardless, pending unknown personality or long-term injury concerns.
In the Eagles' defense, Carter would be a natural replacement for Fletcher Cox.
The Eagles love them some versatile offensive linemen, and Wright is certainly that, as he has started games at Tennessee at LT, RG, and RT. He is currently Tennessee's starting RT, and he put #DraftTwitter on notice with a dominant performance against Alabama.
Tennessee RT Darnell Wright had a monster game vs Alabama by my count:
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 18, 2022
26 reps in pass protection that resulted in a 1 on 1 with 31, 15 or 41
22 were clear wins
Missed 2 slants & a twist, lost inside on another rep & got OG help
He had 17 wins 1 on 1 vs 31
The reference to "31" is Will Anderson, to be clear. Wright can pass protect, he can mash in the run game, and watch the athleticism here:
Love this rep from the right side of the @Vol_Football offensive line. Great finish from Darnell Wright! pic.twitter.com/zWis1jwvnN
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) September 19, 2022
Isaac Seumalo's long-term Eagles career is in question, as he is scheduled to become a free agent next offseason. Wright would make some sense as a "RG of the present, RT of the future," kind of like what the plan was for Shawn Andrews once upon a time.
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