May 05, 2016
Because they had to cut a number of players to make room for their rookie draft picks and undrafted free agents, it took the Eagles until five days after the draft's conclusion to announce their undrafted free agency signings. Today, they finally announced the new guys.
We had previously analyzed each of the reported signings last weekend, which we'll copy and paste here for your convenience.
The Eagles' list of undrafted free agents this season looks fairly promising. Here is the full list, with CBS' prospect ranking at the right of the graph below.
Player | Position | School | CBS Rank |
Darrell Greene | OG | San Diego State | 211 |
Connor Wujciak | DT | Boston College | 239 |
Aziz Shittu | DT | Stanford | 315 |
Myke Tavarres | LB | Incarnate Word | 345 |
Cayleb Jones | WR | Arizona | 393 |
Hunter Sharp | WR | Utah State | 427 |
Byron Marshall | RB | Oregon | 460 |
Destiny Vaeao | DT | Washington State | 473 |
Marcus Johnson | WR | Texas | 477 |
Bruce Johnson | C | Maine | 700 |
John DePalma | LS | West Virginia | 728 |
Paul Turner | WR | Louisiana Tech | 740 |
Dillon Gordon | TE | LSU | 792 |
Quentin Gause | OLB | Rutgers | 793 |
C.J. Smith | CB | North Dakota State | 883 |
Cedric O'Neal | RB | Valdosta State | Unranked |
Let's do a quick run-down of each player, in the order listed above:
Greene is a road-grating guard who can move defensive linemen off the line of scrimmage in the run game. He was a Combine invite and thought of as a late-round prospect. During his tenure at San Diego State, he tested positive for marijuana and was suspended for six games. However, according to NFL.com, he was contrite for his mistakes, and "came back to start the final seven games of the year, helping the team produce two 1000-yard rushers for the first time in school history."
Wujciak is highly athletic defensive tackle, who tested very well at the NFL Combine:
However, he is also very undersized and a liability in the run game. In Jim Schwartz's wide nine looks, Wujciak could use his impressive quickness to beat lumbering opposing guards on obvious passing downs. In 2015, Wujciak had 11 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, and one forced fumble.
Don't rule out a conversion to the offensive side of the ball at guard here.
Like Wujciak, Shittu is undersized but athletic. He played multiple positions along Stanford's defensive line. In 2015, Shittu had 57 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, and 3 batted passes.
Tavarres is an undersized, but athletic linebacker. He reportedly received a significant signing bonus from the Eagles:
UDFAs usually get a max of $15-20k guaranteed. #Eagles gave $95k to LB Myke Tavarres and $105k to G Durrell Green. Wow
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) May 1, 2016
Also, he can do flips:
230!
Jones has great size, at 6'3, 209, but he ran a slow 4.65 40 yard dash at the NFL Combine. Jones' numbers over the last two seasons:
Cayleb Jones | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
2014 | 73 | 1019 | 14.0 | 9 |
2015 | 55 | 904 | 16.4 | 5 |
TOTAL | 128 | 1923 | 15.0 | 14 |
A highlight video:
In watching a little bit of Jones' other videos, he does a good job of not settling for just making the catch. He'll break tackles and fight for every yard once he has the ball.
Like many of the other players the Eagles added this week, Sharp had an off the field issue, as he was suspended for two games in 2015. His numbers the last two seasons:
Hunter Sharp | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
2014 | 66 | 939 | 14.2 | 7 |
2015 | 71 | 835 | 11.8 | 9 |
TOTAL | 137 | 1774 | 12.9 | 16 |
A highlight reel:
Marshall is an interesting player. In 2014, he had 74 catches for 1003 yards and 6 TDs for the Ducks. He also carried the ball 52 times for 392 yards and 1 TD. In 2013, he was primarily a running back, when he rushed for 1038 yards and 14 TDs on 168 carries (6.2 YPC). He missed most of the 2015 season with an ankle injury.
The Chiefs' offense under Doug Pederson featured a lot of jet sweeps, which would play well to Marshall's skill set. He is a versatile player who can play running back, wide receiver, and return kicks, however, he obviously wasn't so good at any of those three things to be drafted.
A highlight reel:
This is the third of three DTs the Eagles added during the undrafted free agent phase of the draft. Vaeao had 40 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks in 2015.
Johnson's production at Texas wasn't impressive, as he had just 793 receiving yards over his entire collegiate career. However, he ran a blazing 4.38 at his pro day, which got him into a camp.
Johnson won the Rimington Award for being the top center at the FCS level. According to Mark Emmert of the Portland Press Herald, Johnson played every snap the last three years.
Jon Dorenbos will turn 36 in July and costs $1,085,000 against the cap. To be determined if DePalma is legitimate competition or just an extra long snapper to maximize reps.
Turner had 45 catches for 657 yards and 3 TDs in 2015. He had 42 catches for 514 yards and 4 TDs in 2014.
Massive tight end at 6'4, 308 who had just seven catches over the entirety of his career. Do the Eagles view him as an offensive lineman prospect?
96 tackles in 2015, 12 for a loss of yards.
Carson Wentz gets to see a familiar face. 16 pass breakups and 4 INTs in 2015.
O'Neal led the Gulf South Conference with 17 TDs. Here he is hurdling someone:
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