December 27, 2025
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 Philadelphia Eagles in the following year's NFL Draft.
The Eagles love them some athletic offensive linemen, and Jones came in at No. 7 on Bruce Feldman's "Freaks" list this past summer.
A former basketball player who was in the 260-pound range in high school, Jones first dunked in ninth grade at about 6-1. Now, at 303 pounds, he is one of the country’s best centers. Last year, Jones had zero sacks allowed in 280 pass blocking snaps, per PFF. He set the program record this offseason with a 705-pound squat. He holds the position record with a 36.6-inch vertical, a 1.53 10-yard split and a 4.09 shuttle. His 470-pound hang clean this summer is also a position record, but he was hoping to break the program record for all players held by another Freaks List alum, Tristan Wirfs.
The Eagles have had a habit of drafting centers when they already had a good starting center in place, and then figuring it out from there. They selected Isaac Seumalo, Landon Dickerson, and Cam Jurgens while Jason Kelce was on the team, and they all played guard with the Eagles, at least initially in Jurgens' case.
Watch Jones execute combo blocks and then get to the second level. He just looks like an Eagles center. (Video via @Sam_Teets33).
Jurgens has not had a good season, despite being voted into the Pro Bowl, but he has also been hampered by a back injury that was operated on this offseason. Jones would provide insurance at center, and depth along the interior of the line, assuming Jeff Stoutland could coach him up at guard. Early Day 3 guy.
Metayer originally enrolled at Cincinnati before transferring to ASU for the 2024 season. He had decent receiving numbers, with 70 catches, 681 yards, and 9 TDs over the last two seasons.
But perhaps just as importantly from the Eagles' perspective, Metayer's blocking skills were consistently praised by Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham throughout the season. If the Eagles want to continue to run the ball a lot out of two-TE sets, they should employ a better blocker at TE than Grant Calcaterra.
Lomu is a technically advanced pass protector with quick feet and good athleticism who could be available at the end of Round 1. Video via @NFL_DF:
The Eagles could be looking for a successor to Lane Johnson, however, because Lomu has only played LT for Utah, they would have to feel comfortable that he could make the move to the right side.
Jackson is raw, but he is a long, athletic 6'6 edge defender who began to break out during the second half of OSU's season, with 5 sacks in their last 7 games.
The Eagles have a pair of smaller speed guys in Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith. They could use another bigger edge with a similar build as Jaelan Phillips.
Kacmarek is the Buckeyes' TE2, and he is an unsung hero in their offense as one of the best blocking tight ends in the country. Look at this guy tossing defenders around against Michigan this season:
On this Eagles team, Kacmarek would be a role player from Day 1. He would be an instant and significant upgrade on Calcaterra, and you probably can get him on Day 3 because he doesn't have impressive receiving stats.
(Sorry for the repeat on blocking tight ends, but I wanted to get to both of these guys before the college football season is over.)
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