December 14, 2019
Normally, we say that as long as you're taking in some college football action this Saturday, here are some players who could make sense for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2020 NFL Draft. However, with the only game on the D1 college slate being Army-Navy, perhaps this is a good week to look at five smaller school guys.
Bayless is second in the country in receiving, behind only LSU's Ja'Marr Chase, with 84 receptions for 1473 yards (17.5 YPC), and 16 TDs. As you'll see in the highlight video below, he has a flair for the spectacular catch.
Also as you can see in the above highlight reel, Bayless makes a lot of contested catches, but he lacks the speed that many of the other burners in this draft class possess. Of course, that will sour some Eagles fans on him, what with the struggles of J.J. Arcega-Whiteside as a rookie, and the Eagles' need for speed.
Personally, I don't think Bayless is a great fit for what the Eagles need, but I felt the same of Arcega-Whiteside a year ago, and as a result never bothered profiling him. Maybe the Eagles just have a type? If so, Bayless could be of interest.
Bayless will get a chance to compete against top corners at the Senior Bowl.
Taylor is a long, lean offensive tackle with good athleticism (he is a former basketball star) who will be competing at the Senior Bowl this year. Here he is against USF:
Of course, the Eagles drafted Andre Dillard, and they just gave Lane Johnson a monster contract extension, so they're set at both starting tackle spots for the foreseeable future. However, with Jason Peters almost certainly in his last season with the team, Halapoulivaati Vaitai potentially leaving in free agency, and Jordan Mailata not showing any significant progress this past offseason, the Eagles could be in the market for a Day 3 swing tackle.
If Taylor falls that far, he would make sense.
Hunt has experience starting for the Rajin' Cajuns at LG, LT, and RT, so the Eagles are going to value that versatility. In the pros, Hunt is likely to primarily stay inside at guard.
Watch him killing guys repeatedly against Georgia Southern. He's No. 50, the RT. Pancake city. I mean, I legit lol'd at least three times watching this:
The Eagles need depth along the interior of their OL, and Hunt has natural strength and nastiness. He could be a developmental prospect, as Jeff Stoutland works on his pass protection skills.
In his four years at SIU, Chinn filled up the stat sheet, compiling 243 tackles, 13 INTs (with at least 3 INTs in every season), 31 pass breakups, 6 forced fumbles, and a blocked kick. The Senior Bowl has taken notice:
The @seniorbowl is looking live at @SEMOfootball vs. @SIU_Football. Delaware’s Nasir Adderley was our top FCS target going into last season and he ended up the @Chargers 2nd round pick. This year, Saluki FS Jeremy Chinn (@ChinnJeremy2) is our guy. #thedraftstartsinMobile pic.twitter.com/9zqGDMIU94
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) August 30, 2019
Chinn has excellent size at 6'3, 212, and experience at both safety and corner, which should get Jim Schwartz's attention.
I remember back in the 2012 draft, an offensive lineman name Amani Silatolu from tiny Midwestern State (Wichita Falls, Texas) had a very entertaining highlight reel in which he was just throwing guys around like they were toddlers. It's perhaps worth revisiting, just for fun:
Silatolu went 40th overall and played six seasons, mostly as a backup, before washing out of the league. A guy who has a similar "man among boys" highlight reel is Dugger, who plays for tiny Lenoir-Rhyne (Hickory, North Carolina).
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