Eagles News: Miles Sanders wants to be Philadelphia’s version of Christian McCaffrey

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Eagles’ Miles Sanders eyeing Christian McCaffrey-like impact - ESPN
“He’s the reason why I got drafted,” Sanders said. “I kind of know how to catch, and he’s the reason why I got drafted, because he changed that look on running backs. So, I’m just trying to get where he’s at — soon.” [...] “When I look at him, I look at a back that’s very hard to stop. I want to be that back,” Sanders said. “I want to be that back where you think you can stop me in the run game and then, boom, I’m outside in the passing game and I’m rolling up yards for the team. I want to be that back where there’s no way you can really slow me down or stop me or take me out of the game because I’m so versatile. That’s the type of mentality and the type of player I want to be.”

NFL Mock Draft 2020: Making the case for Justin Jefferson as the Eagles’ pick - BGN
Sure, Jefferson isn’t the burner the Eagles could ideally afford to add at No. 21. But for as much as the Eagles DO legitimately need more team speed, it is not the only thing they need. They also need some receivers who are just actually good players. Would adding Michael Thomas or Keenan Allen — who aren’t true deep threats — to the Eagles’ offense not make it better? That’s obviously not to say Jefferson is guaranteed to be as successful as either of those two ... but he has drawn comparisons to those type of players. One of the biggest issues from the 2019 season was that Wentz didn’t have any receivers whom he could regularly rely on. Acquiring Jefferson would give Wentz a good, reliable target for years to come.

Eagles Selection - 2020 SB Nation Community Mock - BGN Radio
Jimmy Kempski, Brandon Lee Gowton, and Michael Kist join forces to sort out who the Eagles should select at 21st overall in the SB Nation Community Mock! Extra thoughts on Justin Jefferson, Denzel Mims, Jeff Gladney, Grant Delpit and much more! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Eagles 2020 NFL Draft preview: Defensive tackle - PhillyVoice
The Eagles also don’t lack for bodies overall, as they retained Hassan Ridgeway this offseason, and have Bruce Hector, Anthony Rush, and Albert Huggins on the roster as well. The Eagles are ready for training camp at DT, right now. So it’s not a need, right? Short-term? No. Relative to the rest of the roster? No. Long-term? Yeah, probably. Cox will turn 30 during the season in 2019, and he already has over 6,000 snaps on his odometer.

Draft Plans - Iggles Blitz
Maybe I’m dead wrong and the Eagles feel adding an elite receiver is worth a steep price. It would be a lot of fun to watch a player like Lamb add some real juice to the offense. I just have my doubts. And with the team’s recent injury history, I think building a deep WR corps might be as important as adding a single star.

Eagles worst-case scenario mock draft: Not great, Bog - The Athletic
So, staying put and drafting a non-receiver would be a horrible result, unless it’s for someone who surprisingly falls down the board such as C.J. Henderson or Derrick Brown. Drafting Jaylon Johnson at No. 21 as presumably the third cornerback off the board would be a nightmare, not because Johnson isn’t a fine prospect (although his 4.50-second 40-yard dash is the slowest among the first two tiers of corners, he has shortish arms and he’s had three shoulder surgeries). For one, I wouldn’t want to be the team to pick first from the jumble of corners that includes Johnson, Trevon Diggs, Jeff Gladney, A.J. Terrell and Kristian Fulton, at least not without getting some trade-back value in return. For two, dedicating the offseason’s two biggest resources, the Slay trade/contract and the first-round pick, to the corner position would be a lot to swallow given the other needs on the roster. Therefore, it’s hard to imagine Johnson or any other of the aforementioned corners making more sense, short term or long term, than even the fifth wide receiver off the board, if that were how it played out. An interior offensive lineman like Cesar Ruiz would be equally anger-inducing.

A peek behind the scenes as Eagles prep for NFL Draft - PE.com
You probably don’t know Patrick Dolan, the vice president of football technology for the Eagles. He’s a behind-the-scenes employee in charge of the team’s football video department, responsible for everything from taping practices and providing cutups to the coaching staff to preparing video of games and upcoming opponents, and, in a normal April, making sure the coaches and the personnel department have every bit of video they need to watch NFL free agents and prospective draft picks. If you watched really, really closely, you might have seen Dolan at the NFL Scouting Combine filming one of the drills wearing his Eagles golf shirt and his World Championship ring from Super Bowl LII. He’s been in the league for 30-plus years, embarking on his seventh in Philadelphia. This is for him, as it is for all of us, uncharted territory.

Playmaker Score 2020 - Football Outsiders
Denzel Mims’ receiving production rates somewhere between Ruggs’ and Jefferson’s. However, Playmaker rates Mims significantly below those two because Mims enters the draft as a senior. Mims had a nice college career, but he simply lacks the dominating numbers necessary to overcome Playmaker’s big penalty for exhausting his college eligibility. Mims’ Playmaker Rating might be a bit unfair to him because it assumes that he will be a first-round pick. Draftniks seem split on whether Mims is a first-round prospect or not, and Mims would present much better value in the third round than the first.

Penn State ‘diminutive dynamo’ KJ Hamler draws comparison to Baltimore Ravens top pick, but ESPN analyst sees some flaws - PennLive
“KJ Hamler, the wide receiver at Penn State, doesn’t have the hands,” Kiper said in response to a question about the Bears. “He kind of reminds you physically of ‘Hollywood’ Brown. He’s a diminutive dynamo, but he doesn’t have the consistency catching the ball as Hollywood had coming out of Oklahoma. But you’re not talking about the first round with Hamler. You’re talking about Round 2.”

There are a lot of good cornerbacks in this year’s draft, but can the Eagles find them? - Inquirer
Noah Igbinoghene — “[ESPN’s Mel] Kiper even mocked him to the Chiefs at 32 in late Janaury. I don’t think he’ll go that high, but he’s a guy who’s really been rising up boards here late in the season. There’s a ton of good tape on him. You can watch him against LSU and Alabama. They opened the season against Oregon and Justin Herbert. You can watch him against Jake Browning and Washington in 2018. He reminds me a little bit of Prince Amukamara coming out of Nebraska. He also did some kick-returning.”

Thor’s Safety Rankings - Rotoworld
Full disclosure: Your author lives in Minneapolis and watches tons of Gophers football live. The Antoine Winfield Jr. Experience was something else. Smart as hell and born without fear, he literally won games for the Gophers by outthinking opponents, being in places he had no business being in for a game-sealing pick because he saw the play develop in his head before anyone else in the stadium (as one example, see: end of game against Fresno State, 2018). The instincts are next-level elite. He’s always around the ball. Even the tipped interceptions aren’t all the way luck in his case – Winfield is going to be around plenty of airborne deflections in the NFL as well. His balls skills are outstanding, and he’s always looking to flip the field, making sure to claw at the ball on tackle attempts.

Browns: Odell Beckham trade rumors “completely false” - PFT
Wednesday brought a report from Marc Malusis of WFAN that the team was discussing a trade with the Vikings that would send Beckham to Minnesota for 2021 second- and fifth-round draft picks. Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta was asked about that report during a Thursday conference call and he dumped a bucket of cold water on it. “It’s completely false,” DePodesta said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

Broncos’ Von Miller has COVID-19 - Mile High Report
Rapoport followed up his initial tweet to add that the Broncos are aware of the situation and wish Miller a speedy recovery. One factor that may complicate the situation is Miller has had asthma his entire life. The CDC’s website states that people with moderate to severe ashma are at higher risk for getting very sick from COVID-19 as the virus can impact your respiratory tract, cause an asthma attack, and potentially lead to pnemonia and acute respiratory disease.

D’Andre Swift is the rare running back worth drafting in the first round - SB Nation
A spot on Day 1 is an increasingly rare honor for a college running back. Only 16 have been drafted in the first round in the past 10 years. In the past five seasons, players like Ezekiel Elliott, Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, and Josh Jacobs have rewarded that faith with explosive starts. They’ve helped erase the negligible impacts of runners like Trent Richardson or Jahvid Best and stem the tide of “never draft a running back in the first round” takes. That puts even more pressure on the first-round backs who follow them to perform. Swift has the chops to pull it off — and the limited NCAA mileage to sustain a long career at the next level.

Monty G’s COVID-19 Relief Campaign - GoFundMe
Die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan and beloved hype man Monty G has fallen victim to the COVID-19 crisis. For the last three weeks Monty has been at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. At first he had trouble breathing, and after testing positive for COVID-19 was put in an induced coma and on a ventilator. Since then he has undergone tracheotomy surgery to help him breathe. Monty is now out of his coma, but at the moment can not speak....and is still fighting this. His long time girlfriend, Wanda, also tested positive for COVID-19. She has made a full recovery, and now is taking responsibility for managing Monty’s bills (including rent, utilities, and car payments) while Monty is in the hospital. It is her goal to have Monty return home and focus on his recovery without being burdened with the stress of his finances. It is our goal, my goal, all of Eagles Nation’s goal to help both Monty G and Wanda get back to normalcy once he returns home. Wanda is the sole beneficiary of these donations, is the only one who can withdraw, and any money donated is going directly to Monty G’s finances. While Monty G can not speak at the moment due to his tracheotomy....I hope he sees this and the generosity of Eagles fans...and knows WE HAVE YOUR BACK BABAY BAAAAABAY!

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