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Albert Okwuegbunam is an Eagle! This is fun. Why not take a chance on a talented tight end? I didn’t watch much of Albert O coming out, but after a number of his games after the trade, I do think he has real talent and is worth a shot. Let’s get into the film.
Strengths
+ Former wide receiver and it shows on the field. He moves really well and is a really fluid mover.
What are the Eagles getting in Albert O? Morning film thread. 1) He's an obvious height-weight-speed athlete. He stands out because he's big and fast and can extend his hands away from his frame. The athleticism and size he has is pretty rare. pic.twitter.com/d1Jg2Km7Ho
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) August 30, 2023
+ Can win in contested situations and catch the ball away from his frame.
+ Fast. 4.49 speed for a tight end is absolutely no joke. He was one of the quickest athletes at the position. Just look at his RAS via @MathBomb
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2) The Eagles are going to love him running those intermediate routes in flood that Goedert excels on. Albert O runs them really well too and his size and speed combo makes him a handful to cover, both in man and zone. pic.twitter.com/3KJZT3fyr6
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) August 30, 2023
+ Has the size and speed to win vertically down the seam and create explosive plays.
5) If the Eagles wanted another explosive element to the offense, they might have one. I love watching him run these seam routes where he just gets vertical quickly. These are great against 2-high teams and I think the Broncos didn't use him enough on these vertical plays. pic.twitter.com/X0r4Ya3lgY
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) August 30, 2023
10) Let's end with a positive just because. This is a schemed TD, but I can absolutely see the Eagles using him on a scissors concept like this with Goedert. Those two running vertically will scare a lot of defensive coordinators. pic.twitter.com/HIkOJIIUaK
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) August 30, 2023
+ Will be a real weapon in the red zone due to his size and length.
3) Very similar route here. He's a big frame and a weapon down in the RZ. He will instantly be the Eagles 2nd best receiving option at TE and another player who can create mismatches in the passing game. He's a really fluid mover despite his big size. pic.twitter.com/eGop9eSnZ4
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) August 30, 2023
+ Has a lot of positional versatility. Can line up in the slot as well as inline and split out wide. The Broncos used him as the X-iso quite frequently.
+ I think he will be a weapon in the RPO game on shorter routes where he can use his speed to get YAC.
4) As well as the intermediate out routes, I think the Eagles will use him a lot on these arrow/flat routes, especially on RPOs where he can use his speed to spread the defense horizontally and get to the EDGE quickly. pic.twitter.com/uBn30PTIUB
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) August 30, 2023
Weaknesses
- Inconsistent hands. Had a drop rate of 16% last year which is terrible, and a career drop rate of 8.5% per PFF.
9) Final negative is his hands. He has too many concentration drops like this one. I will never make comments about someone's character, but he looks a little lazy on the field at times with his routes, blocking and hands. He's talented but the basics matter. pic.twitter.com/yT31EIVq3j
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) August 30, 2023
- His blocking is awful. He shows a lack of effort on too many plays which is a big, big problem. He looks disinterested when asked to block.
7) So why was he about to be cut if he's so talented? In very simple terms, he is a terrible blocker. He's not just bad, he lacks effort and doesn't look at all interested in it. He gets moved and just plays with 0 aggression at all when asked to block. Just watch him here... pic.twitter.com/Moh1j3HgnT
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) August 30, 2023
8) There's a lot of token effort plays on his film too. He acts like he's going to block but sort of does nothing. I think the Eagles are going to hope that after being (nearly) cut, he now needs to take his game more seriously. Because quite frankly he's terrible at blocking. pic.twitter.com/tivclg7B0p
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) August 30, 2023
- Durability concerns. Suffered an ACL injury in his rookie year and was banged up in college too.
- Pre-draft reports about his character were not great.
- He doesn’t break a lot of tackles after the catch, despite his athletic ability.
- Still raw as a route runner and wins with size and athleticism rather than great routes.
6) Despite him being a weapon in the pass game, he's still pretty raw as a route runner. He has some weird plays (like this one) where he stops on a route early and limits his separation. He relies way too much on his size and speed and hasn't developed as a route runner pic.twitter.com/hHaaKHiz2I
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) August 30, 2023
- Had a pretty terrible 2022 and was going to be cut by the Broncos, who have a new head coach in Sean Payton who has done very well getting production from his tight ends historically. Yards per route run went from 2.28 as a rookie to 0.69 last year.
Overall
I love 12 personnel and always want the Eagles to have 2 great tight ends. If you want to know why, I wrote about 12 personnel in detail a few years ago here. The problem with 12 personnel is that it only works if defenses treat both tight ends as legitimate receivers and blockers. Right now, Albert O is not good enough to be a big part of any 12-personnel package on a consistent basis because his blocking is a huge issue. He’s one of the worst blocking tight ends I’ve watched and looks disinterested in that part of his game.
Despite all the flaws I have pointed out above, he is absolutely worth a shot because his size and athleticism are rare. I barely had to look at his number to know who to look out for in each of the games I watched. Just find the huge tight end who moves like a receiver, and I’ll guarantee that it will be 85. He is a serious talent who needs a lot of work and I think he needs to take his own game a lot more seriously to develop into a proper tight end in this league, and not just a good athlete.
The Eagles will hope that their winning culture, led by very strong veterans will be able to guide Albert O into taking his career seriously. If he really wants to compete and commits to getting better, the Eagles could have a legitimate weapon who could be the Eagles TE2 by the end of the season. However, if he doesn’t improve his blocking and his effort levels, I would be surprised if he makes it to the end of the season with the Eagles. Jeff Stoutland is not going to enjoy watching some of the clips of him blocking that I watched.
In summary: Albert O is a rare talent at the position, but he doesn’t play like it right now. He feels a little bit boom/bust but I think it’s a really smart trade with very little downside.
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