Eagles observations on rookie minicamp…and other stuff

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The 76ers felt the dagger on Sunday night, losing Game Seven by 2 to Toronto on a last-second shot by who else? (Kawhi Leonard). It’s a tougher loss here only because so many Eagles football players were so heavily invested (emotionally) in the outcome. It was heartwarming to see our hometown teams of different ball-types (shut up!!) bonding together.

Meanwhile, we’ve signed another quarterback. WHAT?

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Eagles will sign former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Cody Kessler to a contract Monday.

EYE don’t get it. Unless Carson Wentz is further away from medical clearance to start the season, this move makes little sense to me.

Kessler, a former third-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns, is 2-10 as a starter in his three-year career with the Browns and Jaguars. He has completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 2,215 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions for an 83.7 quarterback rating. Kessler went 0-8 with the Browns in his rookie season of 2016, but completed 65.6 percent of his passes for 1,380 yards, six touchdowns, and two interceptions for a 92.3 passer rating.

Kessler’s performance wasn’t enough to start a game in 2017 as he was inactive for the first six games of the season. He went 11-for-23 for 126 yards and an interception in three games. The Browns traded Kessler to the Jaguars in 2018, where he replaced Blake Bortles late in the season and completed 64.9 percent of his passes for 709 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for a 77.4 passer rating in five games (four starts).

Again, this move on the surface is puzzling. Is this a challenge to Nate Sudfeld as the backup QB in waiting, or is this an expression of concern over Carson Wentz’ health?

I don’t know….maybe I’m overreacting.

It’s been really difficult to find any workout observations of rookie minicamp by anyone who was actually there. Apparently these workouts are considered confidential.

So EYE can only guess how our 11 undrafted free agent rookies (plus tryout players) fared over the weekend in non-contact drills:

Below are all the players listed by position:

Quarterback (2)

Luis Perez

Clayton Thorson – 5th Round Pick

Running Back (5)

Miles Sanders – 2nd Round Pick

Ryan Fulse – Tryout

D.J. Knox – Tryout

Tre Watson – Tryout

Nico Evans – UDFA

Wide Receiver (8)

DeAndre Thompkins – UDFA

Kaian Duverger – Tryout

Marshall Ellick – Tryout

Jovon Durante – Tryout

J.J. Arcega-Whiteside – 2nd Round Pick

Marken Michel

Delane Hart-Johnson – Tryout

Dorren Miller

Tight End (2)

Scott Orndoff – Tryout

Darneail Jenkins – Tryout

Offensive Line (8)

Keegan Render (C) – UDFA

Nick Linder (C) – Tryout

Nate Herbig (G) – UDFA

Ryan Bates (OT) – UDFA

Johnny Gibson (G) – Tryout

Casey Tucker (OT) – Tryout

Andre Dillard (OT) – 1st Round Pick

Sua Opeta (G) – UDFA

Defensive Line (8)

Claudy Mathieu (DE) – Tryout

Anthony Rush (DT) – UDFA

Mike Ramsay (DT) – Tryout

Kendal Vickers (DE) – Tryout

Shareef Miller (DE) – 4th Round Pick

Kevin Wilkins (DT) – UDFA

Louis Vecchio (DE) – Tryout

Joe Ostman (DE)

Linebacker (7)

Jerry Iweh – Tryout

Alex Singleton

Joey Alfieri – UDFA

Asantay Brown – Tryout

Oluwaseun Idowus – Tryout

T.J. Edwards – UDFA

Mason Moe – Tryout

Defensive Back (9)

Albert Smalls – Tryout

Marko Myers – Tryout

Wesley Sutton – Tryout

Ajene Harris – Tryout

Weston Steelhammer – Tryout

Kyle Gibson – Tryout

Tyrell Gilbert – Tryout

Mercy Maston – Tryout

Jay Liggins – UDFA

Specialists

Kevin Bletze (LS) – Tryout

If anything of substance leaks out of the now-expired rookie minicamp, we will report it here. For now, MUM’s the word. Happy MUM’s Day!

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