On this local Philly TV show Eagles head coach Doug Pederson sat down with 6abc for a 17-minute interview to discuss the state of the team and spoke about QB Sam Bradford’s future with the team.
“I’ve told him that he’s very capable of leading this team deep into the postseason,” Pederson said of his conversations with the quarterback.
While Pederson “would love to have everybody back,” he “can’t fault a player for getting an opportunity to become one of the top-paid players in the National Football League and that’s where Sam’s at right now.”
Pederson understands that the quarterback decision “needs to be right for the team.” If the Eagles choose to look toward the NFL Draft to address the quarterback position, Pederson said that there are a “couple of guys who could come in and potentially start right away.”
“The ideal situation would be to get one of those guys and have him possibly sit for a year or two and learn your system, understand your community, understand your fan base, understand your media before you throw him out there to the wolves,” Pederson said. “There’s ways of getting it done without putting all of the pressure on your quarterback.”
How far is this Eagles team from being a contender as it is currently constructed? Pederson believes that it “is very close.”
“When you evaluate this team, this roster, you’re a few pieces away, possibly,” he said.
Speaking of drafting a QB, the NFL just released its list of Combine invitees. The full list includes more than 300 prospects invited to the annual event in Indianapolis. Ohio State leads the way with 14 players invited, followed by Notre Dame (10), Alabama (9) and UCLA (9).
The combine will take place Feb. 23-29, and the Eagles media team will be in Indianapolis to cover the event.
Here are the Quarterbacks who made the “invited” list:
Quarterbacks:
Brandon Allen, Arkansas
Trevone Boykin, TCU
Jacoby Brissett, North Carolina State
Connor Cook, Michigan State
Brandon Doughty, Western Kentucky
Jeff Driskel, Louisiana Tech
Jared Goff, California
Christian Hackenberg, Penn State
Kevin Hogan, Stanford
Cardale Jones, Ohio State
Cody Kessler, USC
Paxton Lynch, Memphis
Dak Prescott, Mississippi State
Nate Sudfeld, Indiana
Carson Wentz, North Dakota State
Vernon Adams (throwing QB), Oregon
Joel Stave (throwing QB), Wisconsin
Josh Woodrum (throwing QB), Liberty
Perhaps just as notable are the QB’s who were snubbed. Fran Duffy at PE.com compiled this list of quarterbacks who were NOT invited:
QB Jake Coker, Alabama
Duffy on the snub: “I knew Coker would be a borderline selection for the Combine, but I was still surprised to see him left off the list. The Alabama signal-caller has NFL size (6-5, 236 pounds), a strong arm and in my opinion was one of the more consistent passers during the week of practice at the Senior Bowl. Coker has had trouble with inaccuracy at certain points throughout his career, but many will say he projects better to the league than some of the players who ended up accepting invites to Indianapolis.”
Other notable quarterbacks snubbed: Everett Golson (Florida State), Mike Bercovici (Arizona State), Jake Rudock (Michigan), Matt Johnson (Bowling Green), Blake Frohnapfel (Massachusetts)…
In case you were wondering about notable snubs at other positions, here are the guys who surprised Fran Duffy by NOT getting invited:
RB Aaron Green, TCU
WR Daniel Braverman, Western Michigan
WR Robby Anderson, Temple
Also snubbed—- WR KJ Maye (Minnesota), WR Jordan Williams (Ball State), WR Paul McRoberts (Southeast Missouri State), and WR Jay Lee (Baylor)
TE Henry Krieger-Coble, Iowa
OL Lene Maiava, Arizona
DL Aziz Shittu, Stanford
DE Corey Marshall, Virginia Tech
LB Antonio Longino, Arizona State
CB Michael Jordan, Missouri Western State
S Kevin Byard, Middle Tennessee State
All is not lost for these guys who did not get invited to the Combine. Brent Celek was once one of those guys, by the way. That’s why they have Pro Days…and spies everywhere.
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