The final day of mandatory minicamp has been and gone for the Philadelphia Eagles and so with it the last chance the players will get to practice together before the Summer. Here are our observations from the final day:
Defensive Depth
There wasn’t much change in the depth chart for the final day, Walter Thurmond started alongside Malcolm Jenkins at safety with the first team whilst the second team secondary was made up of Brandon Boykin and JaCorey Shepherd, with 2014 draft pick Ed Reynolds and Chris Maragos at safety. Kelly hinted strongly that Boykin would be competing for the starting safety position, but these training sessions have told us otherwise, with the majority of his reps belonging with the second team.
#Ertzford shipping begins
We mentioned the Sam Bradford and Zach Ertz partnership that has been heating up quicker than the Daryl and Carol romance on the Walking Dead and today was no exception. The two seem to be linking incredibly well in 7-on-7s and the pair are easily comparable to the Matthews and Sanchez linkup we saw last season. Whilst the still recovering Bradford has been limited this week, when he has thrown it’s often been targeted to Planet Ertz who is set for a huge season. However, Bradford did get picked off for the first time all week and looked a little less intimidating than he did in previous days.
Fastest man on the roster goes too…
TIM TEB..no, not Monseuir Tebow, but Nelson Agholor is easily a contender for the fastest man out of anyone that was at the NovaCare Complex today. The rookie has bursts perhaps even faster than Sproles and seemed much more consistent today, making up for his small error yesterday.
Huff and Puff
Josh Huff looks somewhat faster than he did last season. He showcased his new found pace during kickoff drill today and looked good moving in space. He went on to return one kickoff for a touchdown before an emphatic flip. 13/10 for Strictly Come Dancing points. Sanchez also found Huff down the sideline later on, a throw in which Huff made good use out of, pulling it down in great fashion.
Another day another dollar
All seemed pretty swell in the backfield today. Both DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews have looked pretty good catching the ball on screen plays and the like. They look like they have adapted to the new style offense perfectly, no drops, no mis-communications, everything’sNatural pass catchers. No drops. Everything’s looking great.
The race for QB2
Barkley had a mediocre day today. The only QB draft pick in the Chip Kelly era seems to have a tendency of overthrowing his receivers. He threw a gorgeous pass to Trey Burton late on who caught it over the shoulder.The arm strength may not be enough to earn him a spot on the final 53 however.
Mark Sanchez looked pretty consistent out there, the same was what we’re used to seeing. A couple of standout passes including the Huff one earlier on and another to Brent Celek. He also seemed to target the Eagles new favourite Tight End a lot and had no major errors to report. A solid day, I’d be very surprised if he didn’t make the final 53. Sanchez has sat pretty all off-season long and looks sharp in these training sessions.
Everyone’s favourite Wildcard Tim Tebow had quite a varied afternoon. Despite also having the Barkley Bug of overthrowing his opponents, he looked great when running the ball. He did however end practice on a high note. After a huge scramble to the left, he targeted Bailey who caught it for the score. Something about the Fourth Quarter and Tim Tebow just go hand in hand..
That’s it for training camp now though as the Eagles depart for six weeks until summer training camp starts. We will have daily coverage of the birds and some exclusive player interviews between now and then though so be sure to follow us on twitter and like out Facebook page!
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