Last time out, we looked at 4 of the 12 UDFA’s signed by the Eagles this past weekend. Now it’s time for another quartet including an Iowa State offensive lineman, a former WR who made the move to DB and an intriguing TE prospect.
Julian Good-Jones, OL, Iowa State
Julian Good-Jones might be my favorite UDFA prospect signed by the Eagles. He started out playing for Iowa State as a center back in 2017 before making the move to left tackle in 2018. Good-Jones has great hand placement and swallows up a lot of edge rushers, even if they have space to build momentum and attack from a weird angle. Julian’s footwork is really good and he stays active to react to any sharp moves from rushers. The 6-foot-5, 308-pound tackle looks athletic for his frame and it allows him to keep up with speed rushers, as well as recover quickly if he is beaten early on.
One thing Julian needs to improve on is his strength. His punches are accurate but aren’t hard-hitting and don’t offset onrushing defenders to the point where they’re stopped or have to re-engage from a different angle. Julian also seems to shoot too low on some snaps and he loses balance because of that, allowing guys to get to his QB. If the Eagles can fix those issues, which shouldn’t be too hard of a task, the Eagles will have a great tackle prospect who has experience playing at center too.
Prince Smith, DB, New Hampshire
The Eagles added a hometown boy with the signing of Prince Smith from UNH. Smith was a standout performer for New Hampshire, where he had 64 total tackles, 3 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles in 2019 alone. I was really impressed with Smith’s aggression when watching his tape, his tackling was pretty impressive and he was always looking to rip the ball away which is a great trait to have. He seems pretty quick and agile to keep up with guys on deep routes and stop them at the catch point. Thanks to his speed and agility, to me it looks like Smith could fit in well with a press coverage role.
Smith stands at 5-foot-10 and weighs in at 185 pounds, meaning he’d be limited to a slot corner role but he’s a weird player to evaluate because he has the athletic traits to handle outside responsibilities.
The main question surrounding Prince is whether he can step up to the level that the NFL requires. He comes from a small school and that may be the reason why he looked impressive.
Michael Jacquet, CB, Louisiana
Michael Jacquet is quite easily the most intriguing prospect the Eagles have in this UDFA group. Michael started out as a wide receiver before making the shift to cornerback in 2018. Jacquet has some serious athletic attributes including an astonishing 82-inch wingspan thanks to his 33.5-inch arms. Michael has decent coverage speed and has a good understanding of the position considering he’s only spent 2 years there. I watched his game against Alabama back in 2018 and considering the complete advantage Alabama had, Michael didn’t fair too badly, even breaking up a touchdown pass to Jerry Jeudy. Michael could be a really interesting prospect at CB given his long past at receiver, it’ll be interesting to see how he develops.
Michael does feel like a true project though, given his lack of experience at the position and will need a lot of work to make him into a proper cornerback. His tackling needs work and he needs to learn how to be more consistent with his tackling. Another thing Michael needs to learn is not biting on double moves. There was a play in the Alabama game where he bit on a stutter step and it led to a score.
Noah Togiai, TE, Oregon State
Togiai is another example of the Eagles focussing on speed and athletes in this draft class. He’s exceptionally athletic for his position at TE and one of his highlights is him hurdling a DB before taking it in for a score. From what I saw, Noah seems to have solid hands and does a really good job at keeping the ball when hit.
Noah seemed to run a unique route tree at Oregon State and was used quite uniquely for a tight end, which could lead to him being an intriguing TE3 for the Eagles. At times, having Noah on the field, it almost feels like having a big body wide receiver on the field, and that could be really handy for the Eagles given the number of speed options they have at wideout. Noah is definitely one of my favorites from this UDFA group, he brings a real unique feeling to the role of tight end and I’m excited to see how he develops in Philadelphia.
One of the main arguments people have with Noah is whether he’s too light to be a tight end but with Ertz and Goddert on the roster, the Eagles have enough beefy TE’s that Togiai can bring something different to that grouping, and to be fair, he is 6-foot-3 and 244 pounds, he’s not exactly a small guy.
After watching his tape, one thing I didn’t like was Noah’s blocking game, which needs some real development, especially how the Eagles tend to use their tight ends. Noah’s route running could also be a little sharper, he sometimes rounds his routes and it doesn’t help with separation.
Togiai had a solid year with Oregon State last season, coming in with 44 receptions for 406 yards and 3 touchdowns. Noah wasn’t Oregon’s main outlet in the passing game and that’s why his numbers may seem a little small to some but, from what I’ve seen, He’s is a great prospect who could bring something really different to an Eagles offense that seems to be going through an extreme evolution this offseason.
Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
