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ITI’s Eagles Weekly Mailbag: Draft Scenarios and Sandwiches

By Anthony DiBona

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Anyone that follows me on Twitter knows that I love a good debate or two, especially when it comes to the Philadelphia Eagles. But they also know that I love interacting with my followers as well. So now that I have the honor of being the editor here at Inside The Iggles, I felt it was necessary to start a weekly mailbag where fans could reach out to the entire staff and get our thoughts and opinions on the Eagles and get to know us a bit better as well.

That being said, let’s get this thing started. Well, that is after you take a couple of seconds to join me in singing one of the greatest songs of all time. That’s right, it’s mail time!

Seriously now, thanks to the few of you that reached out to the site on Twitter and sent in your questions. I look forward to getting more and more questions as the weeks go on and hopefully building this into a popular post that you all will be excited for each weekend. Now on to the questions, let’s start with some draft talk, shall we?

Anyone that follows me on Twitter has witnessed first hand my man crush for USC wide receiver Nelson Agholor. He’s one hell of a player that would certainly fill a need on the Eagles. He’s a great route runner, arguably the second best in the draft behind highly touted Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper. Agholor is also explosive after the catch as well, plus he has the ability to be a dangerous punt returner.

That being said, I’m going with UConn cornerback Bryon Jones. If there’s one thing Eagles head coach Chip Kelly loves, it’s his freakish athletes and great character players. Jones possesses both of those traits on top of being a damn good defensive back. He has experience at both safety and cornerback, though I believe the Eagles would use him as strictly a cornerback. He would form a dangerous duo for years to come with newly signed cornerback Byron Maxwell on the other side.

All in all, this is a solid mock draft. I’m not the biggest fan of Wake Forest cornerback Kevin Johnson, he’s a bit too slim for my liking but he has great technique and if he could pack on some extra pounds, I’m all for it. But getting Agholor in the second round would be highway robbery and I highly doubt that happens.

Hobart guard Ali Marpet is a freakish athlete for his size, which the Eagles obviously love up front on their offensive line, so he obviously fits and could start immediately. The birds have been all over Penn State safety Adrian Amos and he’s one of my personal favorite defensive backs in the draft. He’s got good size, athleticism and the versatility to play either safety or cornerback.

Georgia wide receiver Chris Conley was underused at the collegiate level, in my opinion. But he possesses the freak athleticism that could make Kelly drool. NDSU outside linebacker Kyle Emanuel put up some gaudy stats as a defensive end against lower level competition but he has the potential to be a promising prospect at outside linebacker. I’m a big fan of South Alabama quarterback Brandon Bridge and had the honor of interviewing him for my draft profile on here.

All in all, I’d give this mock draft a really premature grade of a B-.

Next year’s draft looks like it may be the complete opposite of this year’s draft in the fact that it should be loaded with quarterbacks. That certainly helps the Eagles if they miss out on Marcus Mariota and Sam Bradford doesn’t pan out like you suggests here. The names that will likely be at the top of next year’s class at quarterback will be Connor Cook from Michigan State and Cardale Jones from Ohio State.

I was all over the man they call “12 Gauge” during the Buckeyes national championship run and believe he could have even been a day two pick in this year’s draft. So I certainly believe the Eagles could look at him next year as well. Jacoby Brissett from North Carolina State is another intriguing player to watch out for in next year’s draft.

As far as free agency goes, Cam Newton and Ryan Tannehill are obvious names that standout as young, mobile quarterbacks that would fit perfectly in Kelly’s offense but I just don’t see them hitting the open market. But Robert Griffin III is the name to watch because he may be on his way out of Washington if he can’t get along with head coach Jay Gruden. Kelly clearly doesn’t care about injury history so “RG3” would be worth the gamble.

I know I may sound crazy, but I’m still optimistic about Marcus Smith as well. He wasn’t put in the greatest situation as a rookie, being stuck as the fourth outside linebacker on a depth chart full of talent at the position. So he was then cross-trained as an inside linebacker as well due to injuries. Did Smith make the most of his opportunities when he was on the field? Absolutely not.

He failed to impress in preseason or when given a handful of snaps during the regular season. He’ll have to prove he isn’t a bust to not only the fans but more importantly, the coaches. Now that Trent Cole was released and Brandon Graham has moved up the depth chart, that rotational pass rusher spot at outside linebacker is there for the taking. Smith just has to do the work necessary and take it.

Last but not least, this gem of a question from my good friend, Dave Searles. Now when I read the question, I thought to myself “well, Huff is actually right.” But then I felt it was necessary to do the proper research to really find out whether or not a hot dog was actually considered a sandwich.

So after I did my oh so diligent research of simply searching “hot dog” on Google, I came across this very insightful bit from Wikipedia.

"A hot dog (also spelled hotdog) is a cooked sausage, traditionally grilled or steamed and served in a sliced bun as a sandwich."

There it is, a hot dog is a sandwich. Case closed, Josh Huff was correct. Now if only he could catch more passes and miss less tackles on special teams…but we’ll save that topic for another day.

That’s it for this week’s mailbag, be sure to send any other questions you may have to me or any of the other members of the Inside The Iggles’ staff on Twitter. Thanks for reading!

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