Philadelphia Eagles sign UDFA Johnny Gibson: 3 Immediate reactions
The Philadelphia Eagles find a potential prospect out of someone who was allowed to attend rookie minicamp on a tryout, offensive lineman Johnny Gibson.
The Philadelphia Eagles continue to tweak their roster in an attempt to come up with the best mixture possible. On Tuesday, after some deliberation, ‘The Birds’ threw most of us a curve ball and signed a guy few of us were paying a ton of attention to, offensive lineman Johnny Gibson.
It appears the six-foot-four, 319-pound Gibson did his part to impress at last weekend’s three-day rookie minicamp.
Here’s the official announcement from the team.
Roster Move: #Eagles have signed G Johnny Gibson and waived WR Dorren Miller. pic.twitter.com/sZ4PhMIGyP
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 14, 2019
Here are three of a dozen or so immediate reactions.
1. History has a way of repeating itself.
For Gibson, this should be used as motivation. Okay, so he’s learned he can earn a seat at the table, but things will get tougher. It’ll be hard to get himself onto the 53-man roster. Look at who’s already there.
The guys already on the roster include three centers, Anthony Fabiano, Jason Kelce, and Keegan Render. Then, there are the tackles, Tyreek Burwell, Ryan Bates, Andre Dillard, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Jason Peters, and Halapoulivaati Vaitai.
That leaves the guys who play Gibson’s position, guard. With that being said, we can throw Brandon Brooks, Sua Opeta, Nate Herbig, Stefen Wisniewski, Matt Pryor and the multi-faceted Isaac Seumalo into the mix.
Making this team won’t be easy, but at least Gibson can rely on the experience of walking onto an Arkansas Razorbacks practice field and, eventually, earning a scholarship.
Related Story. Here’s a list of everyone who attended rookie camp on a tryout. light
2. Here’s what was seen prior to April’s draft.
Gibson participated in Arkansas’ Pro Day and had a nice showing. He threw up 20 reps on the bench press (225 pounds), a 5.56 time on the 40-yard dash, and a 30.5-inch vertical jump. You can also add an eight-foot, three-inch broad jump, a 5.03 time in the 20-yard shuffle, and an 8.34 time in the three-cone drill.
The measurables are nice, but will it translate to the field. We’ll soon see. The competition only gets stiffer from here.
Every dark horse to make the roster at every position. dark. Next
3. One’s in. Another’s out.
As one Eagle is added, another departs. In a subsequent move, following Gibson’s signing, Philly released wide receiver Dorren Miller. He’s a six-foot, 196-pound standout who played his college ball with the Carson-Newman Eagles.
Unfortunately for him, if his NFL dream is to continue, he’ll need to make that happen in another jersey.