3 Thoughts on new Philadelphia Eagles OT Casey Tucker

In a move that hasn’t gotten a ton of attention, the Philadelphia Eagles added undrafted offensive tackle Casey Tucker. Here are three thoughts on that one.

We’ve said it before. We’ll say it again. The Philadelphia Eagles are serious about their offensive line. They’ve been very intentional about their plans to keep Carson Wentz upright. On Wednesday they announced the signing of another offensive tackle. This one’s Casey Tucker.

He comes to us by way of the Arizona State Sun Devils. Some of you may already recognize him as he attended Philly’s rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.

Here was the official announcement from the team’s Twitter account:

Here are three thoughts on the signing.

1. One way or another, this team is going to find the right mixture along the offensive line.

History has taught us there are three key components to building a successful franchise. You get a quarterback. You get guys to harass the quarterback. You get guys to keep those guys off of your quarterback. The Eagles are going to walk into training camp with a ton of bodies who will be competing for a chance to protect QB1.

That’s a wise move, seeing as how Carson Wentz is clearly headed for a huge payday and a long-term deal with ‘The Birds’.

2. You know we had to check out the measureables. 

We know he’s smart. Tucker began his collegiate career at Stanford before transferring to Arizona State. We know Philly likes that. It’s also a safe guess to state that his versatility has the likes of Eagles head coach Doug Pederson and their offensive line coach/ run game coordinator Jeff Stoutland salivating.

This six-foot-six, 315-pound prospect spent time at both tackle spots and at left guard with the Sun Devils. NFL.com says he’s actually closer to 308 pounds.

3. Here’s what’s been said about him.

Tucker fills the roster space left by the recently-retired Chris Long. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein correctly predicted he’d be in an NFL training camp and had this to say in Tucker’s draft profile:

"On paper, the pedigree looks solid with good. Tucker was a starter at Stanford before this past season at Arizona State, he has starting experience at both tackle spots and at guard and he has NFL size. On tape, it never materializes like it needs to. His athletic limitations are going to be difficult to overcome against athletic linemen in tight quarters and there isn’t enough bend to generate consistent power."

Tucker will join Matt Pryor, Tyreek Burwell, Ryan Bates, Andre Dillard, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Jason Peters, and Halapoulivaati Vaitai as the other listed offensive tackles on the current roster. You also can’t forget about Isaac Seumalo who can play any position. Making this roster won’t be an easy task for any of them.

We’ll see if Zierlein is correct in his analysis as OTAs continue and we get closer to training camp. As it stands now, this appears to be another nice pick up for Philadelphia.