The Philadelphia Eagles find an inside linebacker in their backyard as Shaun Bradley is the pick at 196. Here are a couple of immediate reactions.
If you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan and you went fishing in the pool that we call social media throughout the draft process, you learned pretty quickly that there was a small contingent that believed the “Birds” might be able to find a nice inside linebacker prospect in their own backyard. His name was Shaun Bradley.
As fate would have it, the “Birds” did indeed add him to the nest with the 196th-overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Here are two quick thoughts.
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1. He’s small, but he’s a gamer.
It’s almost amazing that someone could be six-foot-one and weigh 235 pounds and be called “undersized”, but that seems to be the consensus on Bradley. He’s a gamer though, having been a starter for three years at Temple.
2. Of course, we have to talk about his numbers.
In 42 career games at the collegiate level, Bradley racked up 225 total tackles, two sacks, three interceptions, five pass breakups, and three forced fumbles. He ran a 4.51-second 40-yard dash at the most recent NFL Scouting Combine.
Once teams reach the sixth round of any draft, the goal is to find value and hopefully someone that can contribute. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein gives him a draft grade of 5.59 in his draft profile which means he could be a nice bet to make the end of a roster or the practice squad.
For now, that sounds about right, but let’s hope he turns out to be a surprise steal. We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but no Eagles fan will complain if that’s the case.