Paulson Adebo can restore Philadelphia Eagles fans faith in west coast ball

Let’s just take some inventory here. Everyone still remembers that Pac-12 is a Power Five conference right? Why is it then that Philadelphia Eagles fans sometimes gloss over ‘left coast’ football as if it doesn’t matter?

Sure, we gave Pete Carroll’s USC Trojans their props, but that was forever ago. These days, when you poll most Philadelphia Eagles fans about those football programs that play closer to the Pacific Ocean, there’s this vibe that Pac-12’s crop of talent needs to be either added as a give-up option or ignored entirely. Oh, we love those SEC guys! The Pac-12? Not so much.

Okay, a few things must be taken into account if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

No disrespect to current Eagles greats like Zach Ertz (Stanford) or what team legends like Nick Foles (Arizona) did in the midnight green, but when you look at what Nickell Robey-Coleman and Kevon Seymour did in 2020 (both from USC) or if you weigh what Philly got out of Sidney Jones (Washington) and are still getting from JJ Arcega-Whiteside (Stanford), which is nothing, it’s easy to see where the scarlet letter comes from.

There are Birds fans that wouldn’t touch anyone from the Pac-12 with a ten-foot pole. Just watch their reaction whenever you mention one of them, but Paulson Adebo is someone that might be able to change that narrative, maybe. He’s six-foot-one and tips the scales at 190 pounds, but he’s a baller. At least he had some game the last time we all saw him, but the decision he made to sit out in 2020 hurt his draft stock, whether anyone wants to admit that or not.

If anyone needed the 2020 season to prove how good they could be, it was probably Adebo. He had an up-and-down go of things in 2019, and the jury is still out on how NFL-ready he is.

This is still someone that the Philadelphia Eagles should consider.

Prior to 2020’s NFL Draft, Adebo was seen as one of the nation’s better corners, but he decided, rather than leave the Stanford Cardinal, he’d return for his senior season. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic rocked all of our worlds. He’ll enter the 2020 NFL Draft, but it’s been a while. No one knows what he’d bring to the table for an NFL franchise now having been MIA for a year.

It’s hard to forget what he did in the 2019 season opener (five tackles, a pick, and two pass breakups versus the Northwestern Wildcats), but it’s also hard to forget that he’s been victimized one time too many by double moves (a trait no Eagles fan likes seeing or hearing about). Adebo’s collegiate resume consists of 97 total tackles, eight picks, a forced fumble, and 27 pass breakups in 22 career games.

This is a young man that can be placed in the top ten of the best prospects entering the 2021 NFL Draft at the cornerback position. Unfortunately, he’s also someone that you can make a successful argument on why he’d be taken late on Day 2.

We know someone at the NovaCare Complex watches a lot of Stanford football. The Eagles drafted Casey Toohill in 2020. They also have three former members of the Cardinal on the current roster (the aforementioned Ertz and Arcega-Whiteside as well as Nate Herbig). With that being said, might there be a possibility that they’ve given Paulson Adebo a look?

He isn’t someone that a team should take in Round 1, but if we slide into Round 3 or Round 4 and Adebo is available, it might be worth considering. We’ll have to wait and see if the Birds feel the same way.