Be thankful the Eagles studied Dallas Goedert and Jackrabbits football

Whenever ESPN and many of the other networks that carry college football in the fall begin handing out checks to some of these schools, it isn’t very often that we’re promised a ton of South Dakota State Jackrabbits games. Thankfully, the Philadelphia Eagles were paying attention to Dallas Goedert during his time there.

After walking on and taking a redshirt to begin his collegiate career, Dallas went on to become one of the better players the program has seen as of late, tallying 198 receptions for 2,988 yards and 21 touchdowns. That included a monster senior season in which he was named team captain.

Goedert’s NCAA career was highlighted by two straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons, consecutive Associated Press FCS All-American First-Team nods (2016, 2017), and three First-Team All-MVFC Awards (2015-2017). That’s when the Eagles came calling.

Philly made Dallas the 49th-overall selection, during Round 2 of the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent much of his first four seasons splitting time at tight end and learning from one of the best talents to ever play the position in an Eagles jersey, but Zach Ertz plays for the Arizona Cardinals now.

That means, for the first time in his young career, Dallas Goedert enters training camp as the top man on the depth chart at his position. Much is expected and for good reason.

Dallas Goedert lands just outside the top five in a recent ranking of NFL tight ends per ESPN.

Recently, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler compiled lists of the best players at every position after speaking with NFL executives, coaches, and players. Many of Philadelphia’s best defenders were ignored, but on Fowler’s tight end ranking, Goedert cracked the list at number six.

This one falls behind a paywall as part of ESPN’s collection of premium content, so we won’t share any quotes. Here’s what we can tell you though.

George Kittle (San Francisco 49ers), Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs), Darren Waller (Las Vegas Raiders), Mark Andrews (Baltimore Ravens), and Kyle Pitts (Atlanta Falcons) round out the top five in that order.

Following Godert and rounding out the top ten are T.J. Hockenson (Detroit Lions), Dalton Schultz (Dallas Cowboys), Dawson Knox (Buffalo Bills), and Hunter Henry (New England Patriots). We’re more than five months away from Thanksgiving, but that hasn’t stopped Birds fans from giving thanks for their team’s desire to watch South Dakota State Jackrabbits football and add Dallas Goedert to the nest.

Everyone is also thankful for what’s been a fantastic offseason. We needed that after feeling like this team was possibly headed in the wrong direction. After witnessing an, at times, frustrating run by the Birds in 2020 (and an up-and-down campaign in 2021 that led to a playoff berth and first-round exit), it’s nice to have some hope.

Expectations are high for 2022’s version of this team, and Dallas Goedert is a big reason for that. Hopefully, he puts up some big numbers and that leads to a lot of wins. No one questions that he has the talent to take some huge strides as one of the game’s most talented players at his position.