October 17, 2015
As long as you're taking in some college football games today, here are some players who could make some sense for the Eagles in the 2016 NFL Draft.
I had been waiting for this game all season to preview Joseph against a high-powered offensive attack in Baylor... and then Joseph injured his knee and will be out for the season. D'oh. I don't care. For the first time ever, I'm going to preview a guy who isn't even playing because I like his game so much.
While he doesn't have tremendous size at 5'11, 197, Joseph is one of the meanest, nastiest players in college football. I'm just going to let his highlight reels do the talking. Here's Joseph killing people during his freshman (freshman!) year:
And his junior year highlights:
His numbers at WVU:
| Karl Joseph | Tackles | Sacks | FF | INT | PBU |
| 2012 | 102 (7 for loss) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 2013 | 68 (3 for loss) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2014 | 90 (4.5 for loss) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| 2015 | 20 (2 for loss) | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
But does Joseph fit the whole #culture thing? Here's what West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson thinks:
In my 21 years of football - #8 has been the best leader and player that I've ever had the privilege of coaching.
— Tony Gibson (@TonyGibsonWVU) October 7, 2015
Joseph is a guy who looks like he was born to play football. The Eagles of course want their safeties to be able to drop down into the slot and cover receivers man-to-man. Unfortunately, in the games I watched of Joseph, the Mountaineers rarely had him do that. On the occasions he did, however, he did look comfortable in that role. The Eagles would have to determine if (A) he can cover man-to-man at the pro level, or (B) be comfortable enough drafting a beast killer who make take some time to develop in coverage because they already have a pair of great cover safeties in Malcolm Jenkins and Walter Thurmond.
Mills is a player who will absolutely be on the Eagles' radar, due to the versatility he brings from the safety position to drop down and cover slot receivers man-to-man. With his blend of size and athleticism, Mills can also play corner on the outside. Watch him go mano-e-mano in the slot up against Auburn's D'haquille Williams, who is a highly regarded prospect. This is outstanding coverage (via draftbreakdown.com):
What I don't like about Mills, however, is that he doesn't seem all that willing to stick his nose in there and make tough tackles. This is less than awesome:
Mills also has a serious incident on his record (via Emily Lane of Nola.com) that Chip Kelly and the Eagles would have to investigate.
Mills was arrested in June after a woman who claims he punched her outside his Highland Road apartment picked him out of a lineup.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge October.
The alleged victim, who is 5-foot-3 inches tall and weighed 113 pounds, told police she was briefly knocked unconscious and received four stitches to her lip for her injuries, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Mills' attorney Brent Stockstill, however, had denied the alleged vcitim's account, saying it was actually Mills' girlfriend who threw the punch and that the victim gave multiple conflicting accounts of what happened.
But again, from a "scheme fit" perspective, Mills feels like the exact type of defensive back that Chip Kelly and Billy Davis covet.
Alexander is CBS Sports' 21st ranked prospect overall, and their top rated guard. He also has versatility, in that he has played both LG and RT for the Tigers, which the Eagles will like. Alexander has good size, he plays through the whistle, and you'll often see him bury opponents against their will, which is something the Eagles don't really have on the interior of their OL. However, I just don't see a first-round guy here. There is nothing that really stands out about his game, as he has far too many missed blocks below, and he is on the ground quite a bit.
He's worth noting because of the Eagles' obvious and desperate need for help along the offensive line, and obviously there are others who like him more than I do, but this would be a disappointing first round pick, in my view. Third round? Sure.
If you read this column every week, I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but of the 31 cornerbacks that were selected in the 2015 NFL Draft, the three corners the Eagles drafted all landed among the top six players in pass breakups the last two years, including the #1 overall player, sixth round pick JaCorey Shepherd, who had 28. Here's that full list:
| Player | Team | PBU - 2014 | PBU - 2013 | TOTAL |
| JaCorey Shepherd | Eagles | 15 | 13 | 28 |
| Darryl Roberts | Patriots | 17 | 7 | 24 |
| Dexter McDonald | Raiders | 13 | 10 | 23 |
| Randall Evans | Eagles | 10 | 12 | 22 |
| D'Joun Smith | Colts | 8 | 13 | 21 |
| Eric Rowe | Eagles | 13 | 7 | 20 |
| Craig Mager | Chargers | 10 | 9 | 19 |
| Doran Grant | Steelers | 9 | 10 | 19 |
| Kevin Johnson | Texans | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| Lorenzo Doss | Broncos | 9 | 9 | 18 |
| P.J. Williams | Saints | 10 | 7 | 17 |
| Alex Carter | Lions | 9 | 8 | 17 |
| Charles Gaines | Browns | 10 | 7 | 17 |
| Marcus Peters | Chiefs | 7 | 9 | 16 |
| Steven Nelson | Chiefs | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| Damian Swann | Saints | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| Quandre Diggs | Lions | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| Ifo Ekpre-Olomu | Browns | 9 | 6 | 15 |
| Trae Waynes | Vikings | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| Tevin Mitchel | Redskins | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| Byron Jones | Cowboys | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| Jalen Collins | Falcons | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| Senquez Golson | Steelers | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| Quinten Rollins | Packers | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Ronald Darby | Bills | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Bobby McCain | Dolphins | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Josh Shaw | Bengals | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Taurean Nixon | Broncos | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Akeem King | Falcons | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Tray Walker* | Ravens | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Tye Smith* | Seahawks | N/A | N/A | N/A |
*PBU stats for Tray Walker and Tye Smith could not be located.
The last two seasons, as a true freshman and sophomore, Hargreaves had 6 interceptions and 24 pass breakups.
Hargreaves doesn't have the size that many teams (the Eagles included) would prefer, but watch the ball skills:
Hargreaves may be one of those guys that the media and fans like more than NFL people, because of his measurables. And if so, there's an outside chance he could land in a draftable area for the Eagles.
Here are the 2015 NCAA sack leaders through the first six weeks of the season:
| Player | School | Sacks |
| Carl Nassib | Penn State | 10 |
| Joe Schobert | Wisconsin | 9 |
| Steven Taylor | Houston | 8 |
| Emmanuel Ogbah (previously highlighted here) | Oklahoma State | 7.5 |
| Miles Garrett | Texas A&M | 7.5 |
"We want taller, longer guys with longer levers that can two-gap," said Chip Kelly back in July. "And if you look at our D-Line, they’re taller and longer than when we first got here." Nassib would certainly fit the "taller and longer" initiative.
Here's Nassib's game against Buffalo this season, when he had 10 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and an INT.
In the video above, in addition to being able to get to the quarterback, you can see that Nassib is mindful of getting his hands up in passing lanes, and Penn State even likes to drop him into coverage on occasion. He'll have to put on more weight at the next level if he were to play DE in a 3-4, but the athleticism is there.
As an added note, Nassib is a former walk-on who has had to earn everything he has gotten. His brother is Giants backup QB Ryan Nassib.
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