May 14, 2016

Eagles' rookie minicamp practice notes

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Matt Rourke/AP

Here's Carson Wentz waving to me while throwing a bubble screen. So polite.

On Friday, the Eagles had their first official practice session open to the media for the first time in 2016. The Eagles had 53 players in attendance – all eight of their draft picks, 17 undrafted rookie free agents, four players entering their second year in the NFL, and 26 "tryouts."

We (the media) were only in there a short time and the Eagles were running extremely basic drills, but hey, this is like a "practice notes" tune up for me, so I'll take it.

• I had the opportunity to watch Carson Wentz throw in person for the fifth time on Friday. Previously, I got to see him in a "real" practice setting for three days at the Senior Bowl back in January, and then once at the Combine in Indianapolis. I felt that he was the most impressive quarterback I had seen in five years attending the Senior Bowl, and in my opinion, he followed up his showing there by being the most impressive quarterback at the Combine.

Wentz was able to open it up and make difficult throws in those settings. In practice on Thursday, it was dialed way back. The Eagles had him doing very basic things, such as taking snaps from under center, executing play action to invisible running backs, and making short throws. Did he look impressive? Sure, I guess. He just kind of "looks the part," if that makes sense. But for those who have seen him really let it rip, it was nothing.

• The most notable name among the "tryouts" was Everett Golson, who was the starting quarterback at Notre Dame before losing his job to Malik Zaire. He transferred to Florida State for his fifth year of eligibility.

I was surprised by Golson's arm strength. He has a gun, so much so that I went back and took a peek at scouting reports to see if that was the consensus of him in live action. (It was). It's very rare for a "tryout" to make it past rookie minicamp, but I wonder if Golson showed enough physical traits to at least earn his way to the next round of the offseason at OTAs next week.

• Staying on the quarterback theme, the Eagles brought in Kyle Washington from Angelo State to work out as a wide receiver. Nice kid. Washington is listed at 6'5, 200. He may not even be 200 pounds.

Here's that 6'5 QB (Kyle Washington) that they brought in to work out at WR. He's skinny. pic.twitter.com/yAIFAAcFah
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) May 13, 2016

The Eagles gave him No. 7, although as you can see above, Washington does not have his sleeves flapping in the wind the same way that Sam Bradford likes.

There are advantages to knowing the quarterback position when playing wide receiver, as Washington explained.

"I think understanding what the quarterback is looking for, the timing, rhythm, and everything that goes into the quarterback's drop has to match what the receiver does with his route, so I think that helps me when running my routes," he said.

I do wonder if the Eagles ever gave a rookie tryout during rookie minicamp the number 5 when Donovan McNabb was the Eagles' starting quarterback. My guess is no freaking way. Washington wore 7 in college, but he didn't request 7 or anything, and it's not even a wide receiver number. "It was in my locker when I got here," said Washington.

• During the Chip Kelly era, we became accustomed to music blaring throughout the entirety of practice. For example, they'd go through 25 or more songs during any one practice. Music at practice during the Doug Pederson era seems to be much more sporadic. In the time the media was allowed to observe practice, there were only two songs that played. They were:

- "My Boo" by Ghost Town DJs, which also happens to be the "Running Man Challenge" song. Journalizin'.