December 09, 2023
During the college football season each year, as long as you're watching the games, we point out five players each week to keep an eye on who make logical sense for the Philadelphia Eagles in the following year's draft.
The only college football game on the slate this week is Army vs. Navy, a great tradition every year, but not exactly a preview of future NFL players. Let's take a look at five players whose seasons are already over for varying reasons.
Travis was having a Heisman-like season when he suffered a gruesome leg injury that ended his season. Before he got hurt, Travis was 207/324 for 2756 yards (8.5 YPA), 20 TDs, and 2 INTs. He also had 7 rushing TDs.
Travis doesn't have the physical attributes or arm talent that guys like Caleb Williams (USC) or Drake Maye (UNC) have, but he is widely thought of as smart, a great leader, and a winner, as he helped turn around a stagnant Florida State program. His collegiate career will end on a 17-game winning streak. His biggest strength was probably a willingness to allow FSU's elite set of skill position players make plays on the football.
The three big knocks on Travis will be as follows:
He'll likely go Day 3, possibly even late Day 3, but I like his fit in Philly as a quarterback with a good head on his shoulders who can allow the Eagles' set of elite skill position players to make plays.
I should also note that drafting a quarterback is probably only a viable option if the Eagles think that Tanner McKee is ready to be the No. 2 behind Hurts in 2024. In that event, they would be able to save on cap space for a backup quarterback, but would probably draft a No. 3. Otherwise, they'll likely either retain Marcus Mariota for another season or find some other veteran quarterback with game experience.
Hadden's season is also over suffering a shoulder injury, but in 7 games he had 3 INTs (including a pick-six) and 8 pass breakups.
The Eagles' secondary probably doesn't produce as many turnovers as they should, given their elite pass rush, and Hadden has clear ball skills.
Amegadjie's season is over with a quad injury, but he has experience starting at LT and RG for Yale, so, you know, two different positions and on both sides of the line. Before he got hurt, Amegadjie was dominant against lower level competition and was thought of by some as a potential Day 2 player.
You want the best FCS prospects to look dominant against their competition. When he was on the field this year, Yale OT Kiran Amegadjie was.
— Ian Cummings (@IC_Draft) November 1, 2023
Superlative explosive talent with suffocating length, a tenacious finisher, and a budding technician. He's a Top 100 prospect on my board. pic.twitter.com/yP9wcA83sA
It's probably more likely he'll go Day 3, and he would make sense for the Eagles as a swing tackle.
Jackson is a high ceiling type of prospect with an impressive blend of size and athleticism, but whose game needs development. In 2023, he had 44 tackles (13.5 for loss) and 6.5 sacks. He had a breakout game against Alabama when he had 3.5 sacks.
Landon Jackson is having a career day pic.twitter.com/BBrfnjDwxu
— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) October 14, 2023
Jackson is still only 20 years old (he turns 21 in January), which adds to his appeal as a prospect. He should probably go back to school, as a big season in 2024 could land him in the first round, but if he comes out he'd be an intriguing early Day 3 developmental project.
(Arkansas isn't bowl eligible, so we'll profile Jackson here.)
Update: Oops, Jackson said that he was returning to Arkansas on Thursday. My bad. The perils of writing these things weeks in advance...
Limmer has played both at center and guard for Arkansas, and squat alert 🚨, he can squat 700 pounds.
Arkansas’ Beaux Limmer with a smooth 700 pound squat. pic.twitter.com/PeAPbJ5Jce
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) August 2, 2023
As we all know, squatting massive amounts of weight = Brotherly Shove success!
But also, the Eagles need more interior offensive line depth. If Jason Kelce retires this offseason, then Cam Jurgens will move to center, and the Eagles will have to fill in someone (Tyler Steen?) at RG. The only other player currently on the 53-man roster who could play center would be Landon Dickerson, who of course starts at LG. Limmer played at RG and C at Arkansas and would give the Eagles some interior offensive line versatility off the bench.
(Again, we'll sneak Limmer in here since Arkansas' season is already over.)
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