July 21, 2024

Three Eagles players were selected in the UFL Draft

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Reggie Hildred/USA TODAY Sports

Gottlieb Ayedze

Three undrafted rookie Eagles players — OL Gottlieb Ayedze, DT Gabe Hall, and TE McCallan Castles — were all selected in the UFL Draft on Wednesday.

What's the UFL? Well, it's a mix of the XFL and the USFL. Those leagues merged, in case you missed that.

What's the UFL Draft? Evidently, the UFL holds a draft for players who were not selected in the in the NFL Draft. Per FoxSports:

In order to be a draft-eligible prospect in the UFL College Draft, players must have been eligible and gone unselected in the 2024 NFL Draft. Players selected Wednesday were also at least three years out of high school or waived their college eligibility.
UFL teams will hold the rights to players they select until they either report to the team or the team gives up the player's rights. All draftees who sign a UFL contract will have an "NFL Out" clause during the NFL season.

Ayedze was a first-round pick, fourth overall, by the D.C. Defenders. Hall also got picked in the first round, seventh overall, by the San Antonio Brahmas. Castles was selected in the ninth round, 65th overall, by the Memphis Showboats. They'll all compete for roster spots in Eagles training camp, to be clear.

Yes, it's a slow news day. As long as we're talking about undrafted rookie free agents, let's rank their likelihood of making the 53-man roster:

DT Gabe Hall: Hall was a draftable player, with some notable analysts giving a fourth-round grade. The Eagles have shaky interior defensive line depth.
OT Anim Dankwah: It is my understanding that Dankwah is the guy the scouts were generally most excited about after they made their UDFA signings, however, it'll be hard for an undrafted offensive lineman to crack the roster with the Eagles' solid depth there. I imagine the Eagles will try to hide Dankwah a bit during the preseason games and try to get him back to the practice squad.
TE McCallan Castles: The Eagles don't have great tight end depth, so there is some opportunity for an undrafted rookie tight end to make the roster with a good camp.
OL Gottlieb Ayedze: Like with Dankwah above, Ayedze might find it difficult beating out established vets for depth spots on the roster, but he does have some intriguing athletic traits.
RB Kendall Milton: Milton is a big, one-cut-and-go sledgehammer-type back, so he offers a different skill set than Kenny Gainwell and Will Shipley. The Eagles only have three locks to make the team at running back, so there's opportunity for a guy like Milton if they keep four.
S Andre' Sam: Sam is a 25-year-old prospect who originally enrolled at McNeese State in 2017, transferred to Marshall in 2022, and then to LSU in 2023. Even if the Eagles like him, I doubt they'll have to worry much about another team claiming a 25-year-old safety off of waivers at cutdowns.

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