June 20, 2023
The 2023 USFL regular season came to a close this past weekend, and I'm just going to assume that most of you didn't watch any of it.
About a dozen or so players who played in the USFL's 2022 season made NFL rosters last year, and one — punt returner KaVontae Turpin — went to the Pro Bowl. The Eagles didn't sign any USFL guys last year, but they have dipped into these secondary leagues in the past, most notably when they signed TE Tyree Jackson out of the XFL in 2021.
Here are three guys who could maybe interest the Eagles as training camp fliers, and yeah it's a slow news day so shut up.
Surratt had a productive college career as a wide receiver at Wake Forest, catching 41 passes for 581 yards and 4 TDs as a redshirt freshman in 2018, and 66 catches for 1001 yards and 11 TDs in 2019. He was a big contested catch guy not unlike J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. A look:
Surratt opted out during the 2020 season due to COVID, and then he had a bad Combine in 2021, running a 4.7, which caused him to go undrafted.
He signed with the Lions, did not make the initial 53, and landed on their practice squad for a while before they waived him. He played in the USFL in 2022, moving to tight end, and got another shot with the Chargers, but got hurt during training camp and was waived with an injury settlement.
In 2023, Surratt bulked up (he's now listed at 6'3 234), and made a big jump as a tight end. Among all players (not just tight ends), he finished second in the USFL in receptions (50), third in receiving yards (552), first in yards after the catch (306).
The original "enforcer" (lol) in the Eagles' offense was Arcega-Whiteside, who the team unsuccessfully tried to convert to tight end. Surratt could make some sense in the mix as sort of a guy in the same Arcega-Whiteside / Zach Pascal mold.
Ginda led the NCAA in 2018 with 173 tackles for San Jose State in 2017. I suppose he probably felt like he would never top that so he declared early for the NFL Draft at a young age, but went undrafted. He's sort of been bouncing around since, spending time in training camps for the Cardinals, Dolphins, and Saints, as well as stints in three different leagues — the AAF, the XFL, and the USFL.
He led the USFL in tackles in 2023 with 104 of them, and he was second in the USFL in tackles in 2022, with 90. My analysis: He lacks ideal testing measurables, but he makes a lot of tackles. Anyway, the Eagles could use more bodies at linebacker, and this dude at least deserves a training camp invite somewhere.
Wadman punted for two seasons for the Denver Broncos in 2018 and 2019. He finished 23rd and 26th in EPA per punt those two seasons. He was the first punter selected in the USFL draft in 2022, and averaged 45.1 yards per punt, with an average net of 38.6. In 2023, he averaged 48.7 yards per punt, with an average net of 41.0, both of which led the league.
The Eagles have a punting competition already in incumbent Arryn Siposs vs. undrafted rookie free agent Ty Zentner. In the lone OTA practice in which we got to watch the punters square off, Siposs clearly won the day. If Zentner shows early in camp that he's not the guy, the Eagles should get another punter in there to continue to push Siposs. So, you know, why not this guy?
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