As Draft Ends, A Look At The Eagles For The NFL

There was once a time where my excitement over the NFL Draft's third day dimmed beyond all recognition. It became something to watch during the NBA or NHL Playoffs. I would still follow all of the picks, but none of those picks ever had the same supercharged appearance of the flashy first round or the wildly-entertaining second and third rounds.

All of that really changed when I began realizing that finding the right fifth or sixth round pick can forever alter the perception of a franchise's future. Donald Driver was the all-time leading receiver in Green Bay Packers history, which isn't too bad for a seventh-round pick.

The Miami Dolphins' Zach Thomas was an AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year and became one of the best tacklers of his era, and he was a fifth round pick.

Remember Terrell Davis and his Mile High Salute? It wouldn't have happened without Denver's sixth round pick in 1995. It came five years after the Broncos drafted Shannon Sharpe in the seventh round.

And there's that quarterback in New England who was the 199th overall pick, in the sixth round, in 2000. Six quarterbacks went before Tom Brady - one for every Super Bowl ring he's won for the Patriots. His career is still going strong, in case anyone missed the video of him practicing in the Fish Field House last week.

So it's impossible to evaluate late-round draft picks as players who won't make future impacts. Some of them, usually more than a handful every year, have some incredible value and will eventually prove their worth, multiple times over, to the franchises that take a chance on them. For a team like the Buffalo Bills, that's a hope that they'll find in a Jersey kid that could outjump anyone in the ACC when they selected Tommy Sweeney in the seventh round on Saturday.

"A lot of people talk about our tight end position as a difficult position, both physically and mentally," assistant head coach and tight end positions coach Frank Leonard said before the 2018 season. "The position has so many job descriptions, especially in our style of offense. A lot of coaches use the term 'pro-style' for our offense, and it is, but there are, in fact, many elements to what we do."

That makes Sweeney the perfect fit for the Bills, who are still in transition. Buffalo had to use four quarterbacks last year despite drafting Josh Allen in the first round, and they combined for 271 completions, just over 50 of which went to tight ends. The leading receiving tight end, Jason Croom, returned, but the team cycled in two other offseason acquisitions from Cincinnati. So there's a created void for need for a tight end capable of adapting to an offense.

For Sweeney, that's the beauty of his fit. He was a two-time All-ACC selection in his last two years, making him the first Eagle to accomplish an all-conference selection in over a decade. He is nearly 260 pounds, making him a big target with hands. It'll make him appealing in the NFL as a red zone target and proficient blocker, especially in two tight-end formations - all of which sounds awfully familiar to a system run at Boston College.

"He showed us his physical attributes in the camp as a pass receiver, but we got him on the sled and the bags," Leonard said. "We realized he could possess power as a run blocker. He's certainly done that (at BC), going from 220 pounds (as a rookie) to 260 pounds (as a graduate student)."

Sweeney became BC's only third day draft pick, which itself was a virtual shock. That it became a disappointment is, in some ways, a testament to the Eagles' ability to develop NFL-ready talent because there was a time where satisfaction would have stopped with one or two picks. Instead, the expectation lofted to upwards of eight or nine, meaning franchises wound up stealing some pretty talented undrafted free agents.

The UDFA route is significantly more unique because the player chooses the situation. The talent levels are often the same as a sixth or seventh round pick, but teams pass for a variety of reasons. As the draft process settles down, a player in the seventh round has to go to a franchise, which conceivably could be a bad pick, while an undrafted player can choose the team to sign with, as long as there's interest.

Arian Foster, for example, became a rushing champion despite being passed over by everyone, and Kurt Warner won a Super Bowl and two league MVP awards. Jake Delhomme also went to a Super Bowl after going undrafted, and Tony Romo is perhaps one of the most famous examples of a player finding the right situation.

So for players like Wyatt Ray, Aaron Monteiro and Lukas Denis, finding the right home could be as easy as being ignored over 200-plus draft picks. Their eventual success will ultimately force pro franchises to ignore their own biases and start placing more value on players who wore the Maroon and Gold.

"We're in a fast conference here," head coach Steve Addazio said during Pro Day. "We have a bunch of them in the NFL now, and we're about to add to it. This is a big class and it's moving on. Now it's time to evaluate the next class, which is how they're going to be top end talent to go on."

Ray, in particular, is likely going to have an impact. The Cleveland Browns snapped him up for a potential spot with a defensive unit featuring Myles Garrett on the edge. They drafted two linebackers, which creates competition for a more fluid player like Ray, but third round pick Sione Takitaki was one rep behind Ray at the Combine in bench press. Fifth round pick Mack Wilson, meanwhile, played more inside linebacker in college and only started for one season.

"I feel like you have to be able to play a hybrid type position," Ray said during Pro Day. "(You have to be) at the edge of the rush and set the edge against the run while dropping back in the pass. That's the jack of all trades that I feel like I can be in the new style of NFL."

Connor Strachan, meanwhile, worked out for some teams at fullback and may gain an opportunity in Jacksonville, where former Eagles head coach Tom Coughlin continued his string of snapping up players from his old program. Strachan joins Michael Walker as undrafted free agents in Duval County for a team executive known for developing BC players as part of two Super Bowl runs with the New York Giants.

For Aaron Monteiro and Ray Smith, there's other opportunities with coaches known for maximizing versatility and intelligence. Smith signed with Detroit to work for his old position coach, Paul Pasqualoni, who is the defensive coordinator under Matt Patricia. Monteiro signed with Miami for an opportunity to block for new starting quarterback Josh Rosen and new head coach (and Boston College alum) Brian Flores. Both Patricia and Flores became head coaches after working with Bill Belichick, a coach notorious for wanting smart players capable of processing multiple plays at once.

That's a similar situation for defensive backs Taj-Amir Torres and Hamp Cheevers, who will vie for a spot for Mike Vrabel in Tennessee. Vrabel was a world champion linebacker for Belichick, and his son is currently on the Boston College roster, creating a logical fit from the "No Fly Zone" defense.

"We play in the ACC, and that's one of the toughest conferences in college football," Monteiro said. "We're playing some of the best defensive players in the country, and that gets you ready for what you might be playing with next year."

At the end of the draft, BC saw four players selected, tying the 1995 and 2014 years for players selected in a seven-round NFL Draft format. It's the second time during the Steve Addazio era that four players went in the same draft, and it continues a trend of having at least one player selected every year since 1980 (the lone exceptions being 2005 and 2013).

That it's a disappointment illustrates how far Boston College is coming as a program. The small taste of success only makes everyone want a little bit more, a little bit quicker. It makes fans and observers want the undrafted players to succeed that much more. It creates a little bit more of an edge in Chestnut Hill, where success is always measured by the team for the byproduct of pushing the individual. It does nothing to dim the light of today, and it only intensifies the hotness of the light that is coming tomorrow.

As Draft Ends, A Look At The Eagles For The NFL

Players Mentioned

Hamp Cheevers

Lukas Denis

Aaron Monteiro

Wyatt Ray

Ray Smith

Connor Strachan

Tommy Sweeney

Taj-Amir Torres

Michael Walker

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