With the Philadelphia Eagles only having five picks in the 2019 draft, it was vital for the team to sign as many good undrafted players as possible to help provide enough depth for the team to make a deep playoff run.
Pro Football Focus believes Howie Roseman did a great job at bringing in undrafted talent, as they say the Eagles got two of the top 10 available players after the conclusion of the draft.
They say Ryan Bates and T.J. Edwards will provide some great depth for the team in 2019 and beyond.
Here's their analysis of Bates:
"Bates earned an 81.0 overall grade across his 879 offensive snaps split between left and right tackle at Penn State a year ago, but size and power concerns should push him inside to guard in the NFL. His 81.0 overall grade ranked seventh among qualifying tackles in 2018, and his 76.9 run-blocking grade also ranked seventh. Moving Bates to guard in Philly should sew up at least some of his woes in pass protection."
Here's what they mentioned about Edwards:
"Among off-ball linebackers in the 2019 class with 400-plus defensive snaps played this past season, Edwards ranked fifth in overall grade (90.8) and 12th in coverage grade (84.8). The flaws in his game stem from his burst to the ball and lackluster play recognition. His teammate Ryan Connelly, who went to the Giants in the fifth round of this year’s draft, blew Edwards out of the water in terms of instincts and play recognition – that likely steered many teams away. He’ll need to improve mentally to make up for an average change of direction and burst, but his size and experience should put him in a position to compete for a backup spot early."
In 2017, Corey Clement was the undrafted player the Eagles got the most out of, especially during the playoff stretch. In 2018, Josh Adams became the undrafted gem who contributed to the Eagles' playoff push late in the regular season. Maybe one of Bates or Edwards (or possibly both) could contribute big in 2019 for the Eagles.
