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Some LBs at Senior Bowl might fill Eagles' needs

MOBILE, Ala. - Luke Kuechly isn't here. Dont'a Hightower, ditto. Those are the standout linebackers most fans have heard about, who figure to be targets if the Eagles, drafting 15th overall, select a linebacker in the first round for the first time since Jerry Robinson in 1979.

"Pass rush is probably my favorite part of the game," North Carolina State's Audie Cole said. (Gerry Broome/AP file photo)
"Pass rush is probably my favorite part of the game," North Carolina State's Audie Cole said. (Gerry Broome/AP file photo)Read more

MOBILE, Ala. - Luke Kuechly isn't here. Dont'a Hightower, ditto.

Those are the standout linebackers most fans have heard about, who figure to be targets if the Eagles, drafting 15th overall, select a linebacker in the first round for the first time since Jerry Robinson in 1979.

Kuechly and Hightower, from Boston College and Alabama, respectively, are entering the April draft with eligibility left, and since the organizers call what's going on in Mobile this week the Senior Bowl, they weren't invited. But other linebackers were. While we can be reasonably certain the Birds will try to upgrade their linebacking in the offseason, we can't know whether they will try to do it in the first round, later in the draft, through free agency, or by making an offensive-line coach a linebacker. (We were kidding on that last part.)

The Eagles just might add more than one linebacker this offseason. So talking to some of the better-regarded guys at that position practicing for Saturday's Senior Bowl seemed like a prudent thing to do yesterday.

First off, some of the fellows they call linebackers here wouldn't be linebackers for the Eagles, or any 4-3 team - this applies to, say, Alabama's 273-pound Courtney Upshaw, who figures to be a 3-4 linebacker, or maybe a 4-3 defensive end. He is primarily a pass rusher.

Of the 4-3 linebackers assembled in Mobile, the guy with the best pedigree might be North Carolina's Zach Brown, who is projected as a first- to second-round talent. Brown, who measured 6-1 3/8 and weighed in at 236, projects as an outside, cover linebacker in the pros. That probably isn't the Eagles' biggest need, but then again, they didn't send any LBs to the Pro Bowl, did they?

"My speed in coverage, and blitzing," Brown said, when asked what he thinks are his main assets.

He knows the knock on him is that, at times, he wasn't physical, didn't impose his will on blockers.

"I want to show [here] I can get off blocks, I can be strong at the point of attack. A lot of people feel like I can't," Brown said. "When I was playing during the season, I used a lot of finesse moves to get around the blockers. Now the finesse has got to go away."

North Carolina State's Audie Cole also projects more on the outside, maybe strongside. At 6-4 1/8, 248, he would dwarf anyone on the Eagles' current linebacking corps, even if his flowing brown locks do bring to mind Casey Matthews.

"I grew it out a couple years ago, then I cut it. Cursed myself every day for cutting it. So I grew it back out," said Cole, who denied being a long-lost Matthews sibiling.

Cole said he often covered the tight end at N.C. State, and thinks he has a good grasp of pro defensive concepts. He also blitzed a lot.

"Pass rush is probably my favorite part of the game," said Cole, who managed 5 1/2 sacks as a senior. "I've been successful with it."

Florida State's Nigel Bradham, who despite his name is not a character from the PBS series "Downton Abbey," also projects outside, at 6-1 5/8, 237.

"Everybody wanted to see if my hips are flexible," Bradham said yesterday. "I think I showcased that a little bit more [this week]. I showcased my pass coverage, running backs and tight ends."

Bradham said he thinks he can be a middle linebacker, though his slender frame doesn't hint at that.

Savage life for Birds?

Talking to Eagles player personnel executive Phil Savage yesterday, I got the idea he wouldn't say no if the Birds decided he was the guy to replace personnel chief Ryan Grigson, who left to become general manager in Indianapolis.

Savage, a former Ravens and Browns exec, has worked with the Eagles the past few years while doing color commentary on Alabama football broadcasts. General manager Howie Roseman referred this week to internal candidates and people who have been brought in from other organizations over the past few years, who might fill Grigson's role. But Roseman also spoke of perhaps waiting until after the draft, because that is when personnel contracts expire - meaning he is interested in looking at outside candidates.

Some fans have questioned how the Eagles can go into the draft with Grigson's job unfilled. Savage said much of Grigson's responsibilities involved scheduling scouts, and so on, and that work is pretty much done, along with the season. The Eagles will miss his draft input, obviously, but Savage said there is no gaping hole left in their preparation.

Lining up

Most observers seem to think the best group in Mobile is the defensive linemen. Eagles fans might consider that unfortunate, because their team has used a lot of high picks on d-linemen in recent years, and is reasonably well set there. But as the Giants' run to the Super Bowl has shown, you can never have too many big, strong, pocket-collapsing guys. The Eagles will have to consider some athletes in this group if they are still on the board at 15th overall - remember what Howie Roseman said about most mistakes being made by reaching for need rather than taking the best player.

Front and center there would be Clemson's 6-2, 311-pound Brandon Thompson, who wreaked havoc on the South's offensive line yesterday, playing inside, where the Birds probably still could use a difference-maker. (Remember, too, Roseman didn't commit to paying the $7.5 million bonus due in March that will keep Cullen Jenkins with the Eagles.)

"I feel like I can play anywhere, from a zero [nose tackle] to a seven [defensive end]," Thompson said. "Whatever they put in front of me, I love a challenge. I'm not going to back down from anything . . . The biggest question I got this week [from teams] was versatility, where I want to play."

He sure looks like a 4-3 d-tackle, though, a powerful one.

"That's what I love, I love the inside," Thompson said. "Just being able to get off, right over the ball and just get straight to it . . . I love contact."