Countess, snubbed at combine, gets chance with Eagles
When the Eagles prepared for the draft, Auburn defensive back Blake Countess was someone they targeted even though he was not invited to the scouting combine.
When the Eagles prepared for the draft, Auburn defensive back Blake Countess was someone they targeted even though he was not invited to the scouting combine.
The team watched film of the 5-foot-10, 184-pound Michigan transfer and considered him "a favorite player of ours," according to football executive Howie Roseman.
On the third day of the draft, the Eagles picked Countess in the sixth round.
"They try to invite everybody they think is going to get drafted," Countess said of the combine. "Not getting invited, I took it very personal, but you can only control what you can control, and I had to keep reminding myself of that throughout the process. . . . while I did take it very personal and I was upset about it, I didn't let that stop me. I continued to work as if I was going, and I had a pretty solid showing in my pro day, and ultimately got drafted."
Once a touted recruit out of Olney, Md., Countess began his college career at Michigan and became an immediate contributor. He started six of 12 games and was one of the top freshmen in the Big Ten.
A knee injury halted his sophomore season after one game, but he returned in 2013 and led the conference with six interceptions. Countess graduated after the 2014 season, and with a coaching change in Michigan, he decided to transfer to Auburn. That's where he spent 2015 as a safety, cornerback, and slot cornerback.
Countess finished with 71 tackles and two interceptions while starting every game. He was named Auburn's defensive player of the year. The Eagles saw an experienced, versatile player who could lend depth in a few spots.
"Phenomenal character kid and just . . . someone we think has a lot of value and versatility for our defense," Roseman said. "He can play nickel, he can play safety he can play on special teams. It was kind of unanimous there [in the sixth round]."
The Eagles list Countess as a safety on their roster. He will need to overcome a lack of size. Countess is the lightest of the 90 players on the roster.
He ran the 40-yard dash between 4.46 seconds and 4.51 seconds at his pro day. Roseman compared his skill set to that of Rodney McLeod, an undrafted free agent with similar measureables in 2012. Four years later, the Eagles made McLeod one of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL.
"I know they're getting a guy that is comfortable playing outside, comfortable playing inside, comfortable playing the free safety position, and then just a guy that's tough and a guy that understands the game of football," Countess said. "And those are all things that I really tried to make apparent on my visit and things I think I accomplished."
The Eagles invited Countess to Philadelphia as one of their 30 pre-draft visits. It was the last day players could visit, so it was likely the Eagles wanted more exposure to him before finalizing their draft board. The team has uncertainty down the depth chart at defensive back, where there is little experience and mostly late-round picks.
Countess impressed the Eagles enough to make him a player they targeted.
"When I got down there on my visit, you could tell they had really done their homework and looked into me a lot," Countess said. "They felt pretty strongly about me, and they said they had a few picks, and they didn't know when or how it was going to shake out, but they told me that I was definitely one of their guys."
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