Eagles want to know what else a player can do

During Chip Kelly's first spring with the Eagles, he practiced a wide receiver at defensive back and a tight end at linebacker. He drafted an offensive lineman who converted from quarterback and defensive lineman. He signed a linebacker who played tight end in college and a tight end who played quarterback in college.

In two years with the Eagles, Kelly's made clear the value he places on versatility. The Eagles are scheduled to pick eight times during the NFL draft from Thursday to Saturday, and when they're on the clock they will consider what else a player can do besides his listed position.

"The more a player can do, the more valuable they are," said Ed Marynowitz, the Eagles' vice president of player personnel. "So a guy that can play both guard and tackle is more valuable than a guy that can just exclusively play guard. A guy that can play corner and safety may be a little bit more valuable than a guy that can only play safety."

The Eagles will fill their roster to the maximum of 90 players this weekend, and attention will soon turn to who will survive the eventual cut to 53. But the Eagles often have a different number in mind: 46. That's the number of players who are active on game day.

Once the shock faded after the team signed Tim Tebow, speculation began about how Kelly could use him other than simply as a quarterback.

Kelly said that if a player does not start, his spot on the team will be determined by the different ways he can help. Kelly cares about how that player contributes on special teams and where a player can help in case of an injury. A backup offensive lineman must be able to play several positions on the line. A backup linebacker can be cross-trained to play inside and outside.

"When you only have 46 guys active on game day, you've got to have versatility in your nonstarters, because there's just not enough numbers," Kelly said during his first preseason with the team in 2013. "If you're two deep at every position, that's 44 excluding specialists. And at some positions, you're going to carry a third . . . so where does that spot come from? It's got to come from somewhere. If you're talking about making the 46-man roster, that versatility part is huge for guys that are not the starters."

During the draft evaluation, versatility not only determines where a player can play in an emergency. It can sometimes become the player's primary position.

The Eagles' search for safety has them dipping into the cornerback pool, where they believe a skill set can translate. They can find a starting guard from the list of the top offensive tackles. A college defensive end might become an outside linebacker on the Eagles. An athletic quarterback can be moved to wide receiver or defensive back.

"I think that's part of what we do as evaluators is you have to project," Marynowitz said. "Certainly those are a little bit more difficult to make at times because there is no evidence on film of them doing that. But you can get a lot of those questions answered in private workout settings where you can put the guy through some different drills or maybe things that you weren't able to see on tape. You can put them through drills to better evaluate those things."

One of the draft's most intriguing prospects is Washington's Shaq Thompson, who is listed as a linebacker but is viewed by some teams as a safety and other teams as a running back. That versatility is a plus, although teams need to determine what he does the best.

The Eagles have shown interest in Thompson. Marynowitz would not say what position the Eagles would list for Thompson. If he's a safety, he could fill a clear need. If not, he might just be a versatile player lacking a clear position on the defense.

"A player that can do a lot of different things," Marynowitz said of Thompson, "his value will be different for every club you talk to in terms of where exactly they slot him."

Kelly said the requirement for versatility varies based on position. The Eagles are not as concerned about position versatility for a nose guard as they are about safety.

But what the Eagles made clear is they don't just consider "53-man value" when putting together a roster. They also think about the "46-man value." It will be a major part of their decisions this week, especially in the later rounds.

@ZBerm