The Eagles have announced the signing of 12 undrafted free agents whom they’ll take into camp hoping to find a diamond in the rough. They found a solid contributor in Corey Clement a few years back when he went undrafted in 2017, and they hope to replicate that and find another contributor for a future Super Bowl-run from this year’s class.
Mike Jacquet
CB, Louisiana
Stats: 93 tackles, 4 INT, 14 PBUs (2018-19)
Jacquet is a touch under 6’2” and measured the longest wingspan at the combine, 82.25 inches. He doesn’t have the mirroring-ability to hang in man coverage consistently, but he does well to use his length and physicality to disrupt wideouts at the LOS and throughout their route.
In the NFL he’ll likely be scheme-specific to zone-heavy defenses where he can keep his eyes in the backfield and use his length, ball skills, and anticipation to excel in Schwartz’s cover 3 scheme. He’ll do well on the outside and manning a deep third of the field, where his physical play-style and solid open field tackling will also be welcome.
I checked a pair of games of his from 2019, one against Mississippi State to open the season, and the other in Louisiana’s bowl game vs. Ohio. He was rarely targeted in both contests and made good plays in the open field when ball carriers flowed in his direction. His best play came at the beginning of the Miss. St. game where he came screaming into the backfield on a corner blitz and forced a sack-fumble before anyone saw him.
He also has film from 2018 against Alabama; he gets burnt in man coverage by Jerry Jeudy a handful of times, and is on the receiving end of a mean Josh Jacobs stiff-arm. Otherwise, in the second half he makes a couple of strong open field tackles on Najee Harris, and nearly picks off Jalen Hurts on a screen pass near the goal line.
Jacquet may not be the most heralded or well-known player out of all the undrafted free agents the Eagles brought in, but his combination of length and solid athleticism give him as high of upside as anyone of the 12 UFAs they added. My money is on Jacquet pushing Rasul Douglas off the roster.
Michael Warren
RB, Cincinnati
Stats: 559 carries; 2,918 yds (5.2 ypc), 34 TDs, 51 rec, 442 rec yds, 3 rec TDs
Warren was widely expected to be drafted on day three, so naturally he was a priority free agent for a handful of teams. The fact that he chose the Eagles is an indicator that he has a real shot to make the team. The Birds running back committee is in need of a little more pop and someone to handle short-yardage duties—Warren can be that guy.
We covered him during the pre-draft process and he can be described as a tough runner with good contact balance and a thick lower half that allows him to churn through arm tackles. He also has impressive quickness in his feet that allows him to be more dynamic in short areas than your typical power back.
On top of his ability to shed a tackle, he can also protect the football.
There are a handful of skills you want out of your ‘Howard/Ajayi’ type back, and one of them is certainly the ability to protect the football. The last thing you need to worry about when you’re trying to pick up precious yards in short-yardage situations is that back turning it over.
He’s also a capable pass catcher who can run basic routes, but his struggles in pass protection will likely keep him off the field on third down—though that’s not really a problem for your short-yardage back.
Given the team’s current situation, I think there’s a real good shot that we see Mike Warren as the third back on the depth chart/in a committee with Miles Sanders and Boston Scott.