The NFL draft is mere weeks away and the Eagles are hosting a stream of prospects at the NovaCare center including a number of pretty big names. Some of the recent and future visitors include Notre Dame WR Michael Floyd, Northern Alabama CB Janoris Jenkins, and Memphis DT Dontari Poe
Janoris Jenkins will reportedly be in Philadelphia on Monday for a pre-draft visit. Jenkins spent his senior season at Northern Alabama after being kicked off the Florida Gators prior to the season following two arrests for marijuana possession. Prior to his dismissal from Florida, he was regarded as one of the better CBs in the country and many scouts felt he would have been a first round pick if he had come out in his Junior year.
Jenkins says that playing at tiny Northern Alabama after being on ESPN every week at Florida was a humbling experience and he's set out this offseason to prove to teams that he's learned from his mistakes.
"I made some mistakes," Jenkins tells USA TODAY Sports. "I just want to show everybody that who I am on the field is who I am, and nobody can take it from me."
"Judge me not for what I have done," he says, "but for what I have become."
There's no denying Jenkins' talent. He's as good as any corner in this draft, but the character issues are a big red flag. He very may have been humbled by his year in Northern Alabama, but the worry is that if you pay him a bunch of money and bring him into an NFL lifestyle, he'll go back to being the kind of guy who assaulted someone in a bar, got arrested twice for pot possession and fathered four kids with three different women already.
Then again, that hasn't stopped Antonio Cromartie from becoming a pretty good NFL corner.
DT Dontari Poe, one of the stars of the NFL combine, visited the Eagles facility last week according Jeff McLane. Poe essentially dominated the combine and blew scouts away with how athletic the 6-4, 346 pounder is. He ran a sub 5 second 40 and did 8 more bench press reps than any other player in Indy.
The issue is that his production didn't exactly meet his combine numbers as he had just one sack and 20 tackles last year. Here's what NFL.com has to say about him.
Poe is a big man who will likely improve a 3-4 defense working as their anchor inside at NT. His best attribute is his ability to occupy space inside and allow those on the second level to flow and make plays. He isn’t just a big man to hold two blockers, however, as he can use his strength to overpower most blockers at the collegiate level and also use his athletic ability to be a threat in the passing game and make plays around the ball. Poe has the build and athleticism to be picked late in the first round or near the top of the second.
He's not likely to be a flashy player at the NFL level, but a big strong space eater in the middle of the defense certainly would be valuable. The question is whether Poe is valuable enough to grab at #15?
Finally, the Eagles have also held a private workout with Notre Dame WR Malcolm Floyd, according to a report from Scout.com. Floyd is considered by some to be the 2nd best WR in this class and looking at his physical gifts, it's not hard to see why. At 6-3, 220 pounds he's got prototypical size. Some scouts decried his lack of top end speed in college, but he did manage a 4.47 40 at the combine.
Here's what NFL.com had to say about him.
Floyd has been a game changer at the collegiate level and possesses the size, aggressiveness and game experience to make a difference early in his transition to the NFL. Floyd has been an extremely productive threat both deep and in possession for the Irish throughout his career, as well as a physical blocker and a reliable third-down playmaker. His on-field maturity, physical nature and ability to make the big catch will outshine some off-field mishaps, as Floyd projects to be one of the top receivers off the board.
As is the case with a few of these guys that have worked out with the Eagles recently, he does have some character issues having been arrested for DUI last March. Still, most scouts have come away impressed after speaking with him and he's drawn praise for his on-field demeanor.
Related: See news about all the rumored prospect visits the Eagles will host this season.