PHILADELPHIA -- A few quick thoughts on the Philadelphia Eagles' seventh-round draft choice:
The pick: Brian Mihalik, defensive end, Boston College.
My take: The seventh round is the perfect spot to take a flier on a physical specimen. Two years ago, the Eagles took one with 6-foot-6 defensive end Joe Kruger. It didn’t work out, but that doesn’t mean you don’t try again. Mihalik is 6-foot-9. He wasn’t a great college player, but he has the frame to add some weight and then -- who knows?
Echoes of the past: In the late 1990s, the Eagles drafted a couple of defensive ends with things in common with Mihalik. Mike Mamula was from Boston College. Jon Harris was a 6-foot-7 end from Virginia. Neither of those players exactly ended up in the Hall of Fame, but both were first-round picks. As a seventh-round guy, Mihalik doesn’t have nearly that much pressure on him. He can develop on his own schedule.
Connections: The defensive coordinator when Mihalik went to Boston College was Bill McGovern, who is now the Eagles’ outside linebackers coach. Ryan Day, the Eagles’ new quarterbacks coach, came over from BC as well. “We have some prior knowledge,” Chip Kelly said of his staff’s insights into Mihalik. “He played wide defensive end in a 4-3 defense. He hasn’t been a two-gap player. He’s a 3-4 defensive lineman. You want the prototype for 'big people beat up little people,’ he’s the biggest person we’ve brought in since we’ve been here.”
