Source: Eagles Sign WR Pat Simonds

The 2010 NFL Draft has concluded, but that certainly doesn’t mean the Eagles are finished adding players. I have learned from an extremely reliable source that Philadelphia has contacted undrafted rookie free agent WR Pat Simonds and informed him that he will be signed. Though the team undoubtedly had enough receivers, with 5th-round pick Riley Cooper joining today, as well as Hank Baskett and Chad Hall being signed as free agents earlier in the offseason, Simonds was among a group of talented pass catchers that failed to get drafted by a team over the past few days.

At 6-foot-6 and around 225 pounds, Simonds (pictured) is surely someone the Eagles could count on as a receiving target towards the endzone. He lacks explosiveness or a second gear of speed, so to speak, but has proven to be a concentrated player in terms of finding the ball in the air and coming down with the pass. A physical runner after the catch who is hard to bring down, he set various records while performing in college for the Raiders of Colgate University. The primary reasons listed as to why Simonds was not picked in the Draft include the simple fact that the NCAA school he attended was a member of a less-heralded division of football, and that he doesn’t possess the agility to play as a consistent target for an NFL quarterback. Nonetheless, Simonds has a lot of potential and certainly has the physical build, skill set, and general state of mind to perform at a high level for many years as a professional.

A native of Sydney, New York, he established an impressive career in college as a wide receiver. Known for making game-changing touchdowns within opposing teams’ 20-yard lines and towards the end of matchups (in the “clutch”, some would say), Simonds recorded over 1,000 yards in each of his final two seasons. His total of scores only got better as his experience greatened, with the most notable jump coming this past year, in which he notched 14 scores, five more than his mark from the 2008 campaign. Some argue that his absence from football during his freshman season of ’06 hurt his stock, but that’s hardly an impacting piece of evidence, seeing that he immediately contributed in his first year on the field, catching 40 passes for 649 yards and five touchdowns.

Once the signing of Simonds (likely to a short-term, one-year contract) is officially announced, the receiver figures to compete for a reserve role behind DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Jason Avant. Besides the battle he is expected to be in with the other acquisitions mentioned (i.e. Cooper, Baskett, Hall), second-year players Jordan Norwood and Dobson Collins are also projected to be in the hunt for a backup WR job, and will therefore be fighting with Simonds as well.

(picture source)

About these ads