Tag: Brennan Eaglels

Two former Longhorns selected in the USFL draft

The professional football dream lives on for two former Longhorns.

Two former Longhorns have a prime opportunity to play football at the professional level after Tuesday’s USFL draft.

What is the USFL you ask? It’s known as the United States Football League, which is a revamped version of the 1985 league that gives athletes a chance to continue their playing career while also having a goal of making them more well rounded individuals.

Players and even the staff members will be compensated for partaking in football obviously, but also have a chance to obtain a college degree through Strategic Education’s Capella University and Strayer University. The season itself is just 10 games with two additional playoff weeks.

Former Longhorns Brennan Eagles and Davante Davis were selected in the draft. This draft is a tad different than the NFL, as there a total of 35 rounds, but in each round the eight teams have to chose a specified position. For example, the first round consisted of only quarterbacks being taken.

 

 

Starting with Eagles, who decided to forgo his senior year at Texas to declare for the 2020 NFL draft, was selected by the Philadelphia Stars in the 15th round. Eagles went undrafted by the NFL, and had a brief stint with the Cowboys prior to being cut. As a Longhorn he racked up 61 catches for over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Davis was taken in the ninth round by the Tampa Bay Bandits. He, similar to Eagles, went undrafted and was signed as a free agent by the Seattle Seahawks. He was placed on injured reserved and eventually waived by Seattle.

This league gives both Eagles and Davis a chance to show out, and maybe get back on the radar of an NFL team.

NFL draft grades for the eight Texas Longhorn prospects

NFL.com draft grades for the eight Texas Longhorn prospects that will take part in the 2021 NFL draft.

The 2021 NFL draft is finally only a few short days away with the first round slated to begin on Thursday, April 29 at 7 p.m. CDT.

Eight Texas Longhorn draft prospects will be anxiously waiting to hear their name called. Where they get drafted, or if they get drafted, is all based on how each team grades the players and where they fall on their particular boards.

Each NFL organization is different. The team’s need at the time often causes players to fall further than expected, get drafted higher than expected, or even become undrafted free agents.

In regards to what we do know, NFL.com’s database has draft grades for every prospect at any position. This is their grading scale:

8.0: The perfect prospect

7.3-7.5: Perennial All-Pro

7.0-7.1: Pro Bowl talent

6.7-6.8: Year 1 quality starter

6.5: Boom or bust prospect

6.3-6.4: Will be starter within first two seasons

6.1-6.2: Good backup who could become starter

6.0: Developmental traits-based prospect

5.8-5.9: Backup/special-teamer

5.5-5.6: Chance to make end of roster or practice squad

5.4: Priority free agent

5.0-5.3: Chance to be in an NFL training camp

No grade: Likely needs time in developmental league

Here’s how each Longhorn prospect was graded by NFL.com:

Predicting which round each of Texas’ NFL draft prospects will be selected

The 2021 NFL draft is quickly approaching and there are eight Longhorns who will be a part of the event. Which round will they be selected?

The upcoming 2021 NFL draft is a little over a week away and there will be eight different players representing Texas throughout the three-day event: Sam Ehlinger, Samuel Cosmi, Joseph Ossai, Caden Sterns, Ta’Quon Graham, Chris Brown, Brennan Eagles and Tarik Black.

It’s never a sure thing in terms of where each player will be selected, but after a few months of draft evaluation, it does become easier to get a general idea of the rounds that each prospect is expected to be taken off of the board.

Cosmi and Ossai appear to be top-60 picks, whereas Graham and Sterns both look like fringe day two or day three prospects. Ehlinger could be a noteworthy day three name, while Brown, Eagles and Black are all up in the air and could potentially not get drafted.

Given the players skills, game film, Senior Bowl (Graham and Ehlinger) and pro day performances, I’ll take a stab at which round each of Texas’ draft prospects will land in.

2021 NFL draft profile: Texas receiver Brennan Eagles

Longhorns Wire will create a draft profile for each former Texas player transitioning to the NFL.

Longhorns Wire will create a draft profile for each former Texas player transitioning to the NFL in 2021.

Each profile will be updated according to where the player is eventually selected in the 2021 NFL draft and/or where they choose to sign as undrafted free agents. Wide receiver Brennan Eagles, who surprised many with his decision to head to the NFL, is up next.

Class: Junior

Height: 6-4

Weight: 230

Pros

Possesses very strong hands and is able to secure passes quickly. Rarely drops the ball or lets it free. Uses that same strength to overpower defenders as a ball carrier.

His size has made him a mismatch which has given him opportunities in one-on-one situations, even if he’s not the open receiver.

Cons

Not a very sharp route runner. He doesn’t make sharp plants on his turns and rounds them off too often.

He doesn’t create separation in his routes and is given targets primarily when he’s locked up with a mismatch. Not much speed downfield either, the player who’s locked with him his always on him in coverage.

Doesn’t sell the run well as a blocker. Gives up on his route too early allowing defenses to sniff out the running play. Despite good initial contact on his blocks, defenders are able to break them early.

Analysis

He’s very raw as a pure receiver. He’s got the size and ball skills that teams covet, but he would have benefited from another season in college to develop himself — especially in Steve Sarkisian’s system.

Truthfully, it wouldn’t surprise me to see if he goes the way of Ricky Seales-Jones and a team takes a flyer on him to develop him as a tight end.

If he’s drafted, it won’t be until late on day three, but being an undrafted free agent is probably more likely.

Projection

Sixth round to undrafted free agent

Watch: Arizona WR coach breaks down newest Texas player Brenden Schooler

Check out these two videos from the newest Texas Longhorns wide receiver Brenden Schooler. He should be a weapon on offense.

The Texas Longhorns seem to be stocking up at the wide receiver position. They brought in Tarik Black from Michigan earlier in the offseason to help out a group that lost the production of Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson. Brennan Eagles, Jake Smith, Jordan Whittington and Joshua Moore all return and are expected to have large roles within the offense. However, it wasn’t enough bodies at the position and Texas felt the need to bring in another transfer wideout.

Brenden Schooler is the latest player to join the Texas Longhorns roster this week, making him the second after Gabriel Watson. Recently in the Longhorns latest scrimmage, Tom Herman mentioned that the team ran out 12 personnel all practice long due to the lack of bodies at the position. The team obviously being cautious this close to the start of the college football season.

Arizona wide receivers coach Taylor Mazzone broke down Schooler  back in December.

One on One tape from Oregon’s practices

The first thing that pops out is his precise route running. He is able to avoid being jammed at the line and creates some separation from the defender. This comes in handy creating a throwing window for the quarterback. He has soft hands which did well for him as a safety. Schooler can provide depth and experience at the wide receiver position as well as special teams. He should be able to carve out quite the role for himself in Mike Yurcich’s offense.

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