In an absolutely stacked wide receiver class in this year’s NFL Draft, guys are certainly going to slip underneath the cracks and fall to teams in the later rounds. Brennan Eagles could be one of these players.
Eagles was the top target for quarterback Sam Ehlinger in a high-powered Texas offense. Everything about Eagles flows through his size. At 6’4,” Eagles possesses a mammoth frame that will surely intrigue NFL teams who are looking for a nice deep threat in day three of the draft.
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Player Bio
Name: Brennan Eagles
Jersey: #13
Position: Wide receiver
School: Texas
Class: Redshirt Sophmore
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 230 lbs
Speed (8.5/10)
At 6’4,” Eagles has great speed. He ran a 4.55 40 yard dash on his pro day and that is about the speed he plays with in-game. His speed best shows up in the deep areas of the game. There are several plays where he has a great burst into space and gets a step on the defender downfield.
Route Running (6.5/10)
This is where Eagles can be pretty inconsistent. His routes take a long time to develop, but he’s really good at running deep routes. Eagles is a true deep threat and his route running ability deep is a testament to this. In the shorter and intermediate areas, he’s just not quick enough to make sharp cuts and get open easily.
Athleticism (9/10)
Eagles is a very good athlete. On top of his 4.55 speed, he has an incredible leaping ability. He’s constantly going up for balls and shows a very good vertical jump. On his pro day, he had a 36-inch vertical jump and a 10’0″ broad jump. These are some very impressive measurements and will turn up nicely for him at the next level. For a wide receiver that’s nearly built like a linebacker, Eagles has shown the ability to move and control his body very well, and it should translate to the next level.
Hands (7.5/10)
Eagles has shown inconsistent hands for the most part. There are a couple of drops on the film and he sometimes fails to adjust well. He’s caught some nice balls in traffic but has also dropped a few. Overall, this is not a department to get too excited about, and he’ll need to become more consistent if he wants to compete for a roster spot in the future.
Contested Catch (7.5/10)
This one is a bit disappointing. At 6’4″ one would hope that he would be able to go up and dominate guys, but he really does not. He has shown a pretty good ability to go outside of his frame to catch the ball and has gone up and got it a few times. However, there’s not too much of this ability on the tape to get excited about. He can potentially be able to develop this later in the league, obviously, because of his size and the flashes he’s shown.
Ball Skills (8.5/10)
Eagles has a nice ability to track the ball into his catch radius. Used as the deep man in Texas’ offense, he’s grown accustomed to locating the football, making a twist, and hauling it in deep. Everything in Eagles’ game looks like he’s got big-time deep threat ability and the ball skills agree with this as well.
Run After Catch (8.25/10)
This is a tricky one to grade. He’s not going to be getting many screens or motion sweeps, but Eagles does pose a bit of a threat in the RAC game. He’s turned many shorter routes into a first down and he just has a knack for picking up extra yards. Eagles is not the fastest or most elusive player, but he can get the job done and grab some nice yardage gains for his team.
Release (6.75/10)
Another area with inconsistent results. Eagles has gotten jammed pretty hard off the line at times and can look even foolish out there. Other times, he’s very physical and can use his hands to get his defender off of him. He’ll need to learn a more diverse release package as it’s a little bit simple right now. It’s difficult to judge how well Eagles will be able to use his size at the next level. If he can figure it out, he could pose to be a big-time mismatch.
Football IQ (3.5/5)
Once again, an area where Eagles is inconsistent. He seems to know how to use his size most of the time, but in others, he does not. He needs to learn the proper abilities to set up a defender’s hip to beat him in the short game and this takes a lot of IQ, as well as skill. He’s not an unintelligent player by any means, but also not the smartest.
Competitive Toughness (3/5)
Eagles doesn’t show a ton of effort in a lot of different reps. He can be found walking in the run game multiple times and really doesn’t seem to be involved unless he’s targeted. He does tend to get his guys going after a big play, so that is a nice bonus that teammates can rally of him.
Blocking (3/5)
Due to his size, Eagles shows a lot of potential in this area. Right now, however, blocking is a skill he needs to improve. He doesn’t give much effort in the run game and when he does block there’s no real technique.
Injury History (4.5/5)
He’s been dinged up a couple of times but has shown no real issue in this area. There was an offseason elbow surgery back in 2019 to clean up a high school issue, but obviously, he is fine now.
Player Summary
Eagles is going to be a project in the NFL. Hopefully, by the time his rookie contract is up, he’s garnered enough promising playtime to earn a second one, but that is no guarantee. He has a lot to clean up with his game, but the size really does not lie. If a team is looking towards their future and is needy for deep threat wideouts, Eagles could be the guy to go within day three of the draft.
Player Grade (72/100): Mid- Fourth round
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