With the NFL draft coming up, the Eagles need to find some diamonds in the rough. For that to happen, the Eagles need to be able to draft a successful player in the later rounds. Finding these players is challenging because not only do you have to look at players’ dimensions but their stats and their abilities.
In this upcoming draft, one of the deepest parts of the draft is the defensive line and linebackers. Having that depth is helpful for the Eagles to find that diamond in the rough. This gem could be Jeffrey Gunter, linebacker/defensive end from Coastal Carolina this year.
About Coastal Carolina
Coastal Carolina has been a school whose football program has been mired in failure. But recently, due to some of the outstanding play of their defense, they have gone from a two-win team to a 10-win team in the last two seasons. Part of that has to do with Jeffrey Gunter. The Eagles are familiar with drafting a player from Coastal Carolina’s defense. Tarron Jackson was the person that the Eagles drafted late in last year’s draft, and even though Jackson was mired in some injuries this past season, he shows a lot of upsides in the future.
The hope is with this upcoming draft, and if the Eagles were to select Jeffrey from Coastal Carolina, they might have hit another diamond in that rough. Gunter’s career stats from Coastal Carolina are 169 tackles, 17 sacks, and an astounding nine forced fumbles. What the stats show is the fact that out of all the linebackers that are coming out in the draft, Jeffrey Gunter is a ball-hawking linebacker. A guy that is hungry for the ball is somebody that the Eagles defense needs because of the lack of turnovers that the Eagles defense was able to provide in the last two seasons.
Strengths
Some of Gunter’s strengths are his strength and his lateral versatility. His other strengths include playing in multiple schemes and multiple positions. Gunter is familiar with playing in the 3-4 and the 4-3 formations. He’s also used to playing with either his hand in the grass or standing up. Gunter’s 40-time at the NFL combine was 4.72 seconds. This time did not measure up as quickly as other linebackers that had performed at the NFL combine.
Weakness
One of Gunter’s most significant weaknesses is his quick steps in pursuit. He doesn’t have the kind of speed that will knock you out or drive high interest from general managers. He also doesn’t have that Breakneck speed or open field speed that will impress all scouts, but he has the strength and the ability to get off the ball and hold offensive lineman at bay seemingly with one arm. Jeffrey Gunter is a definite diamond in the rough that the Eagles could draft in the upcoming NFL draft.
