DONE DEAL: EAGLES COMPLETES THE SIGNING OF SEVERAL KEY PLAYERS

The Philadelphia Eagles signed two players to futures contracts on Tuesday. They were RB Tyrion Davis-Price and OT Darian Kinnard, both of whom were selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. They also signed former Lions edge rusher Julian Okwara last Wednesday. We’ll round up all three guys here.

RB Tyrion Davis-Price

Davis-Price was a 49ers third-round pick out of LSU. He’s a bigger back at 6’1, 219, who did not have great college stats.

A yards per carry average of 4.6 is good in the NFL, not so impressive at LSU. He was a Day 3 prospect who got picked on Day 2. He probably got a little over-drafted because he ran a 4.48 at the Combine, a good time for his size. And, certainly, he had his explosive moments at LSU:

 

 

A scouting report, via Lance Zierlein of NFL Network:

 

Big, athletic back offering an enticing blend of size and explosiveness to go with an SEC pedigree. Davis-Price’s early season tape was listless and lacking pro quality, but that changed over the second half of the year. He’s an enigmatic back featuring urgency, indecisiveness, physicality and finesse on any given carry. He got much better as the season progressed and clearly finds a rhythm when given volume carries. Scouts say that staying motivated will be a major factor in future success. Davis-Price’s athletic ability and hammerhead finishes will help him create yardage. He has the size and upside worthy of consideration in the middle rounds.

The “motivation” nugget is interesting. In his first two seasons in the pros in San Francisco, Davis-Price has ridden the bench. He had 34 carries for 99 yards (2.9 YPC) in 2022, and 6 carries for 21 yards (3.5 YPC) in 2023. They waived him in December and he finished out the season on the Niners’ practice squad. 

The Eagles evidently gave Davis-Price more pay than the typical player signing a futures contract:

 

 

“Don’t mind him, just writing history,” lol.

The addition of Davis-Price makes sense, as D’Andre Swift, Boston Scott, and Rashaad Penny are all free agents this offseason. Also, paying (likely) negligibly more to a guy on a futures contract is a reasonable enough strategy by the Eagles’ front office. None of these guys are likely to make an impact, but I respect the hustle in working the margins.

#NextTreySermon.

OT Darian Kinnard

Kinnard was a Chiefs fifth-round selection in 2022. He made the 53-man roster as a rookie, but was a scratch for 17 games, and active for just three. He appeared in one game, getting 6 special teams snaps.

Kinnard did not make the 53-man roster out of training camp in 2023, and spent the entirety of the season on the Chiefs’ practice squad.

We profiled Kinnard in our prospects series in 2021. He had experience at LT and RT (mostly RT) in college at Kentucky, but the thinking then was that talent evaluators would have to decide if he was going to be a RT or a RG at the pro level. The Chiefs tried to develop him at OT, and the Eagles announced him as an OT, so I suppose he’s staying there.

Kinnard was a strong run blocker at Kentucky who could move the line of scrimmage. Here he is, at RT in Kentucky’s 2020 bowl game:

 

 

The Eagles can use more depth bodies along the right side of the line with Jack Driscoll potentially leaving in free agency.

EDGE Julian Okwara

Okwara was a Lions high third-round pick (67th overall) in 2020. He landed on injured reserve as a rookie in 2020, and thus only played in 6 games. He had a promising season in 2021, when he had 27 tackles, 5 sacks, 9 QB hits, an INT, a forced fumble, and a couple of pass breakups as a depth player.

However, his progress stalled in 2022, when he once again landed on IR. In 2023, he rarely played (121 snaps), he was waived during the playoffs in January, eventually signing back to the practice squad. We’ll also note here that Okwara suffered a broken leg in his final season in college at Notre Dame.

Okwara is 6’4, 239, with 9 career sacks. He has talent, but has not been able to stay on the field. The Eagles will likely give him a look at SAM.