How Eagles 'passion projects' led to Nigerian player, QB factory addition

PHILADELPHIA − Before the start of the third and final day of the NFL draft, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and his staff have a meeting to discuss "passion projects. " These are players who might be new to football, but have unique athletic abilities. Or players who had unusual skills untapped in college.

Or a talented player who's recovering from an injury. In past years, these "passion project" players led to seventh-round gems like left tackle Jordan Mailata, a rugby player from Australia who had never played organized football; or a brilliant minded defensive tackle like Moro Ojomo; or a starting defensive back like Jalen Mills; or an undrafted free agent like safety Reed Blankenship. So there was Roseman during the three-day draft trading twice to stockpile seventh-round picks.

Before the draft, the Eagles had zero seventh-round picks. By the time the Eagles were done, they drafted three players in the seventh round including Nigerian defensive tackle Uar Bernard, who had never played football until he was scouted through the International Pathways Program. Truth be told, Roseman said he wanted even more seventh-round picks.

"We had a bunch of guys we wanted to take," Roseman said. "Even at the end, we were sitting there going, ‘Can we try to get a couple more picks? ’" Bernard is 6-foot-4, 306 pounds with 6% body fat.