Philadelphia Eagles Rookie Class Film Rooms – Part 1

With the 2024 NFL Draft over, it’s time for some film rooms on the Philadelphia Eagles’ rookie class. I’m not going to spend ages on the UDFAs, but I do like to watch a game or two of them as it helps me to get an idea about who these guys are and whether they might contribute this season. I’ll briefly summarize each player and find a few film clips to back it up. I’ll do two separate posts on all of them, and this is part one. Let’s go!

Previously in this series: Quinyon Mitchell / Cooper DeJean / Jalyx Hunt / Will Shipley / Ainias Smith / Jeremiah Trotter Jr. / Trevor Keegan / Johnny Wilson / Dylan McMahon

Gabe Hall, DT, Baylor (6’6, 291)

Testing – The wingspan and arm length are what stand out here. The explosive numbers here look good too.

Overall I’m pretty surprised Gabe Hall went undrafted. I didn’t watch him pre-draft, but I heard his name mentioned as a day 3 target for many teams. Hall is a light defensive tackle, and he projects as a 3 or 5 technique. I expect the Eagles will like him as a 3-technique in their 5-man fronts, where he can play alongside a bigger nose tackle. I look for traits and potential upside when it comes to UDFAs. Gabe Hall absolutely has that.

He was frustratingly inconsistent in the games I watched and didn’t create a lot of pressure. I don’t know if fatigue was a problem but he seemed to lack explosiveness as the game continued. However, his arm length is evident on film and he can hold his own as a run defender. Look at the arm length here! (#95). He has the traits and potential to develop into a rotational pass rusher too if he can work on his timing off the snap and use of his hands when rushing the passer. When you have a long wingspan, you should be able to do things like this…

I think Gabe Hall has a serious chance of making the roster as the DT5/6 if he shows enough in training camp. He might be a hard guy to stash on the practice squad because the traits are there.

Gottlieb Ayedze, OT/OG, Maryland (6’4, 308)

Testing – For a UDFA, he tested pretty well and the broad jump and 40-yard dashes stand out.

Overall Ayedze played tackle his whole college career, and the Eagles announced him as a tackle, but many analysts saw him as a guard. I pride myself on being in-depth when it comes to film watching, but even I struggled to motivate myself to watch Ayedze’s film. I watched some brief highlights of him on YouTube and you can see that he looks a little small for a tackle but moves well. I read that he held his own against Jer’Zhan Newton (who I think is fantastic) which instantly had me interested.

He looks pretty smooth in pass protection and appears to have light feet. Look at his feet here. You can see the movement but a slight lack of arm length (which will cause him some problems when trying to anchor) in this rep. Really awesome rep here from both Maryland’s Gottlieb Ayedze and Oklahoma’s Walter Rouse at the East-West Shrine Bowl.

I think Ayedze can make the roster because he has shown the ability to play left tackle, right tackle, and right guard. I think his arm length will push him inside to guard at the next level, but he could end up as a swing tackle/backup guard. Sadly, his lack of anchor and strength might limit his ability to play guard, but his lack of length means he will struggle at tackle. He might fail to knuckle down a position which could lead to him failing.

Kendall Milton, RB, Georgia (6’2, 225)

Testing – Kendall Milton is a power back who has about 20 pounds on Kenny Gainwell and Will Shipley. He tested well at the combine too. The 40-yard dash was disappointing but he has a fantastic combination of athleticism and size.

Overall I tell you what… Milton’s film is quite fun! I think he has a chance to stick as the Eagles RB4 if the Eagles want to carry 4 backs. He went undrafted because he’s struggled with injuries and is pretty stiff overall. He’s not a creative runner and he doesn’t have the footwork or elusiveness that you want to see from a starting running back. But he has really good physicality and contact balance and isn’t afraid to lower his shoulder.

This video does a good job of showing Milton’s traits well. You can see he’s upright and a little slow to turn, but he also does a fantastic job reading this rep of outside zone and finding the cutback lane.

However, sometimes we can overcomplicate football. Milton is a big, physical back with good contact balance, explosive traits, and good enough vision. If you want a physical back to run some gap scheme stuff (such as power/counter) then he provides a good balance to Shipley and Gainwell who are better on zone runs. I imagine he will be strong on special teams too because he has the traits you would look for there. He’s not as creative as a runner, but he has the traits to be a decent rotational option at the next level.

Anim Dankwah, OT, Howard (6’8, 353)

Testing – It’s pretty obvious what stands out when looking at Dankwah’s measurables, the guy is huge! This is a big man with fantastic arm length. Sadly, despite being a huge man, he didn’t test very well. He looks like a big guy with size but without the movement skills that the Eagles normally look for.

Overall Similar to Ayedze, I’m not watching Dankwah in depth. However, you don’t need to watch a lot of highlights online to realize that this guy is a giant. He stands out very clearly on film. His film is pretty easy to analyze actually. He’s a giant of a man who doesn’t move well or use his hands well. I mean, what is this rep? But look how big he is! Did I mention he’s huge? But did I mention he’s not very good?

Someone this big with this arm length usually gets drafted. I like this pick though, because you can’t teach the size he has. Dankwak is a project that needs a lot of development, but he lands in the perfect spot. If Stoutland can coach him up, it’s possible he could develop into a backup in a few years.

McCallan Castles, TE, Tennessee (6’4, 244)

Testing – The Eagles have struggled to find a consistent TE2 since they drafted Dallas Goedert in 2018. I’m intrigued by Castles profile, although like most young tight ends, he will probably take a number of years for us to see this athletic potential on the field.

Overall The YouTube highlights were out once again for McCallan, and I found them pretty interesting to watch. McCallan looks like a hybrid tight end who is pretty lean and long, so I expected to see him running down the field and split out wide. I did see that, but I also saw some stuff like this. I’m intrigued.

I think Kellen Moore’s offense has a role for a hybrid TE who can play several different roles (I wanted Ben Sinnott), and Castles has quite a unique athletic profile that suggests he could develop into a tight end who could play a few different roles. I hope he sticks around on the practice squad this year.

Most of the big plays I saw from him didn’t tell me much, as he was wide open as he is below. However, you can still get an idea of the type of lean athlete he is from the clip below. He looks like a big slot.