Eagles QB Strong picking up pieces after shocking draft snub

[time2rock]

Eagles QB Strong picking up pieces after shocking draft snub

 

 

 

Reuben Frank

EAGLES INSIDER

Carson Strong went to the Senior Bowl and showed everybody his knee was healthy. Then he went to the Combine and showed everybody his knee was healthy.

Then he sat and watched seven rounds of the NFL draft and realized that despite round after round of physicals and a clean bill of health from his doctors, nobody really believed his knee was healthy.

"I thought I showed my knee’s healthy moving around at the Senior Bowl and the Combine, but they don’t think so,” Strong said of the 32 teams that bypassed him in the draft. "But the Eagles are giving me a chance and I can’t be more grateful for that.”

Strong was branded with that "bad knee” tag and just couldn’t shake it.

And after he underwent a second surgery in February, his draft stock began plummeting. And no number of X-rays, MRIs or physicals could change anybody’s mind.

"It’s definitely a humbling experience,” Strong said. "But whatever happened, it happened, and I’m just lucky to have a chance with the Eagles and just eager to learn and get better.

"To be honest, I thought I was going to get drafted. When it was draft day and each round went by I was like, ‘OK, this sucks,’ but at the end of the day, after the seventh round and I was talking with the Eagles, I could tell that they believed in me and wanted me to come here.”

Strong missed his senior year at Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville, Calif., after his first knee surgery, and then had a second procedure in February of 2021, soon after his terrific sophomore season at Nevada: 70% completion percentage, 27 TDs and four INTs.

He recovered quickly enough to start the 2021 season, and he played lights out: 70 percent again, 4,175 yards, 36 touchdowns and eight interceptions. By the end of the year he had gotten his mobility back, and he ditched his knee brace.

With that production, great size at 6-4, 215, and a rocket of an arm, the only question was how high was he going to get drafted?

Some analysts had Strong as a first-round talent, but the general consensus was that with concerns about his knee, anywhere from the third to fifth round was most likely.

But the draft is a funny thing. When rumors start spreading about your health, good luck stopping them.

As the draft wound down and he still hadn't heard his name, Strong got a call from the Eagles and for a moment thought his dream was finally coming true.

"I originally got the call from them in the seventh round, and I was like, ‘OK is this it? Am I getting drafted?’” he said. "And they’re like, ‘The first thing we have to tell you is, OK, we have no more picks.’”

It was right about then that Strong’s priorities shifted from getting drafted to finding the best possible situation as an undrafted rookie.

How about with a team that has a 23-year-old starter and a backup who’ll be a free agent in the spring.

"After the draft, it was kind of crazy,” Strong said. "I’m trying to make my decision, and I asked my agent, ‘How much time do I have? Do I have till tomorrow? A couple days?’ He said, ‘You have about 10 minutes.’”

The Eagles offered Strong $320,000 guaranteed, one of the largest guarantees ever for an undrafted player and about what a mid-fifth-round pick would get.

That took some of the sting out of going undrafted.

"During the draft it was pretty tough, especially that last day, but as soon as the Eagles gave me that call and I told them I was going to come here, it went away,” he said. "And it felt like I got drafted. I was just happy that someone wanted to give me a chance.

His last two years in Reno, Strong had the most touchdown passes (63) and passing yards (7,033 or 335 per game) in the BCS as well as the best interception percentage (one every 73 attempts). His 70.1 percent completion percentage was second-highest, behind only Mississippi State’s Will Rogers.

He’s trying to become the first undrafted rookie quarterback to make the Eagles’ roster out of camp in 29 years – since Georgia’s Preston Jones in 1993.

Talk to Strong in April, and he couldn’t have been more disappointed. Talk to him now, and he says he may have been better off not getting drafted.

"Because I got to choose the team,” he said. "This is a great offense, great coaches and a great organization to be a part of. I’m lucky and blessed to have the opportunity to make this team.”

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-training-camp-2022-carson-strong-picking-pieces-after-shocking-draft

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Going to be one to watch I think. Sounds like Minshew is struggling and Hurts is not everyone's favourite. If Strong can make the roster then who knows? I'm not saying he'll beat out Hurts but if Hurts were to get hurt? I mean depending how the years going I guess there's a chance he could get some time?

[PoconoDon]

Time will tell at the QB position.

[Rob331]

The media has already written him off. I;m willing to wait to see preseason performance. 

[LacesOut]

I hope he gets a chance play, seems like a good kid. Always a shame about the injuries.

[Procus]

My guess is that he won't pan out.  Most of these guys not drafted in high rounds, or not drafted, flash at camp if they're going to make noise in the NFL.