Former Florida tight end Cornelius Ingram wearing #88 was extremely impressive this weekend.
He plucks the ball out of the air with his hands like Cris Carter used to do. He catches everything that comes his way.
All of the youngsters, Maclin, McCoy and Ingram catch the ball with their hands. It’s very noticeable and one of the reasons Andy Reid mentioned it after the first practice, by saying there weren’t many balls on the ground.
I must remind you that this scouting report on the kid was not in pads. This was in shorts, so that takes away the physical aggression that affects the game.
Ingram is smooth in and out of his cuts like a wide receiver. Oh yeah, he used to play wide out but was moved to tight end.
He’s a specimen of an athlete about 6'5" 247 lbs., who has Reid and Marty Mornhinweg drooling. This kid could be a major factor in the red zone, where you need size in your receivers.
It’s going to be difficult to make Andy and Marty leave the meeting room and stop drawing up plays for this dude.
I could see the Birds moving him outside quite a bit and getting him matched up against safeties and linebackers. They’re going to be sending him in motion and lining him all over the place to get the match-ups they want.
Line him up with the starter Brent Celek and the Birds expect consistent production from the wide receiver position. Celek looked good during the workouts as well and I expect improvement from him.
I could see a big athletic former basketball player like Ingram taking balls from defenders in the red zone.
Ingram's challenge is going to be blocking. He played in the spread in college and must learn to come out of a three point stance and deal with the big physical monsters who play linebacker and defensive end in the NFL. That will be a major adjustment.
We all know about the ACL tear he had last August before college football season. Some teams said his knee surgery was botched but the Eagles disagreed.
The Baltimore Ravens wouldn’t pass him in the physical as well as numerous other teams. If it hadn’t been for the injury, Ingram wouldn’t have been on the board for the Birds in the fifth round.
He said he felt fine after all the workouts and didn't wear a sleeve or anything on the knee for support. They worked him hard but there were no side effects. He wasn't limping or heading to the training room after the workouts.
The Eagles say that it’s understandable that a guy who had knee surgery which he is still not a year removed from is going to have a knee that doesn’t look perfect when you X-ray it..
We’ll keep any eye on the knee because he could be a beast for the Birds if it holds up.
They also look at the fact that he was drafted in the fifth round and not in the first, second or third.
I remember a similar situation with Jeremiah Trotter. Hopefully Ingram can stay healthy and have the success which Trotter had.
