I just met the Eagles fifth-round draft pick Florida tight end Cornelius Ingram.
He answered a few questions from the local sports media and let us know that he can get the job done.
"I can stretch the field with a quarterback like McNabb."
He's a very lean, well put together athlete to be playing tight end. Right now he is by far the fastest tight end they have on the football team. From what I saw on video, this dude can run.
The question I had for him was about his blocking.
He says he can block the linebackers and defensive ends in the National Football League. Ingram says he did some blocking at last year's spring camp.
The Florida Gators play the spread offense where they split the tight end out in the slot. Ingram knew that NFL teams were going to want to see him block.
The tight end went to his head coach and requested a chance to move inside next to the offensive tackle to show everybody he could block.
Ingram told me that there is footage of him blocking the Florida defensive players in the spring practice.
The youngster went through a tough time last year after he tore his ACL during practice before the season.
"It was the toughest thing I had to deal with….. [the coaching staff at Florida] treated me like I was out there catching touchdowns and they kept motivated throughout my therapy process…"
Ingram told us he went through some anxious moments when he went undrafted during the second, third and fourth round.
It was definitely nerve racking. He was upset for a while because of being drafted later than he wanted but he's happy to be here with a winning team like the Eagles.
Ingram, who was a high school quarterback, said he would have no problem getting in the wildcat and throwing the football.
"We could definitely do that. I'm always throwing… I can throw it."
