Eagles Select Bryan Smith in Third Round

After moving around a lot on the first day of the 2008 draft, the Eagles used their first pick of day-two to add another player on the defensive side of the ball.

With the 17th pick in the third round of this year's draft, the Eagles selected former McNeese State defensive end Bryan Smith.

At 6-foot-2, 228-pounds, Smith is considered as somewhat of a tweener, being too undersized to play on the d-line in the NFL, but with no experience at any linebacker position.

Even so, Smith projects as an outside linebacker with Philadelphia because of his speed and athleticism. He was among the top performers in many events at the Scouting Combine, posting a 32.5-inch vertical leap, a 10-foot broad jump and running the 20-yard shuttle in 4.40 seconds.

Although he is coming from a small school and weaker competition, Smith dominated in DI-AA and was a two-time All-American and Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He should fit in well with the Eagles defense, as Jim Johnson gets another explosive pass rusher to add to his blitz schemes.

Andrew Pluta can be reached at [e-mail]