Professor

Like I said, he has been working towards this, so, technically it's not a shock, they didn't just say, hey guy who was injured and did nothing all year, all of a sudden we making you play at two positions, LOL.

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ihatephilly

This is Chris Gocong's scouting report as a DE from last years ProFootballWeekly magazine:

Upside: Very smart. Great football intelligence. Outstanding worker. Plays with great effort and energy. Plays fast. Outstanding production. Plays with nice leverage, gets underneith the pads of blockers and shows power to bull-rush. Will hit, spin, and scrap to beat blockers.

Downside: Undersized. Gets handled by double teams. Struggles to get free when locked up. Needs to do a better job of shedding blockers.

1) Heckert said that Chris Gocong is a LB for the Eagles but they will use his strengths as a DE when needed. And it will happen. Most likely in pass situations giving the Eagles the option to drop Gocong out or rush the passer.

2) Gocong's weight is not an issue. He was 255 in college and came into the combine last year at 263. He's up to about 265, and its because hes in the weight room all the time.

3) He has been healthy since week 8 of last season. He's been at practice observing, working out regularly and has had enough time to at least get a good idea of what is going on with the defense. That was one of the reasons they drafted him to convert to LB, cause he is a smart kid.

4) He's got about 2 yrs before you can label him a bust. Matt McCoy is a bust. Gocong has yet to play a down in the NFL, and we're looking at his rookie season this year.

He has a lot of upside to be a good LB for the Eagles. On the flipside their is the possibility that he may not be able to adjust to the speed of the NFL. I think he will end up having an okay season next year. A rookie season. He will show flashes of greatness, but will defintely make his share of mistakes. We will see.

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www.ihatephilly.com

HappyMondays

Just want to clarify. I'm not calling him a bust.

I'm saying if they try to make him a LB/DE, he will bust. Not really even an indication of his talent. I just think that you really screw guys up when you try to get gimmicky.

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Professor

It isn't gimmicky, you act like he will play 50/50, no, that won't happen, JJ has crazy schemes, especially for blitzes, Gocong just gives them more options in that area. He will play mostly LB, only defense end when the opportunity presents itself to rush him, or confuse the defense, with kearse and cole and howard, and other guys on the line, when Gocong plays at end, he will never be double teamed. He has been healthy for a long time and done nothing but work out and learn. JJ is a great teaching DC and I would expect that gocong is much farther along than any normal rookies out there this year. I understand the negadelphia attitude, I waws born and rasied there for decades, but this guy has really good talent and is very smart. I was glad they ir'ed him last year, even though they really didn't have to. they could have rushed him in last year and then forced him into learning things on the fly, but they didn't, they did it the right way. just wait.

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Manster

One guy that I have liked and would want Dallas to draft in the 4th or 5th round is Browns LB Zak DeOssie he has potential. Like other guys I have liked he will more than likely get picked by the Eagles, Reggie Brown, Sean, Ryan Moats just to name a few. He would fit the type of LB you are looking for.

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Professor

I agree with you manster, DeOssie is big and strong (6-5 250) with great speed for his size. The only thing that keeps him out of my top ten is whether or not he can be a LB that plays all over and is a monster ala A better version of Mike Vrabel or is his monster going to take him out of plays too often because the nfl is a different level, ala Arrington. They could probably get Anthony Waters out Clemson, he is not as big as DeOssie, but he is close(6-3 245), but due to the fact that he is still recovering from his knee problem I think they could get him in the 6th or 7th.

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