Eagles lend an ear to Senior Bowl buzz

MOBILE, Ala. - The Eagles are deficient at linebacker and so, the thinking goes, they must select one in the first round of April's draft.

But they are young there, and adding another novice to the starting lineup may not be the best course of action, not to mention it's something the Eagles never do.

But the Eagles are aging on their defensive line, their younger cycle of linemen come with many a question mark, and the Eagles really like to draft at that position.

And if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try . . . again.

While this year's class of defensive linemen isn't expected to be as deep early in the draft as last year - 11 were chosen in the first round - there are still a number of quality prospects.

Many of them, though, aren't at the Senior Bowl because defensive ends Nick Perry of Southern Cal and Whitney Mercilus of Illinois and defensive tackles Michael Brockers of LSU and Jerel Worthy of Michigan State are juniors.

And when Penn State senior Devon Still backed out because of an injury, the annual all-star game lost the draft's top-rated defensive tackle, at least according to many scouts.

But there were still a bunch of talented defensive linemen on display here during the first three days of practice, including a few who saw their stock go up.

"The South defensive line, I think, is the best position group here," the NFL Network's Mike Mayock said. "There are three or four first- round picks in that group."

Most see North Carolina's Quinton Coples as the best defensive end in the draft. He has the type of size (6-foot-6, 281 pounds) and speed (4.7 seconds in the 40) teams drool over. And he can seemingly play anywhere.

Last season, he mostly lined up at defensive tackle and recorded 59 tackles, 151/2 tackles for loss and 10 sacks. But he also played outside in the Tar Heels' hybrid 3-4/4-3 defense.

"I'm versatile," Coples said Wednesday. "I played zero to the nine-[technique], and I can drop into coverage as well."

Many equate Coples to the Bears' Pro Bowl end Julius Peppers. While that isn't necessarily fair to the 21-year-old, they do come from the same school and are of similar size.

Coples said he met with the Eagles, among many other teams, just for a background check. He may not be available when the Eagles pick at No. 15, though.