The Philadelphia Eagles are pulling out all the stops ahead of the 2016 NFL Draft, but maybe not in the way you think. Well, at least not only in the way you think.
Yes, recently re-installed Eagles GM/not GM Howie Roseman has reportedly been chasing trade after trade at the top of the draft, looking to move up, down and all around, though nothing of substance has yet come of those talks. And he and first-year Philly head coach Doug Pederson have done their best to keep pundits and prognosticators guessing at just what - or who - they want to walk away from the first-round with.
But what you may not know is that the Eagles haven't just been doing their best to keep the media and other team's guessing; they've been doing what they can to keep the prospects on their toes, as well.
Former Mississippi State quarterback and expected early- to mid-round 2016 NFL Draft prospect Dak Prescott revealed this week that his most interesting pre-draft experience came with Philly. Why? Because they put him through a mock press conference to see how he'd hold up under the bright lights of the Philadelphia media.
"They wanted to get a feel for how I would represent the team," Prescott said. "Obviously as a quarterback, you're going to be the face of an organization, so it was important to them to see how I would react to different questions. That was the most unique thing I've done (at a visit)."
Really, it's not all that surprising to hear that the Eagles put Prescott through a strange test like that - the NFL is notorious for poking and prodding and asking prospects questions that not even their closest friends would be comfortable asking.
Do you like men? Is your mom a prostitute?
That's just a little taste of the kind of button-pushing NFL coaches engage in when it comes time to vet potential future millionaires and faces of the franchise.
For Philly, the test administered to Prescott - and presumably the other quarterback prospects they brought to the facility for visits - especially seems to make sense. Just ask Nick Foles what it was like going from a crowded room of reporters at the Novacare Complex to the small handful of beat writers in St. Louis after he was traded to the Rams in 2014.
It's another world living in the Philadelphia sports fishbowl. Fans should probably be happy knowing that Roseman, Pederson - and maybe owner Jeffrey Lurie - are putting potential Quarterback's of the Future (cue echo) through such strange, and "unique," paces.
"They also threw in some football questions about plays they run, so it varied," Prescott said. "I think the idea was to see how I would handle myself in an unpredictable situation. When I was done, they said I did a really good job."
