Other Eagles sign NFL deals

The NFL Draft is not the only way to get on an NFL team. Depending on the situation, signing as an undrafted free agent has its advantages. The player is just as much of a long-shot as a late rounder, yet has a little more control over where he goes. He and his agent can pick a spot or team that has real need. Many Eagles in the past few years have picked up Super Bowl rings by signing with the right team as a free agent (Herzy!). Here are the guys who didn't hear their names called over the weekend but still have a chance to make a team:

• Tyler Murphy -- signed with the Steelers. He will be part of their mini-camp and is listed as a WR. He has to show potential early for them to invest time in his transition from QB. 
• Josh Keyes -- signed with Tampa Bay. He seems like a good fit for Smith's 4-3, Cover 2 scheme. He can cover a lot of ground and has good speed. 
• Manny Asprilla -- signed with the Chargers. San Diego brought in 21 undrafted free agents. That seems like a shotgun approach. I don't love Asprilla's chances, but I am glad he'll get a shot.
• Bobby Vardaro -- signed with the Vikings. Their Fanside site considers him a potential backup.

Brown talks and other links

BC posted a candid video of basketball transfer Aaron Brown at one of the team's practices. There's not a whole lot of action shown, but it is a different way to become more familiar with Brown.

The basketball team scrimmaged Rutgers over the weekend and won. Every coach treats these sorts of games differently so don't try to glean too much from the pseudo game. I am just glad Clifford looks healthy.

The ACC named Manny Asprilla its Defensive Back of the Week.

This is from last week, but I failed to mentioned that BC remains one of the leaders in graduation rates.

I am not worried about ALJ's injury

Sophomore Albert Louis-Jean suffered foot injury and will miss several games. Obviously this is not good news, but it is not the end of the world either. ALJ has a lot of potential, but he was just okay last year. I think Asprilla was a better true freshman. I think we'll be fine with Jones, Williams or even moving Noel back to corner. The key to the defense this year will be pressure up front. It won't be about our corners.

I hope ALJ makes a full recovery and comes back better than ever. I also hope that if the recovery is slow, that he redshirts. We've been burned too often with guys coming back too soon.

Year in Review: Biggest Surprises

Although it felt like a series of low points, there were plenty of pleasant surprises on this BC football team. As part of the Year in Review, I looked back on three guys who exceeded expectations.

1. Ryan Quigley. Quigley has been a solid punter from Day 1, so it may be hard to call him a surprise, but this year he took it to a new level. He was fourth in the nation in punts inside the 20...many of which were pinned inside the 10. Quigley was consistent and also did very nice job with our kickoffs. There were many times that I felt Spaz went too conservative and was too quick to punt, but Quigley always bailed him out. Many things went wrong this year, but anything related to Quigley did not. I wish he didn't punt so often, but it was a pleasure watching his work.

2. Dominic Appiah. When Spaz's defenses are at their best, it usually starts upfront. For the past three seasons we haven't really had a game changer up there. We expected guys like O'Neal or Quinn to step up or maybe get some big contributions from Ricci, but Appiah was the one who really progressed as the season wore on. As a DT, his job is to push the line and clog the middle. One of the reasons our defense got better towards the end of the season was because Appiah finally gave us a difference maker at DT. As we used more three-man fronts, Appiah was often the lone DT out there and played well. Plus I like his hustle. The defensive line has been an issue for a few years, but I think next year it will be a strength.

3. Manny Asprilla. Asprilla's rise was very similar to Appiah's. Other young DBs were supposed to make an impact this year. Not much was expected of Asprilla. Yet as the season wore on, he was getting more and more snaps. He was the one making tackles. Our corners are expected to cover and make plenty of tackles. Asprilla showed a toughness and instinct that should serve him well going forward. I also liked his quickness on corner blitzes. If his freshman year was any indication, Asprilla has a chance to be special.