Eagles Look At Florida Edge Rusher Alex McCalister
PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) — The Eagles hosted Florida edge rusher Alex McCalister on a pre-draft visit, one of the team's 30 allocated meetings in the process.
The 6-foot-6, 240-pound McCalister is obviously rangy with a 36-inch arm length but he's a one-trick pony and just doesn't have the size to hold up on the edge in the run game.
In his 22 games in Gainesville, McCalister recorded 49 tackles, 17 1/2 of those for a loss, and 12 1/2 sacks, along with two forced fumbles.
Most scouts project McAlister as a late-round pick as a specialist who had plenty of success as pass-rusher at Florida from both a two- and three-point stance.
However, he just doesn't have the functional-football strength to hit the ground running at the professional level and really only possesses a fastball in that his success chasing the QB comes off the edge and he has not developed a counter move to this point.
McCalister also struggled with a foot injury last season and was suspended for Florida's season opener before eventually being dismissed from the football program all together late last year so there are some red flags.
-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973ESPN.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen