Marcus Smith was a major disappointment as the Eagles’ first-round draft pick last season. A linebacker who was drafted with the expectation that he’d make an instant impact on Philadelphia’s defense, Smith instead barely played and didn’t record a single tackle.
But Smith is working hard this offseason to show he has something to contribute. Teammate Connor Barwin told Comcast Sportsnet in Philadelphia that Smith has become a completely different physical specimen through his spring workouts.
“Physically, he looks different. He gained 15 pounds, he put on a lot of muscle,” Barwin said. “He’s one of the stronger guys on our defense now. He took the offseason and did what he needed to do, which was get bigger, stronger. Now we’re just excited to see what happens when we put the pads on.”
Smith’s lousy rookie year was a catalyst for some of the changes the Eagles made this offseason, as the bad first-round pick in 2014 gave Chip Kelly ammunition in his quest to convince owner Jeffrey Lurie to give him final say over personnel. But that doesn’t mean Kelly’s Eagles have given up on Smith. They’re counting on him to contribute something in 2015, which he didn’t in 2014.
