The Eagles have taken South Jersey product and Temple linebacker Shaun Bradley with the 196th pick (sixth round) in the 2020 draft.
Bradley, 23, played four years at Temple after gray-shirting and became one of their stars and a team captain. He graduated from Rancocas Valley High School in Mt. Holly, New Jersey.
Bradley (6-1, 235) ended up becoming a three-year starter at Temple and became a team-leader for the Owls earning a coveted single-digit number before the 2018 season. The Eagles expressed interest in Bradley at the combine; they were one of the first teams to talk to him in Indianapolis.
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And Bradley loved the idea of getting a chance to stay home and play for the Birds.
I would love that,” Bradley said in February. “I love playing in the Linc, being home, being close to home. My dad would be able to see me, my whole family would be able to see me. It would be a little different type of setting. That would be amazing.
Bradley joked he might go to the wrong locker room. Now he really has to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Over the last couple months, Bradley has been living in his college apartment in Philadelphia but has been training at an empty complex in South Jersey. He had planned to do field drills at Temple’s pro day on March 16 but it was canceled.
NFL
Like most of the Eagles’ picks in this draft, Bradley is fast. He ran a 4.51 at the combine, putting him in the 93rd percentile for linebackers.
During his three years as a starter at Temple, Bradley was very productive. He had 85, 78 and 87 tackles for the Owls and was a senior captain in 2019.
The Eagles drafted linebacker Davion Taylor in the third round, but Taylor didn’t start playing football until he got to college. Perhaps Taylor has more upside but Bradley has more experience and could put up a fight for playing time early.
This is the first time the Eagles have drafted two linebackers in the same class since 2011.
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