Eagles Could Build On New Bowling Green Connection

The Philadelphia Eagles hired the Bowling Green head coach to be their QB coach and there is a Bowling Green prospect in the draft that could draw their interest.

Sep 7, 2024; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Bowling Green Falcons tight end Harold Fannin Jr (0) runs with the ball during the second quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles needed a quarterback coach, so they hired Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler. The Super Bowl champions could use a tight end, so will they draft Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin, Jr.?

Incumbent tight end Dallas Goedert is now 30 and can still play, but Zach Ertz was 27 when the Eagles drafted Goedert, so perhaps one of the milder surprises from last year’s draft was that the general manager Howie Roseman didn’t take a tight end.

Instead, they used some stopgap options such as free agent C.J. Uzomah and converted receiver E.J. Jenkins. Grant Calcaterra was the top backup to Goedert, and he was needed a lot this season.

Goedert missed seven games with two injuries. He still had 42 catches for 496 yards and two touchdowns. He added 17 more receptions for 215 yards in four playoff games with a highlight-reel touchdown catch against the Green Bay Packers in a Wild Card weekend win.

Calcaterra, a sixth-round pick in 2022, played 66 percent of the snaps, some as Goedert’s replacement but also because the Eagles like to use two tight-end sets. He had 24 catches for 298 yards and scored his first career touchdown but made only one catch on one target for four yards in the postseason this year.

Stopgaps may not be the path Roseman takes this year, not with a draft crop of tight ends that is supposed to be deep and talented and the fact that Goedert and Calcaterra are only signed through 2025.

The two top tight ends, Penn State’s Tyler Warren and Michigan’s Colston Loveland, will be gone by the time the Eagles make their first pick. LSU’s Mason Taylor, Miami’s Elijah Arroyo, Texas’s Gunnar Helm, and Fannin could be part of the next wave in the Eagles' range.

Fannin may not be considered the prospect that those in that next wave are, but he has a skillset that can be developed by learning from Goedert and Calcaterra and tight end coach Jason Michael. Plus, the Eagles now have an inside source for Fannin knowledge with QB coach Loeffler in the fold.

Here’s a little more about Fannin:

-He was the MAC Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, making him the first tight end in FBS history to win conference Player of the Year.

-He was a finalist for the John Mackey Award given to the nation’s top tight end.

-He led the FBS with 117 receptions and 1,555 receiving yards, which are both single-season FBS records for his position. He also led the team with 10 receiving TDs.

And this from NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein:

“Enigmatic prospect featuring record-breaking single-season catch production despite a straight-legged playing style. Fannin’s lack of functional bend forces him on more linear tracks and cuts his route tree in half, but it doesn't keep him from getting around the field and through the pattern with good speed.

"Fannin’s hands are automatic, and he’s a competitive runner after the catch, but he needs to prove he can beat tight press-man coverage. He won’t block much, but his ability to stretch the field from the slot and make the tough catches give him a shot as a potential TE2 with upside.”

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