Eagles Had Some Interest In College Basketball Player Turned TE

According to an NFL source, the Eagles were interested enough to look into 6-foot-9 Coastal Carolina Colin Granger before he signed with the Panthers.

Then-Ohio Bobcats forward Colin Granger (32) celebrates after the Bobcats beat the Buffalo Bulls to win the MAC championship. / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

It's been relatively quiet on the tight end front for the Eagles during the pre-draft process with no known top-30 visits despite the uncertainty surrounding starter Dallas Goedert, who is set to enter a lame-duck contract year with a high-salary cap number.

Philadelphia has listened to offers for Goedert, and if something does happen, it would likely be a post-June 1 ending when the Eagles would get some relief rather than a $9 million charge pre-June 1.

The depth chart doesn't look strong behind Goedert, with Grant Calcaterra presumably stepping up in his absence if things don't work out.

Calcaterra is coming off a career-best 24 reception performance in the 2024 season. From there, the Eagles signed a pair of backups in free agency: Harrison Bryant and Kylen Granson to add to developmental prospect E.J. Jenkins, and futures signings Nick Muse and Cameron Latu.

The presumption is that the real potential post-Goedert answer would come in what is considered a deep draft at the position.

Although the Eagles are too good to be in Penn State's Tyler Warren sweepstakes or even Michigan's Colston Loveland, in theory GM Howie Roseman would have a lot of interest in the Tier 2 prospects led by LSU's Mason Taylor, Miami's Elijah Arroyo, Oregon's Terrance Ferguson, and perhaps Harold Fannin Jr., who played for the Eagles' new quarterbacks coach, Scot Loeffler, at Bowling Green.

Perhaps the need is so obvious that the Eagles want to keep any interest under wraps as long as possible. To date, 17 of a potential 30 pre-draft visits have been reported in various outlets.

What is continuing is that the Eagles are uncovering every rock to improve at the position, albeit at clearance-aisle prices.

According to an NFL source, that idea of using every avenue to get better included interest in former Coastal Carolina basketball player Colin Granger, a 6-foot-9, 235-pound prospect who signed with the Panthers on Monday.

Granger, who also played hoops at Western Carolina and Ohio, is making the transition to football, and those who attended his recent pro day, which included the Eagles, are projecting the lengthy prospect at tight end.

The NFL has a long history of developing college basketball players with some size into tight ends.

There's been some real success stories like Chargers Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates, who was a star at Kent State, and Jimmy Graham, a high-volume pass-catcher who played basketball at the University of Miami and ultimately starred with the Saints, Seahawks, and the Packers. Gates came in as an undrafted free agent but Graham was a third-round pick so he was hardly an unknown.

Granger is not the type of athlete to reach that level of success and it's not like he would have been immediate help for the Eagles. That said, the interest does highlight the Eagles' approach to explore every possibility to get better.

MORE NFL: Could the Eagles Double Down On CB In The Draft