Eagles Film Review: Albert Okwuegbunam Is Absolutely Worth A Shot

Albert Okwuegbunam is an Eagle! This is fun. Why not take a chance on a talented tight end? I didn’t watch much of Albert O coming out, but after a number of his games after the trade, I do think he has real talent and is worth a shot. Let’s get into the film.

Strengths

+ Former wide receiver and it shows on the field. He moves really well and is a really fluid mover.

+ Can win in contested situations and catch the ball away from his frame.

+ Fast. 4.49 speed for a tight end is absolutely no joke. He was one of the quickest athletes at the position. Just look at his RAS via @MathBomb

+ Has the size and speed to win vertically down the seam and create explosive plays.

+ Will be a real weapon in the red zone due to his size and length.

+ Has a lot of positional versatility. Can line up in the slot as well as inline and split out wide. The Broncos used him as the X-iso quite frequently.

+ I think he will be a weapon in the RPO game on shorter routes where he can use his speed to get YAC.

Weaknesses

– Inconsistent hands. Had a drop rate of 16% last year which is terrible, and a career drop rate of 8.5% per PFF.

– His blocking is awful. He shows a lack of effort on too many plays which is a big, big problem. He looks disinterested when asked to block.

– Durability concerns. Suffered an ACL injury in his rookie year and was banged up in college too.

– Pre-draft reports about his character were not great.

– He doesn’t break a lot of tackles after the catch, despite his athletic ability.

– Still raw as a route runner and wins with size and athleticism rather than great routes.

– Had a pretty terrible 2022 and was going to be cut by the Broncos, who have a new head coach in Sean Payton who has done very well getting production from his tight ends historically. Yards per route run went from 2.28 as a rookie to 0.69 last year.

Overall

I love 12 personnel and always want the Eagles to have 2 great tight ends. If you want to know why, I wrote about 12 personnel in detail a few years ago here. The problem with 12 personnel is that it only works if defenses treat both tight ends as legitimate receivers and blockers. Right now, Albert O is not good enough to be a big part of any 12-personnel package on a consistent basis because his blocking is a huge issue. He’s one of the worst blocking tight ends I’ve watched and looks disinterested in that part of his game.

Despite all the flaws I have pointed out above, he is absolutely worth a shot because his size and athleticism are rare. I barely had to look at his number to know who to look out for in each of the games I watched. Just find the huge tight end who moves like a receiver, and I’ll guarantee that it will be 85.

He is a serious talent who needs a lot of work and I think he needs to take his own game a lot more seriously to develop into a proper tight end in this league, and not just a good athlete.

The Eagles will hope that their winning culture, led by very strong veterans will be able to guide Albert O into taking his career seriously. If he really wants to compete and commits to getting better, the Eagles could have a legitimate weapon who could be the Eagles TE2 by the end of the season. However, if he doesn’t improve his blocking and his effort levels,

I would be surprised if he makes it to the end of the season with the Eagles. Jeff Stoutland is not going to enjoy watching some of the clips of him blocking that I watched.

In summary: Albert O is a rare talent at the position, but he doesn’t play like it right now. He feels a little bit boom/bust but I think it’s a really smart trade with very little downside.