Going to the Senior Bowl every year is a great experience. You get to see the players practice. You get to be around them and see some of their personalities. You also get to be around NFL people…coaches, scouts and media types. There really is a lot to take in.

I can’t share every nugget I get down there. I’ll offer hints as best I can, but some stories I’m just not allowed to outright share. With that in mind…

I came away feeling better about Doug Pederson. He’s overly positive in his press conferences, but that’s a public face. He’s realistic about who can play and who can’t.

The Eagles key free agent is DT Bennie Logan. Nobody has a good feel for his future. The Eagles obviously want him back, but can they afford him? I have seen a few free agent lists compiled by smart media types and Bennie hasn’t been a Top 40 free agent on them. Maybe that means he will have a realistic price tag and the Eagles can keep him. You don’t want to develop good young talent and let those guys walk if you can help it.

There is no consensus on whether Alshon Jeffrey will hit free agency or whether the Eagles will pursue him. Really good player, but he’s got a couple of issues and you wonder if he’s worth elite money.

Non-Eagles people think highly of Carson Wentz. He’s got issues to work through, but they love his potential and see him as a franchise QB.

It isn’t lost on people that the Eagles went 5-1 with Lane Johnson, who was the team’s best OL when he played. Having him for a full season will make a big difference.

You can have a depressing debate on who was worse down the stretch, Leodis McKelvin or Nolan Carroll.

The Eagles must figure out slot corner. Malcolm Jenkins needs to stay back at Safety the whole year. Who knew losing Ron Brooks would hurt the defense?

The feeling is that DeSean Jackson won’t get big money as a free agent. Whether that could cause the Eagles to go after him is still unknown.

Dalvin Cook would be a great fit in the Eagles offense, but there are on and off-field concerns with him that could hurt his value.

No one has a clue what the Eagles are going to do for a #3 QB. They could draft one, but this is a weak QB class.

The feeling is that Wiz won’t be returning to the Eagles.

The Eagles need to find 2 starting WRs. You just can’t count on Nelson Agholor or DGB to play substantially better in 2017.

*****

Scott McCloughan, the Skins GM, sat in the stand near me and Jimmy Bama on Thursday. Most coaches and GMs go to the other side, which is only for NFL people. McCloughan is a different kind of guy. He struck up a conversation with a family in front of him. That happened to be the parents of WR Trent Taylor. McCloughan was just trying to be a nice guy.

Later a middle school football team came and sat in the stands. They walked in front of us. McCloughan said hello to the kids and was just trying to be friendly. It was cool to see an NFL executive just being a normal guy.

*****

Kiko Alonso is even weirder and dumber than you think.

*****

I sat behind Jay Glazer on one of the flights down. He believes in reclining for the whole trip. Love Glaze as a reporter, but you don’t want to sit behind that guy in an airplane.

*****

There was a lot of talk about how the coaches ran the practices. I wasn’t a huge fan of the CLE staff, but the Bears were far worse. Chip Kelly would have had a heart attack if he watched all the wasted time by that staff. Terrible.

I spent more time watching CBs and WRs than ever before. That meant less time on OL, DL, RB and LB.

*****

The Brick Pit remains the best barbecue joint in Mobile, if not all of Alabama. My BBQ rankings for the week:

The Brick Pit

Moe’s

The Shed

Saucy Q

Sadly no stop at Dreamland on this trip.

*****

And now your humor for the day.

You really get a sense of how small Darren Sproles is in this photo the Eagles tweeted. https://t.co/hUQCKhD1MT pic.twitter.com/2wo2hRpOXC — Dan McQuade (@dhm) January 27, 2017

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