NFC Notes: Commanders, Eagles, Giants

Commanders

Commanders HC Ron Rivera said that the team didn’t bring in WR Jahan Dotson for a top-30 pre-draft visit, because the team felt they had more than enough information on him already.

“We had a good stack of players that were available. One of the guys in that group was Jahan, who we felt very, very good about,” Rivera said, via NBC Sports. “We felt so good about him that we didn’t bring him in on a [top-] thirty visit just because we felt like we knew enough about him, that he was the kind of guy that we had hoped to get a chance at, and sure enough we did.”

Dotson didn’t raise any red flags during the pre-draft process, and the team felt comfortable with who he was on-and-off the field.

“He was a guy we didn’t have really any questions on,” Rivera said. “We had over six of our personnel there for his pro day, they did a lot of background on him while they were there. We’ve done a lot of background on him throughout. We just felt like this was a guy we didn’t have any questions on, so we didn’t want to raise any flags as far as he was concerned, so we opted not to bring him in.”

Eagles

• Jeff McLane reports that the Eagles interviewed Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy for a front-office role, while they will also interview Steelers’ pro scouting director Brandon Hunt this week. 
• Eagles HC Nick Sirianni wouldn’t elaborate when asked if their base defense would be a 4-3 or 3-4 system.  (Jimmy Kempski)
• The Eagles hosted LB Tuzar Skipper for a workout on Friday. (Mike Kaye)

Giants

Giants GM Joe Schoen said there weren’t very many negatives with EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux, and that the team did extensive work on him pre-draft and determined that he would be a great fit for them.

“There weren’t many negatives going through the process,” Schoen said, via PFT. “Again just everybody is different in terms of personality and how you are in certain settings. He’s a guy we spent a lot of time with from the Combine, to go take him out to dinner, his Pro Day, to bringing him in, Zooms with him, FaceTimes. We spent a lot of time with him. He’s always had good grades in school. He’s never been in trouble. He’s a hard worker. He had an ankle injury this year. A lot of people that are gonna be high picks easily could have hung it up and called it a season, but this kid fought back. He practiced through it. Eventually came back and played late in the season.”

Schoen felt that Thibodeaux may have been gone around the sixth pick, so they opted to take him at five instead of waiting until pick seven when they drafted again.

“We had heard again the way it worked out there were some teams that were behind us that were targeting that six range,” Schoen said. “Carolina had a one and a four [and no second- or third-round pick]. Would they maybe move back if a team trades up into six? We had definitely heard teams behind us were interested in him.”

Schoen said the team did factor in the fit of Thibodeaux in New York and said that obviously, you have to be aware of your surroundings when bringing in talent, though he did add that Thibodeaux came from Los Angeles, so he feels he’ll be able to handle New York and any potential distractions that come with it.

“Yeah, and I think it does for every team,” Schoen said. “When I was down in Miami with the Dolphins that was always something. ‘Can he handle South Beach? Would this kid be able to survive in Miami? How will he be in that scene?’ Then you go to Buffalo some people [say], ‘Hey, that’s the ideal place for him because there’s not as much going on or a player.’ Whichever team you’re in or whatever city you’re in, you always take in the environment, the outside surroundings. You’ve got to think, ‘Will this player be able to succeed? Will football still be important to him?’ Again, Kayvon’s from L.A. There’s plenty of stuff going on in L.A. He grew up in that environment, big city. I think he’ll just be fine in New York and we’re comfortable with that fit.”