The MAC is, perhaps, about to get on a roll in the NFL draft. The conference seemed to have a fair mountain of talent that was considered to be right on the edge between being Day Two-worth and going early on day three, and that mountain might finally be on the horizon for NFL teams.
In the second round during day two, the Philadelphia Eagles selected the second Temple Owl of the draft in strong safety Jaiquawn Jarrett. His selection is probably not a huge surprise, given that Jarrett was listed as the second best safety available in the draft and several teams (including the Eagles) had safety fairly high up on their draft food chain. So who the heck is this guy, anyway?
Jarrett was a three year starter for the Owls (four year player) and is well known to NFL scouts. However, in reading reports on Jarrett, the one continuous knock is that he is repeatedly referred to as being "good for an undersized safety." Honestly, I think that is, at best, a pile of crap:Jaiquawn Jarrett: 5'11", 198
Troy Polamalu: 5'10", 207
Ed Reed: 5'11", 200
Nick Collins: 5'11", 200
All those other safeties are the same exact size, and the first term used to describe those guys is most certainly not "oh, he's just an undersized safety." That said, the descriptions of Jarrett sound an awful lot like another Steeler with two rings, safety Ryan Clark. Much like Clark's bread and butter, Jarrett is said to be not an elite, playmaking ballhawk, but a sure tackler and hard hitter who should definitely succeed in defending the run. Though I'm sure the Eagles are also hoping he succeeds at defending the pass since they, yknow, didn't last year. To the highlight reel!!!
As you can see, the Eagles got a guy who does what most strong safeties are good at - he's smart enough to understand what's is going on in front of him and he really likes hitting people - both truly redeeming qualities in a safety. The comparisons to Brian Dawkins might be a bit premature, but much like another Temple gentleman drafted already, he not only will make the team out of camp but may even sneak into some special packages at the very least, not just as a special-teamer.