Ilaoa News w/UPDATES

Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News mentions Nate Ilaoa in his article of the big backs in Eagles mini-camp.

Then, 2 weeks ago, the Eagles invested two of their eight draft picks on something Eagles fans long have clamored for: big, bruising power backs - 6-1, 233-pound Tony Hunt of Penn State in the third round and 5-9, 245-pound bowling ball Nate Ilaoa of Hawaii in the seventh round.

"These two guys, they're both a little bit different [than what we already have],'' Mornhinweg said during a break at the Eagles' 3-day minicamp, which concludes today. "They're both bigger type backs, physical backs. Both have excellent feet. And both are extremely good in the pass game as well.''

And Reuben Frank of Burlington County Times has more.

“(Ilaoa has) very good feet. He's highly productive, both in the pass and the run game.”

Both seem to be better fits in this offense than Ryan Moats, who is fast but not a good blocker or receiver, and the departed Reno Mahe, who made the team as a punt returner and rarely played on offense.

“I told the younger guys, it's their job now, so they have to get in the (play book) no matter what - if they're tired, in between meetings, in between practices, they have to get in the book and study, because it's not natural for a lot of these things they're asking them to do,” Westbrook said.

Sounds like there's a good chance there's room for Nate in the Eagles backfield. Right on.

UPDATE: Stephen Tsai talks to Nate.

"There's a lot of stuff to learn," said Ilaoa, who completed the Eagles' mini camp yesterday. "But it's cool. It's all coming together."
Ilaoa said the veteran teammates, particularly running back Brian Westbrook, have been helpful.
"There's no rookie hazing," Ilaoa said. "Everybody is helping each other out. Everybody is cool. This is a classy franchise."

UPDATE 2: Nate talks about getting adjusted to the speed of the NFL.

A seventh-round pick, running back Nate Ilaoa isn't having too much trouble understanding the playbook. At Hawaii, Ilaoa played in a high-octane offense led by long-time NFL assistant June Jones. However, at nearly 250 pounds, Ilaoa isn't able to juke defenders like he used to do.

"The tempo of how practices are run, I was able to adjust to that quickly, but as far as the players go, they're coming fast," Ilaoa said. "In college you're able to get away with only a couple players being real fast, out here everyone's fast. Even the coaches are kind of fast running these drills."