Doug Pederson’s Eagles career may be over, but his son’s career with the Eagles may be just about to begin.
You never know.
Josh Pederson, who caught 75 passes for 934 yards and nine TDs the past two years playing tight end for Louisiana-Monroe, is hoping to be drafted next month.
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And, yes, Doug Pederson’s son has had a Zoom visit with the Eagles.
“I’ve talked with (an) Eagles’ scout and my agents I think have talked with Howie (Roseman) and Jake Rosenberg for sure,” the younger Pederson said. “I’ll go to any team. It doesn’t matter. No hard feelings at all. I just want my foot in the door. I just want to make a team no matter what team it is.”
Pederson and his dad spoke exclusively with NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark on his new podcast, Takeoff with John Clark, which debuts on Monday. Click here to listen to the entire interview and subscribe to the podcast.
Josh Pederson is a great story even without the connection to the Eagles.
NFL
He grew up in Moorestown and spent his freshman year at Moorestown High School in South Jersey. He didn’t play football, but he was the Burlington County Times Golfer of the Year.
When Andy Reid brought Pederson with him to Kansas City in 2013, Josh entered Blue Valley North High in nearby Overland Park. He continued as a star golfer, but in 11th grade began playing football.
“I started kind of late,” he said. “But once I saw (his dad) and what he accomplished and how quickly he moved up the chain, I was like, ‘Dang, you make a great living, you get to do a lot of cool things.’ It’s something I wanted to try to do some myself.”
After high school, Josh Pederson enrolled at Louisiana-Monroe of the Sun Belt Conference, where his dad played 30 years ago (when it was called Northeast Louisiana). Josh played sparingly his first two years but put himself on the NFL’s radar with a 567-yard, 9-TD season as a junior.
The nine TDs were tied for the most in the entire BCS by a tight end.
“I’m super excited,” Josh said. “It’s been a crazy five years, college football, and I’m finally sitting here, I have my pro day coming up this Thursday. Hopefully, I can go out and give them my best and hopefully get drafted.”
What if he winds up in training camp with the team that fired Doug Pederson?
“I would tell Josh to get in Jalen Hurts’ ear,” Doug said. “Get into his pockets, get into everything he knows about Jalen Hurts and start throwing and catching and doing everything he can. And that would be a great opportunity. They’ve had a great run up there of tight ends, and Zach Ertz is one of the best in the National Football League, Dallas Goedert, Rich Rod (Richard Rodgers) was there. We’ve had success with tight ends and I’d be excited for Josh wherever he ends up. But if he were back in Philly, that would be a great opportunity, great spot for him.”
The reality is that if Pederson is going to make it in the NFL, there’s a good chance he’ll have to take the same route as his dad. As an undrafted free agent out of Louisiana-Monroe.
“It’s like me back in the early 90s, you just want to get your foot in the door, you just want an opportunity,” Doug said in his first interview since he was fired by the Eagles in January. “I knew who I was back then, my work ethic, how I was going to approach the game, and Josh knows his work ethic and how he wants to approach the game.
“I’ve been able to kind of mentor him a little bit on what to expect. Not only through this process but in this year of what rookies go through. Our goal and our hope for him as our son, we’d love for him to be drafted, obviously, but I think the bigger goal is just let’s get into camp, let’s see what happens.”
Pederson, who stands 6-foot-5, 240 pounds, is a legit prospect.
He’s ranked as the No. 12 tight end prospect in the draft by Draft Lord Sports and No. 13 by draft analyst Charlie Campbell of WalterFootball.com.
“There’s talk that I could be in one of the later rounds, but I’m fully prepared to be a priority free agent and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Josh said.
“There’s plenty of ways to make it into the NFL. Whichever way it happens for me, it doesn’t matter, as long as I get there.”