Former Clemson defensive end Ricky Sapp was widely regarded by most draft analysts as a second- or third-round prospect, but he ended up falling all the way to the Eagles in the fifth round. Simply put, for a team that prides itself on throwing "fastballs" at the quarterback, a pass-rusher of Sapp's pedigree was too good to pass up with the 134th selection of the draft. Sapp joins Brandon Graham and Daniel Te'o-Nesheim as defensive ends drafted by the Eagles in 2010. Perhaps those three fastballs will lead to strike three for opposing offenses.

"It's a great opportunity," Sapp said about the stable of defensive ends he's joining on a conference call with Philadelphia reporters. "They got Brandon Graham, who's a great player, and a couple other defensive ends. So at the end of the day, I think we're all going to bring the pressure and get to the quarterback."

Sapp likely dropped so far as a result of a torn ACL in November of 2008. Sapp returned to play all of the 2009 season, but he acknowledged that he probably should have taken more time to recover.

"I came back and played a full season on my knee at about 60 percent," he said, "really should have sat out a couple games and tried to get it right, but I really wanted to play. So it kind of hurt me a little bit, I guess it's why I went kind of low. But I think things worked out for the best and I know God has a plan all along so I'm just excited."

But Sapp ran well at the combine and said that he now feels 100 percent.

"I went to the combine and I pretty much showed them my knee was healthy," he said. "I'm not sure what scared them off, but I just know the Eagles, you know, took a chance on me so I'm just going to prove everybody else wrong."

Sapp played the "bandit" position in the Clemson defense, a hybrid position that also gave him experience in coverage. He said he's not sure exactly how the Eagles plan on using him, but he expects to be getting after the quarterback.

"I'm pretty sure it's going to be rushing the passer because that's what I do best," he said.

-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 1:02 p.m., April 24