Prince Tega Wanogho First Eagles Rookie to Sign Contract

Jalen Reagor may have been the first Eagles rookie to announce his uniform number on twitter. The receiver wasn’t the first of the team’s 10-member draft class to sign his contract, though.

That distinction belongs to offensive tackle Prince Tega Wanogho.

The sixth-round pick, No. 210 overall, agreed to terms with the Eagles on Tuesday.

In the previous two seasons, the Eagles announced the signing of all their draft picks at the same time. Those two classes, however, were much smaller than the 2020 group, with five drafted in players in 2018 and another five in 2019.

Wanogho was unexpectedly still on the draft board when it came time for the Eagles to make their third pick in the sixth round.

A knee injury that did not allow Wanogho to work out at the NFL Scouting Combine then the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the country and prevented pro days from being held, though there were a few that got theirs in before the shutdown.

Auburn, however, wasn’t one of them.

Wanogho said after he was drafted that his knee is about 90 to 95 percent healed.

He got a late start in football, not taking up the sport until he left Nigeria for the United States when he was a teenager and settled in Alabama, with a host family that had brought him over to play basketball.

Now 6-5, 309 pounds Wanogho is considered a raw prospect with plenty of upside. Wanogho doesn’t view himself as that raw, however.

“I don't feel like I'm actually catching up to (anybody who has played longer),” he said. “I'm a guy who's going to come in there and actually work hard. Obviously like if it means so much to you, you'll find a way. I'm a guy who will always find a way, and I take pride in whatever I do.

“Doesn't really matter what it is. I take pride in it. I was able to play my entire year at Auburn with the best guys in the nation. I didn't give up a sack last year. And I feel like that's something most of the coaches worry about, thinking about I'm a newcomer; but at the same time, I'm a guy who takes pride in whatever I do. I stay hungry at all times, and I'm going to come in there ready to go to work.”

Wanogho will be joined in Philly by his Auburn teammate Jack Driscoll, an offensive lineman who can play guard and tackle and who was taken in the fifth round.

“Jack's a guy who came to Auburn three years ago and, yeah, he's a special one, too,” said Wanogho. “He's a close friend of mine, and just coming in there with Jack, that's a blessing for me, too. And also, the Eagles. Everybody knows they got one of the best offensive lines in the country, so I feel like I just got to come in there, and you know, have the right mindset and come to work. I'm excited.”