With only two quarterbacks on the roster heading into the draft, the Eagles were expected to snag a developmental mid-round quarterback at some point during the three-day extravaganza. They did indeed get their man in the multi-talented Mike Kafka from Northwestern with the 122th overall selection, the 22nd pick in the fourth round.

Kafka is obviously coming into Philadelphia to be a backup, which is something he's done before. He only started his final season at Northwestern after sitting behind C.J. Bacher for his first three seasons, but in that one season Kafka led the Big Ten in passing yards (263.8 yards per game) and was named to the All-Big-Ten second team. Kafka, 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, is also a threat on the ground, as he ran for 891 yards in his Northwestern career - including a 2008 game against Minnesota when he ran for 217 yards.

So while Kafka would surely prefer to be on the field, he understands the value in sitting back and learning.

"It was definitely tough," he said. "Especially as a competitor, you never want to hear the words 'be patient.' Those were the words that Coach Fitz (Northwestern Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald) instilled in me, and really helped me throughout my career to be patient and that kind of related to what my football point was: take what they give you. Be patient. Chip away and eventually let them make the mistake. We're going to execute as an offense. Let them make the mistakes"

In Philadelphia, Kafka joins Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick, and he thinks it's a great opportunity to learn from not only those quarterbacks, but the coaching staff as well.

"I know that (quarterbacks coach James) Urban, (offensive coordinator Marty) Mornhinweg, and (head coach Andy) Reid all have a great reputation for developing quarterbacks and I'm happy to be a part of that group and learn as much as I can," he said. "Absolutely, I'm going to go into a system, and go in there and compete — whatever I can do to make the team better. That's really all I can do right now. I'm going in and making sure I'm prepared and I'm working hard and do the best I can to help the team."

Kafka said the Eagles attended his pro day at Northwestern and he met with them at the combine, so he wasn't shocked the Eagles wanted to snag him, and he has a good basis of knowledge heading into the Eagles' west-coast scheme.

"Absolutely, that is what the basis of our offense was around as far as progressions, moving keys, reading coverages, changing your progressions and changing plays at the line of scrimmage," he said. "And doing these types of things are really going to help me prepare for the next level."

-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 1:21 p.m., April 24