Eagles bringing in NC State OT Anthony Belton for top 30 visit and showing interest in athletic small-school lineman

INDIANAPOLIS — At North Carolina State, the offensive linemen had weekly competitions on who could collect the most pancake blocks against opposing defensive linemen and linebackers. As a reward, they received bottles of syrup to signify their success in driving their matchups into the ground.

Winning that weekly competition was something left tackle Anthony Belton took great pride in.

“About three or four games I had most [pancakes],” Belton said on Saturday at the NFL scouting combine.

Belton, who earned the nickname “Escalade” from his offensive line coach Garett Tujague because there’s “not too many people my size that can move good and change direction,” is physical and excels in the run game. The offensive tackle, who measured in at 6-foot-5, 345 pounds at the Senior Bowl, moves effortlessly in pass protection and has the foot speed to mirror opposing pass rushers.

Although the Eagles had not met with him yet at the combine, they did schedule a top 30 visit with Belton. NFL teams are allowed 30 private meetings with draft prospects, but local players don’t count toward this limit. Belton plans to visit Philadelphia in April.

“It would be a blessing [to learn under Jeff Stoutland], just seeing all of the guys that got better learning from him, like Lane Johnson, Mehki Becton,” Belton said, “and being able to learn from those guys, being a part of a system like that, obviously winning a championship, the mindset they have, the culture, that would be good [to play for]. … I watched a lot of tape of NFL [linemen] and just seeing what [the Eagles] did this past year, from protecting Jalen Hurts to running the ball, they had a phenomenal year.”

Jordan Mailata and Johnson remain an elite NFL pairing at tackle. However, with Becton approaching free agency and Johnson turning 35 in May, the Eagles might look to strengthen the right guard position and find Johnson’s heir. Although Belton has only played tackle, teams have asked about his NFL position.

“I’m a firm tackle, but at the end of the day, I’m a ballplayer,” he said. “I can play guard, tackle. If I got to adjust, I’ll do it.”

» READ MORE: Eagles building connections with Texas TE Gunnar Helm, S Andrew Mukuba at NFL scouting combine

As he’s gone through this draft process, Belton has leaned on former teammate Ikem Ekwonu, who was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the first round in 2022. Belton called Ekwonu for advice on how to approach the week, and the tackle believes he can fit in any running scheme at the NFL level.

“I feel I can adjust to whatever scheme it is,” Belton said. “But something I do is take pride in [is] my run blocking, just finishing [players to the ground], and being dominant.”

Charles Grant did not play football until his junior year of high school. The Portsmouth, Va., native was a wrestler and had earned all-state honors. It wasn’t until the Churchland High School football coach, Dontrell Leonard, with whom he was wrestling before a regional tournament at their high school, offered him a proposition to earn a starting spot that he went out for the football team.

“The head football coach, he was in the [wrestling] room,” Grant said. “There was an O-linemen that already played. He was bigger than me, about the same height, but like 270 [pounds], and I was 220 [pounds]. He really didn’t know what he was doing, so I could easily take him down. And my coach was like, ‘You can do that. You got a starting spot on the team.’”

» READ MORE: Philly’s Abdul Carter could be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. At the Super Bowl, he was just an Eagles fan.

More than seven years later, including five seasons at William & Mary, Grant is a highly coveted small-school prospect. When he first started playing football, Grant weighed 257 pounds, and he arrived at William & Mary in 2020 at 270. He was a four-year starter at the FCS school and has superb athletic ability to cut off defensive linemen on the front and back side of outside zone concepts.

Grant had a formal meeting with the Eagles, and the interest is intriguing, considering that NFL teams gravitate toward linemen with wrestling backgrounds. He attended the Offensive Line Masterminds summit last summer, co-launched by Johnson and former offensive line coach Duke Mayweather. Grant picked the brains of Terron Armstead, a fellow FCS tackle who plays for the Miami Dolphins, and Johnson.

“Learning a little bit about the run game, but also, just like what it takes to get here, [with Armstead] coming from a small school as well,” Grant said. “He told me about his path a little bit, and then how things worked out for him. I got a chance to sit in a clinic with [Johnson], with him explaining some wide zone stuff, which was really helpful; we ran a lot of wide zone at William & Mary.”

The 6-4, 300-pound tackle missed the Senior Bowl with a knee sprain and does not plan on participating in the on-field testing at the combine as he continues to recover from his injury. He does, however, plan to go through a full workout at his pro day.

Grant grew up a fan of the Cowboys, with whom he had a formal meeting as well, and says he’d “really be honored” to play for Dallas. He added that he’s had an incredible process so far and is looking forward to proving he belongs in the NFL, despite coming from a small school.

» READ MORE: Eagles Stay or Go: The Results

“Every year, my mentality is I’m just going to work my hardest,” Grant said. “I’m more physical and more athletic than you, so I’m just going to prove that on the field. Even though I’m nice off the field, on the field, I’m a dog.”