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

INDIANAPOLIS — Entering the 2024 season, Texas tight end Gunnar Helm had just 19 receptions for 236 yards and two touchdowns as his career output. Helm, a native of Englewood, Colo., waited his turn, as top tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders excelled in Steve Sarkisian’s offense and was chosen in the fourth round of the 2024 draft by the Carolina Panthers.

That career production changed after a strong season as one of Texas’ top receiving options in 2024, accounting for 60 receptions, 786 yards, and seven scores. Helm, at the podium at the NFL scouting combine on Thursday, called himself a “walking example” of choosing to stay and develop within a Texas program that reached the College Football Playoff semifinal.

“I think something that Coach Sark does very well is have trust in his players, and then allows his players to have trust in him. He throws us in the fire from a young age, I played all four years at the University of Texas,” Helm said. “Having that developed phase at the University of Texas, I think that’s what’s allowing them to have more guys going to the combine every year, more guys getting drafted, just more guys getting fully developed and playing to their full potential.”

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And play up to his full potential Helm did. Listed at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, Helm is a smooth route runner with reliable hands (two drops on 73 targets, according to Pro Football Focus) and can threaten down the seam of a defense with his quickness. Helm says he had a formal meeting with the Eagles, among six other teams, including the Denver Broncos, whom he grew up following.

The Longhorns standout says he enjoyed his meeting with the Eagles, and says he “thought the chemistry was absolutely there” with the Eagles’ coaching staff. Helm added that he sees some similarities between himself and Eagles backup tight end Grant Calcaterra.

“I think my body is pretty similar to Calcaterra, I love watching him. I love watching Dallas Goedert. Obviously, he’s been with the Eagles for a long time,” Helm said. “I like to say I take a lot of stuff from his game when I watch him on film. To be able to learn from Dallas Goedert and from Calcaterra and that offense, and be able to play alongside guys like Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and block for guys like that, I think it would be a blessing in itself.”

Helm is a likely mid-round pick and could become Goedert’s heir apparent as the Eagles veteran begins to age. Adding Helm to the tight ends group would give the Eagles a quality receiving option who brings similar characteristics that Goedert adds to the offense as a seam-stretcher with the ability to find soft spots in zone coverage and provide some run-after-catch ability.

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The Eagles have also done their homework on a few other tight ends, including LSU’s Mason Taylor, whom they showed interest in at the Senior Bowl and had a formal meeting with at the combine. In addition, they’ve met informally with Clemson’s Jake Briningstool, Oregon’s Terrance Ferguson, and Nebraska’s Thomas Fidone, a former teammate of Eagles center Cam Jurgens.

No player may have helped his draft stock more on that Texas team than safety Andrew Mukuba, who spent his first three seasons with Clemson. The hybrid safety and nickel cornerback finished 2024 with 69 tackles (four for losses), five interceptions, and one forced fumble in 15 games with the Longhorns.

Mukaba, who had a formal meeting with the Eagles among other teams at the combine, has great instincts and ball skills. He made several plays in which he dropped from near the line of scrimmage to the deep third of the field to get his hands on footballs thrown over the middle. Although he is a bit undersized for the position (6-foot, 190 pounds), he plays much bigger than his size suggests.

“I’m hoping to prove to myself, but also everybody, that I’m the best safety in this draft,” Mukuba said at the podium. “... I say that, but you know, I actually believe that and mean it. … I believe with me, you’re not just getting a safety. I’m a guy that have experience at the nickel position, also a guy that can come down and can do everything.”

Mukuba shed some light on his family history, too. His parents and older siblings fled from Congo and sought refuge in 2000, and Mukuba, born in 2002, spent the first nine years of his life in Zimbabwe, where he was born, before he and his family moved to the United States, settling in Austin, Texas.

“It wasn’t an easy transition for us,” Mukuba said. “Coming from a different country and coming here, we had to learn things, get adjusted to certain things, obviously, the environment and but my family and I, we did a great job, both my parents did a great job with [my siblings and me]. I mean, look where I’m at now. Shout-out to them.”

The Eagles’ defensive backs were among the strongest position groups on the team this season, with rookies Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell being catalysts. But with Reed Blankenship’s role with the Eagles uncertain after the 2025 season, the Birds could be looking for additional insurance among a safety group that also has 2023 third-round pick Sydney Brown waiting in the wings. Mukuba also could be a nickel option if Darius Slay moves on from the Eagles and DeJean slides to outside corner as a replacement for him.

In recalling his meeting with the Eagles, Mukuba said he would enjoy playing behind “their crazy D-line.”

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“As DBs, we love playing around good D-linemen, and just the fact that you can disrupt the quarterback timing,” Mukuba said. “Getting to the quarterback fast, that gives us [defensive backs] opportunities in the back end to make plays on the ball.”