A profile of potential Eagles target Dion Jordan, who saw his life flash before his eyes as a 17-year-old, but now is on the cusp of becoming a top-10 draft pick in April.

Chip Kelly, you may have heard, has a thing for speed.

He likes burners. And before this roster face-lift is through, odds are there will a few more of them on this team.

In that spirit, we thought we would take a look at who separated themselves from the pack in Indianapolis. Below is a list of the top-10 performers in the 40-yard dash at the Combine.

When told last week that Chip Kelly had hired a sports science coordinator on the Eagles’ staff, Oregon running back Kenjon Barner was not the least bit surprised.

“He was huge with science over tradition,” Barner said. “Everything that we did at Oregon was based on science.”

Such as?

“How we practiced, what time we ended practice, what time we started practice, what time we ended meetings, what time we ate, how we rehabbed, just everything was based on science,” Barner explained. “He was huge on science, always looking something up, always bringing some type of fact or number to us in a meeting. He’s huge on that.”

Mike Mayock of NFL Network answered a bunch of questions Sunday evening at the Combine.

And as you might have guessed, many of his answers involved prospects the Eagles could be interested in. Let’s go through a few of them, Q&A style, and I’ll add in my take afterwards.

Entering this week, the only question about Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner was his speed.

He provided an emphatic answer Tuesday morning, running an unofficial 4.31 40 at the Combine.

Milliner (6-0, 201) is scheduled to have surgery on March 12 to repair a torn labrum (shoulder). He suffered the injury during a Nov. 10 game against Texas A&M, but still played in Alabama’s final four games.

“I could’ve had it right after the game, but I felt the need – I had to come out and do something,” said Milliner, who estimated a two-month rehab stint. “I didn’t just want to sit out the Combine and pro day, and then y’all guys get to wondering, saying this and that. So I just wanted to come out and showcase that I can move around, I can run, and I swing my arm around.”

Howie Roseman believes the Eagles have some pieces in place to transition to a new defensive scheme – one that will not include Cullen Jenkins or Mike Patterson.

As for the details, there’s not a whole lot we know right now. We know Chip Kelly prefers a 3-4. We know defensive coordinator Billy Davis has a background in multiple schemes, including the 4-3 under. Having spoken to Davis and some of the other assistants, I got the impression that pre-snap disguise is going to be a big part of whatever the Eagles do.

As we look ahead to free agency (March 12) and the draft (April 25), now seems like a good time to take stock of the Eagles’ defensive linemen to see how they might fit going forward.

If there was any doubt that the Eagles  would be addressing defensive tackle this offseason, it was erased when both Mike Patterson and Cullen Jenkins were released Monday.

With Derek Landri poised to become a free agent, the Eagles currently have four interior linemen under contract: Fletcher Cox, Antonio Dixon, Cedric Thornton and Ronnie Cameron. No matter the eventual scheme, they will need to add players to the mix.

Howie Roseman, Chip Kelly and company could look for reinforcements in April’s draft (Florida’s Sharrif Floyd and Utah’s Star Lotulelei could both go early), but also have the opportunity to bolster the position via free agency, which kicks off on March 12.

And another one.

The Eagles parted with Cullen Jenkins earlier Monday, then later announced that they cut ties with fellow veteran tackle Mike Patterson as well.

“Mike Patterson is one of the toughest players I have ever been around in the National Football League,” said Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. “He has overcome many obstacles throughout his career and I have the utmost respect for him because of it. Coach Kelly and I each had great conversations with him today. He is a class act. He gave this organization eight great seasons of hard work and dedication and we wish him all the best as he continues his career in this league.”

The much-hyped 2011 Eagles free-agent class has lost another member, as the team released defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins on Monday.

Jenkins was reportedly due a $1 million roster bonus in mid-March, forcing the Eagles to make a call on the veteran.

Matt Barkley doesn’t appear to be a fit for the system we assume Chip Kelly wants to run in Philadelphia, so we typically skip right over his name when talking about the Eagles’ quarterback situation. And maybe that is just sound logic at work. It should at least be noted, though, that the Eagles brass found it worth their time to interview the USC signal-caller at the Combine last week in Indianapolis.

Asked how Barkley came across in that sit-down, a team source who was part of the process responded: “Very smart. Impressive. Mature.”

Tom Coughlin was asked last week to discuss how the Giants arrived at the Jason Pierre-Paul pick back in 2010.

“We went to the workout of JPP at South Florida, and we were just standing there, observing, and he did a back flip at what… 270 pounds or whatever it was? We said, ‘Well, maybe this is a pretty good athlete here,’ ” Coughlin explained.

Of course, the draft process is a lot more complex than that, but teams in Indianapolis this week have their eyes open for the next great defensive player. In 2011, the Broncos got Von Miller with the second pick. The Cardinals took cornerback Patrick Peterson fifth. And the Texans grabbed J.J. Watt at No. 11.

All three are special, game-changing players. While this draft doesn’t feature an impressive quarterback group, there are several stand-out defensive options with great upside.

From the team’s cornerback options to Geno Smith’s stock, here are three Eagles-related takeaways from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

After running for just 167 yards during his senior season, Geno Smith faced some questions about his athleticism entering this week’s Combine.

But he answered those today, clocking in with a 40 time of 4.56 seconds, the fastest among all the quarterbacks here.

The Eagles could look to re-shape their secondary by going after potential free agent cornerback Sean Smith, according to a report.

During his media session earlier this week, West Virginia’s Tavon Austin said he was hoping to run under a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash.

Needless to say, he’s probably pretty happy right about now.

Austin (5-8, 174) blazed an unofficial 4.25 Sunday morning at the NFL Combine, eliminating any doubt about whether he’d be a first-round pick.