I put together my first Eagles mock draft of the offseason. Remember…this isn’t my ideal scenario, but rather one possibility based on the kind of players the Eagles like and where they are likely to go in the draft.
The hardest part of doing a mock is trying to address all the positions with early picks. I think the 1st round pick needs to be about the best player, not the most needed position. If we did go with position, which one would you choose? You could make a strong argument for WR, RG, CB, FS or QB. There is no definitive right answer and that’s what makes roster building so tricky. Are you drafting for right now, next year or 3 years from now? If you draft a stud WR, will he make the current OL better? If you draft a stud RG, will he make the current WR better? And so on.
The only thing I feel definitive about is that the Eagles need to draft a couple of OL and a Safety. They don’t have to be early picks, but you don’t want them to be 6th and 7th’s.
Fire away with your questions and comments and I’ll answer them in a post later today.
There continues to be all kinds of talk about the Eagles trading up for Marcus Mariota. After all, Sam Bradford is in the final year of his deal and people still don’t buy Chip Kelly’s desire for him as his QB. Mariota still has to be a key target, right?
I think Kelly would love to get Mariota, but only at the right price. There won’t be a trade up to pick #1 or #2. There are still holes on the roster. Picks are needed to fill those holes.
There is another angle to this. Kelly has said publicly that he sees Mariota as the #1 QB in the draft and he thinks highly of him. But, Mariota isn’t a great prospect. He’s not Andrew Luck. He’s not Cam Newton. Mariota is the best or 2nd best QB in a weak group. He’s not a guy you necessarily build a franchise around.
I still think Mariota goes very high. But this is a strange draft and I could be very wrong on the QBs. It is possible that both Winston and Mariota could slide. The question is where Kelly would find the price to be reasonable. Is he willing to try and get into the Top 10? I tend to doubt that, but that is just a guess.
Mariota to the Eagles remains a long shot in my mind. He’s a talented QB prospect and there are teams in the Top 10 who need a QB. If he slides, we’ll see what happens. Just don’t get your hopes too high.
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This is not a great class of Safeties, but this notion that the Eagles can’t find anyone is ridiculous. History is filled with can’t miss prospects who did miss and guys with no chance who played for a decade. It is up to the scouts and coaches to find players who fit the Eagles scheme and could become effective players. Earl Wolff was a 5th round pick and showed promise as a rookie. You don’t have to find the perfect player. You need someone who is good enough.
The Eagles have shown interest in Damarious Randall of Arizona State. He is exactly the type of guy they like at S.
Randall is 5-11, 196. He generally is the Safety on the wide side of the field. ASU moves guys around and does a lot of blitzing. Randall will drop down into the slot and cover WRs on a regular basis. He has good cover skills. Randall is a solid tackler. He regularly tries to wrap-up and tends to go low, aiming for the legs. Randall isn’t a punishing hitter, but he is physical enough.
Randall ran 4.46 at the Combine. He had a 38-inch vertical and 10-foot broad jump. You can see that explosiveness when you watch him play. He gets an excellent break on the ball when playing off a target. He also has terrific closing speed. He was a good playmaker for ASU. As a Senior, Randall had 3 INTs, 9 PBUs, 9.5 TFLs and 2 FFs.
I’m still figuring out what his draft value is, but Randall could be of serious interest to the Eagles. He is the kind of versatile, interchangeable Safety they like.
Here is a highlight video. Â It won’t blow you away, but you can at least see him in action. I watched him recently vs USC and liked what I saw.
A word of warning…very NSFW music. I almost never have the volume open when I watch YouTube videos. The music isn’t my type and the lyrics are often inappropriate for consumption in public areas. I won’t put this warning up for every video I post in the next 2 months. Please be smart and turn off the sound when you watch the videos. I don’t have time to listen to all the sound and I don’t want to get anyone in trouble with their kids/spouse/parents/boss/whoever. Â Thanks.
Lots more Safety talk to come.
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Chuck Bednarik has died.
If anyone was the Philadelphia Eagles personified, it was Concrete Charlie. He led the team to their last NFL title. He played both C and MLB. And he was part of the most iconic moment in Eagles history…when he stood over an unconscious Frank Gifford in November of 1960 after delivering The Hit.