Unhook the Eagles from the corner

Howie Roseman doesn’t care about mock drafts, but we do. Mocking the Eagles to draft a cornerback is so popular that this week we’re going against the grain. Only mock drafts that do not have the Eagles taking a CB will be featured.

Josh Edwards, CBS

OT Graham Barton, Duke

Graham Barton is a Swiss Army knife that can fulfill a variety of roles along that offensive line. His long-term fit may be unknown but, for now, he gives them insurance at a variety of positions in the event of injury.

50 - DT Michael Hall, Ohio State

53 - WR Troy Franklin, Oregon

Don’t really disagree with any of the Barton write up. He filled in at center as a freshman before starting at left tackle as a sophomore, and his sub-33” arm length has him projected as an interior lineman. Drafting an OT in the 1st round who can play guard until Lane Johnson hangs them up is fine. But don’t draft definitive guards in the 1st round, and Barton is much closer to that end of the spectrum than he is a Lane Johnson replacement.

Hall fits the “don’t have the Eagles draft cornerback” theme for this, but an undersized DT in the 2nd round is a poor fit for the Eagles. Franklin definitely fits the speedster 3rd WR that the Eagles want.

Danny Kelly, The Ringer

EDGE Jared Verse, Florida State

The Eagles do here what they always seem to do in the draft, gobble up value with a potential day-one contributor in Verse. The former Seminoles star is an explosive pass rusher who plays with a blend of speed and power. He’ll be a nice complement to Josh Sweat, Haason Reddick, and Bryce Huff on the Eagles defensive line.

Well he won’t be a complement to Haason Reddick, but now they definitely have a roster spot and playing time available for him. But will he even be on the board at 22? I doubt it.

Joseph Acosta, SB Nation

OT JC Latham, Alabama

Howie Roseman’s draft history doesn’t tend to agree with drafting corners or linebackers early, and with Bryce Huff, Josh Sweat and (tentatively) Haason Reddick on the roster, it doesn’t make sense to go EDGE here. So I opt to give them the best lineman on the board in Latham, who can take his knockout power in the run game and surprisingly light feet to Stoutland U.

50 - LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Clemson

53 - WR Ricky Pearsall, Florida

The idea of drafting Lane Johnson’s potential replacement and sticking him at right guard for the short term sounds great in theory. But it’s not how the Eagles operate, and the offensive tackles expected to be available to them late in the 1st are not the kind of players you kick inside. Amarius Mims and Tyler Guyton are 6’8”. Jordan Morgan is 20 pounds too light.

JC Latham though… this guy just looks like a guard. He’s 6’6” and Alabama had him listed at 360 lbs, and I believe it, though he weighed “only” 342 at the combine. And he can play like a guard too, he’s an excellent run blocker. But it’s hard to see him available at 22. If he is, I can dig it.

Trotter at 50 is a reach. Pearsall at 53, I mocked him there last week, though with the caveat that I was going for guys we hadn’t talked about much, so I have to agree with it.

Garrett Podell, CBS

WR Adoni Mitchell, Texas

The 2023 Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year could make a major impact with the Eagles in Year 1. The Eagles struggled to find a reliable third receiver after A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, which hindered what they were able to do through the air last season. Adonai Mitchell fixes those issues and provides Philly with a potent trio of wideouts.

Brad Speilberger, PFF

WR Xavier Worthy, Texas

Speed kills, and while the Philadelphia Eagles are surely a team that works extensively with college player-tracking data and aren’t going to fall in love only with a 40-yard dash number, Worthy’s 4.21 time was eye-opening nonetheless. Worthy is not just a speedster; he also brings a good understanding of angles and leverage in open space and a route tree that isn’t just nine routes and screens.

Worthy’s speed with the space created by A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith downfield could be lethal in this offense that needs to reinvent itself in 2024 and beyond, including as a quick outlet against the blitz.

Let’s approach these as one since they’re the same position and from the same team.

The Eagles certainly need a dependable 3rd WR, and with the quality of WRs this year, they should be able to get a good prospect.

But the only way the Eagles are taking a WR in the 1st round is if they have already made up their mind that they are moving on from AJ Brown after the season. Trading AJ Brown a year from now saves $11M, and he is the only player the Eagles can trade and save meaningful cap space a year from now. HMM.

If that’s the case, Adonai Mitchell makes way more sense between the two. It is hard to see the Eagles starting two sub-175 lb WRs in Devonta Smith and Xavier Worthy. Mitchell, who ran a 4.3 40, can fill the speedy 3rd WR role the Eagles like and offer a potential big body deep threat to replace Brown if the Eagles want to go that way.

My turn

Two rounds, and keeping in theme, I will not select any cornerbacks. Don’t take this too seriously.

22 - OT Tyler Guyton, Oklahoma

On the board: Chop Robinson, Jordan Morgan, Brian Thomas Jr, Adonai Mitchell, Xavier Worthy

I am not going with a WR in the 1st. Morgan has short arms, a light frame, and consistently gets beat on the inside. I don’t like him at all. The team already has enough undersized edge rushers, so saying no to Robinson. Guyton is the type of player the Eagles would take. Great athletic profile at a premium position, they have absolutely no qualms about their 1st round picks being backups, and they draft replacements for key players while those key players are still on the roster. A converted TE, Guyton has only played OT for two seasons, a full time starter for just one, the Eagles can afford to polishing up some of his rawness this year in a backup role. as they currently have no real backup OT. As a bonus, if he is on the board the Cowboys very well could take him. Fuck Dallas.

Howie Roseman does not care about drafting plug and play starters in the 2nd round, so I’m keeping with that theme, and another: deja vu.

50 - TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, Texas

You want a pass catcher from Texas? How about their TE. In 2025 Dallas Goedert will be 30 and in the final year of his contract, and he has never played a full season. Goedert, who was the 49th pick in 2018, didn’t take over as the starter until midway through his third season when 31 year old Zach Ertz was traded. Like Godert, Sanders will be able to see the field plenty as a rookie. Deja vu.

Sanders is basically a large WR, which is what he played in HS along with defensive end. He won’t wow with speed, but you can move him all around the field to find an advantage against a DB or LB. He’s also the youngest TE in the draft which plays into the Eagles offseason of getting younger. Obviously rookies are young, but some are younger than others, and Sanders is over a year younger than all but a few of this year’s TEs.

53 - RB Jonathan Brooks, Texas

A Texas two step! If I wanted to get really wild, I could have gone with Michael Penix in this sim, taking him with the same pick that the Eagles took Jalen Hurts. Instead I’ll repeat 2018. That year the Eagles acquired a veteran starter in Jordan Howard, then at 53 drafted Miles Sanders.

Brooks is the best RB in this draft. He’s quick, shifty yet patient, a solid pass catcher and fumbled just once. The only major knock on him, and it is major, is that he tore his ACL in November.

It is not as crazy at it might seem. The only RBs on the roster are Saquon Barkley, who has only played a full season twice in his career; Kenneth Gainwell, who will be on the final year of his contract; and Tyrion Davis-Price and Lew Nichols, practice squad players. The Eagles are adding a RB at some point, and bringing in a veteran has not stopped them from drafting a rookie before. The Eagles can afford to have Brooks start his recovery year as RB3. Brooks is expected to be recovered by early in camp, which Is similar to when the Eagles took Landon Dickerson 37th overall despite recovering from a torn ACL the previous December. Double deja vu.