With the NFL Draft less than three days away the Eagles draft board (or what we can assume to be their board) is coming into focus.
There’s eight names we can safely assume to be gone before the Eagles pick at 12: the five QBs (Lawrence, Wilson, Lance, Jones, Fields), Ja’Marr Chase, Kyle Pitts, and Penei Sewell; while there’s always a chance that someone slides, this feels like a safe bet.
If that’s the case, and the Eagles stay put at 12 they’ll likely be considering one of the following prospects: Patrick Surtain (CB, Bama), Jaycee Horn (CB, S. Carolina), Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith (both WR, Bama), Rashawn Slater (OL, Northwestern), Alijah Vera-Tucker (OL, USC), Micah Parsons (LB, PSU), Kwity Paye (EDGE, Michigan), Jaelen Phillips (EDGE, Miami), or Christian Barmore (DT, Bama).
I’ll be shocked if the team doesn’t call one of those ten names on Thursday night. Obviously if they decide to move back it opens things up a little, and if one of the eight assumed-to-be-gone prospects falls then they’ll be in play as well, but this is more or less their draft board.
We can’t possibly know how the front office views each of these players, and if they remain at 12 they won’t have their pick of the litter considering three of those names will likely be selected in the 8-11 range, but they‘ll be able to add one of their preferred prospects of that group nonetheless.
Of course, trading up to 8 or 9 to grab whomever the front office has atop of their board is a real possibility, and you’ll see plenty of mock drafts reflect that. There’s also a strong belief that the team is eyeing cornerback more so than receiver—a position they’re presumed to then target in the second (or late-first)—though we obviously can’t know for sure how reliable that buzz is.
Personally, my board (of the ten names we assume the Eagles are considering at 12) looks like this:
- Patrick Surtain, CB Alabama
- DeVonta Smith, WR Alabama
- Jaylen Waddle, WR Alabama
- Rashawn Slater, OL Northwestern
In the event that those four names are gone then that means one of the five QBs has fallen to 12, in which case the Eagles should look to move back to 15 in a trade with the Patriots and choose from a board of:
- Jaycee Horn, CB South Carolina
- Jaelen Phillips, EDGE Miami/UCLA
- Alijah Vera-Tucker, OL USC
- Kwity Paye, EDGE Michigan
While I think it’s more likely than not the Eagles stay put at 12, they’re certainly in play to trade up a few spots to 8 or 9 (Carolina & Denver), or even back a few spots to 15 or 16 (New England & Arizona)—either way, you can expect one of the 10+ prospects mentioned here to be donning midnight green come Thursday night.