The NFL Draft takes place in just a few days time which means we’re now at the final few hurdles when it comes to learning as much about the players who could end up being picked by the Eagles, as possible.
To help with this Mammoth task, I decided to look at every player the team has met with over the last few months, spot any patterns that have emerged and put red circles around players of particular interest.
Quarterback:
R7: Trace McSorley, Penn State: Local Visit
Jeffery Lurie wants to get back to the days of drafting a quarterback every year, or at least every other year. It’s interesting then, that the Eagles haven’t met with more signal-callers. Easton Stick out of NDSU would be an appealing option here, as would Brett Rypien. None of them have met with the Birds.
Penn State’s Trace McSorley headlines a very minimal list where he’s the only interviewee of note, but it’s worth remembering that the Eagles did just sign former AAF QB, Luis Perez, who had also spent times with Sean McVay after going undrafted last year.
If McVay AND Pederson rate Perez highly (as they certainly seem to), then there’s obviously something to the signing. It may be that the Eagles feel Perez can be the team’s QB3, without the need for additional competition.
Running Back:
R1: Josh Jacobs, Alabama: Offiicial Visit, Combine, Pro-Day
R2: Darrell Henderson, Memphis: Official visit, Pro Day
R3: Damien Harris, Alabama: Combine
R3: Miles Sanders, Penn State: Pro Day, Combine
R4: Devin Singletary, Florida Atlantic: Combine
R4: David Montgomery, Iowa State: Combine
R4: Justice Hill, Oklahoma State: Official visit
R4/5: Trayveon Williams, Texas A&M: Combine meeting
R4/5: Rodney Anderson, Oklahoma: Combine
R5: Bryce Love, Stanford: Combine
R5: Dexter Williams, Notre Dame: Combine
R5: Karan Higdon, Michigan: Official Visit, private workout
R5: Darwin Thompson, Utah State: Private workout, Pro Day
R6: Tony Pollard, Memphis: Combine
R6 Ryquell Armstead, Temple: Official visit, combine, Pro Day
R7 Travis Homer, Miami: Combine
UDFA Dominick Bragalone, Lehigh: Local visit
UDFA– Nick Brossette, LSU: Private workout
The Eagles spent a lot of resources digging as deep as they can at the running back position and you can’t really blame them. Even with Jordan Howard in the fold, there are still questions to be answered.
It’s interesting that the team met with Josh Jacobs, the top graded running back in this class, three times. Jacobs would hypothetically be on the board when the Eagles are called onto the clock at pick 25, but the Jordan Howard trade, in my opinion, almost eliminates the team drafting a running back higher than they have in over a decade.
Darrell Henderson saw a hefty amount of attention from the team and I think he could be a likely second-round target for the Birds. It all depends how much they value the position, but the fact they’ve dived so deeply into the class, so far as to meet with talents like LSU’s Nick Brossette, tell me that extracting the most value possible is still the priority here.
There are so many names who will be available in round four, with backs like David Montgomery, Trayveon Williams and Devin Singletary likely hanging around. Each of these would fill a different need for the Eagles and slot into the current rotation with ease.
It looks as though the Eagles are set to use one of their mid-round picks on a running back this year, they’ve met with more players at this position than any other and that’s not a coincidence. The Eagles will likely strike in the heart of the NFL Draft to bolster their backfield and there are plenty of attractive options who will do just that.
Continued on the pages below
