Seven-round NFL Mock Draft: Eagles turn heads with big-time trades

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Chris’s Eagles Mock Draft

Usually, when you do a mock draft, you’re adhered to your own fantasies in making picks. Like when I yell at you all about whether a player I like will be there in the sixth round or not when you all claim he’ll be taken in the first. Leave my fantasies alone.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to be asked to take part in a 32 team-32 manager mock draft where each team is managed by someone who covers that team. So the board is dictated by what other people feel their respective teams need/will do at their respective picks. Obviously, I took over the Eagles

In this mock, which is definitely my last… no not like the last mock where I said it was my last… maybe… I will do my best to provide you with a storyline-type feel with some humor, sadness, and pain.

First Round

Ok, let’s do this. Let’s see.. ok Lawrence goes one, Wilson goes two.. obviously.. ok who’s this SF guy going to take? Oh.. Fields, huh? Good pick. WHOA Washington trades up to 4 to grab Lance?!

Jeez, I need to make a move here. Let me call up Sir Purr:

Hey Carolina? Yeah.. it’s me.. the better Howie. Listen.. you guys have Mr. Mono now.. looks like you can still grab a tackle you like at 12 and you could also get an elite pass catching tight end who’s buddy is CMC. Yeah, exactly. Anyway, how about Ertz, 12, and 84 for 8 and let’s say.. 151? Yeah?! Hot diggity. Ok now wait.. before we confirm this I need you to know this is contingent on Pitts making it to 8. Still good? Ok call ya back in a bit.

Uh oh.

MOTHERFU-

Hey.. yeah. Sorry. No can do.

Let’s see how the rest of these picks go..

Alllllright well then. Let’s see. Now the Eagles will have to face Trey Lance as he throws to McLaurin and Samuel, the Giants just added Waddle to Golladay, Slayton.. wait what?

Well, I guess Mr. Gettleman didn’t think he needed Slayton anymore with Waddle in the fold. Waddle and Golladay still form an elite duo and Shepard is no slouch. No need to talk about the Cowboys’ embarrassment of weapons. Time to save the secondary of the Philadelphia Eagles. Let’s do this:

Just need to get someone who is an “alpha” in the secondary who isn’t named Darius Slay. Slay desperately needs a counterpart who can back up the talk. Horn is that dude. We can grab a WR later on in this deep class. Maybe we can move up? I don’t know.. let’s see how the rest of the first plays out.

Joe Douglas from the top rope?

Wow. Jets get their elite guard to help protect Broadway Zach. Wait… MORE TRADES!

To explain the above: Chicago took the 23rd pick they received from the Jets and sent it to the Ravens for STUD left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. This gives the Ravens two firsts coming up. New Orleans traded up to 21, paying a bit of a premium, to take a chance on possibly the best CB in the draft if he wasn’t hurt.

Looking at how the next nine picks go, I immediately sprint to the phone:

Hey guy playing Brandon Beane, what’s your thought on the potential of Allen and Ertz? Yeah you like that huh? Let’s work something out here. Your EDGE guys are gone. Looking past your pick, I don’t think anyone will grab a corner. So why don’t we help each other out here? Hmm.. sounds like a pretty good proposal. It’s a deal. Man, that was easy. Hey.. can you throw in some wings too? Hello?

Time to make this an Eagles first-round to remember:

If the Eagles come out of the first with Horn and Marshall would be an absolute slam dunk of a start to the draft weekend and would allow Howie about five minutes of freedom from Anti-Roseman tweets.

One other trade from the first round

Second Round

With no second-round pick due to the trade, I was forced to watch how the round played out:

Trades

Third Round

I was able to keep the 70th pick after that trade, which may not happen in real life but whatever. Looking back at the picks prior to this, there was a big run on offensive linemen, defensive ends, and linebackers, all of which are positions of need. Do I reach for one of those positions?

Ready to yell at me?

The Eagles have just traded Ertz. Dallas Goedert is kind of, sort of, definitely injury prone. Ok, sorry, I really don’t like that term. He’s prone to nicks and bumps that cause him to not play more than 66% of snaps in a season and only 54% in 11 games last year. Better?

Brevin Jordan is Ertz and Goedert in one. While he’s no Kyle Pitts, he’s a hell of an “F” tight end who can still stay in line and block. Imagine Zach Ertz but with knowledge of YAC. Yeah.

Now, after you stop screaming at your screen, look how the rest of the round until our next pick plays out:

Admittedly, this fell how I wanted it to.

Again, you’ll probably yell at me but WHATEVER:

Williams is an athletic FREAK who can play EDGE and he can kick inside and play from the interior. He ran a 4.62 40 with a 6.87 3 cone (both ELITE). He had 108 tackles over the last two seasons from the defensive line. He’s an excellent run defender (hello, Eagles were bad last year at this) and very good at rushing the passer. Excuse me for believing a player like that belongs on a defensive line with aging veterans and not ‘always healthy’ players.

Rest of the third:

Fourth Round

Me trying to get in touch with teams about trading back into the fourth round while offering Andre Dillard. No luck.

Fourth round:

Fourth round trades:

Fifth Round

Close your eyes. Wait.. read this first because you can’t read with your eyes closed. The Eagles drafting a weapon like Antonio Gibson. The Eagles not having Greg Ward in the slot or on screens or on punt returns. Ok, now close your eyes and envision it. Do you see it? I do.

Felton is more of that “watch the damn film” type of player because if you look at his Pro Day numbers, you’ll come away unimpressed.

He has the second most 15 yard catches since 2019 among RBs (17) and has the third most YAC among RBs in that span as well (739). He models his game after Alvin Kamara (without the whining) and he’s been compared to the Patriots’ James White and former Eagles’ great Brian Westbrook in terms of his versatility. The Eagles could use a guy like that not named Boston Scott.

Rest of the fifth:

Me to the other GMs after they never responded to my requests about trading back into the fifth:

Fifth round trades:

Sixth Round

Good news! The player I would’ve drafted to the Eagles in the fifth if the other GMs wouldn’t have ignored my calls is still on the board! Bad news: you’ll probably hate it.

No, not that Chris Evans. The running back. Yes, ANOTHER RUNNING BACK. Sue me.

5’11”, 211 lbs, and runs a 4.48 WITH A 1.57 10 YARD SPLIT. That’s some serious burst. You don’t think the Eagles could use a back like that behind Miles Sanders?

While the Colts had one clear back last year, Sirianni was able to use a receiving back (Hines) and a bigger back (Wilkins) to supplement Taylor’s production.

Now imagine the Eagles lead back (Sanders) with a receiving back (Felton) and a bigger back (Evans). Yeah, I’m turned on too. What?

I know Jordan Howard was just signed, lower your voice. But he was literally contemplating retirement because his market was so barren before being signed and we can’t keep hoping Boston Scott pretends every team is the New York Giants. The Eagles need a different support system behind Miles Sanders.

Time to pick at 213 after the Ertz trade to Buffalo.

Want to know the owner of the most QB pressures in the draft?

“BUT WE WANT SACKS”

18 sacks over the last two seasons, 188 tackles in his four years, 42 tackles for loss. The dude produces.

While he’s on the shorter side (6’2″) of EDGE rushers, his 33-inch arms will help make up for it. He does need to put on some weight to be able to sustain on the edge, he’s 260 now and he’d probably need to get up to 270-280, he has all the tools a defensive line wants in a developmental rusher.

Back to back up next, no not you Drake.

An intelligent, under-sized center prospect in the sixth round? Does he also have a beard? No? Maybe we can send him some growth oil.

Morrissey is definitely a work in progress, but his smoothness at the position is so Jason Kelce-like its scary.

From Jordan Reid of the Draft Network, from 2010-2019 there are 23 offensive linemen who had a 20-yard shuttle of 4.47 or better. 20 of those OL started 85% or more games in their careers.

One of the four to test out that well this year? Jimmy Morrissey. He’s a four-year starter, All-ACC player, and he’s been mocked as high as third round by some experts. He’s the perfect heir to Kelce.

Another “watch the damn film” guy. Norwood’s testing was poooooooor but when you put on the film you’ll wonder why he’s not being discussed more.

In 2020, a season after tearing his ACL, he played in 10 games, starting five, and had five interceptions out of the nickel position. While the Eagles have Avonte Maddox there (and maybe Cre’Von? has he re-signed? No?), they can use some depth (*whispers* and better players) at the position.

Norwood could be the steal of this draft if his health continues to trend upward post ACL surgery, as it did in 2020.

Final three picks of sixth:

Seventh Round

Hear me out. Another wide receiver.

Which receiver helped Zach Wilson become the second overall pick? Dax Milne. Highest passer rating while being targeted in single coverage? Dax Milne. Third best drop percentage at 2.8%? Dax Milne.

Who has an issue with beating coverage and dropping passes? The Eagles.

Yes, after the first picks we have a WR room of Marshall, Reagor, Ward, Fulgham, Hightower, Watkins, JJAW, and even Felton. But adding someone like Milne this late in the draft is way too good to pass up.

Sirianni may convince Howie it’s time to let go of his love child JJAW and Greg Ward may finally show that he’s not worthy of a roster spot (Sorry Greg, I still love you. Sign my Houston Cougars jersey?)

Milne’s route running will make Sirianni forget all about the term “banana routes”.

Last pick, make it count “Howie”:

Atta boy.

Rest of seventh:

Seventh round trades:

Possible UDFA:

Pro Wells – TE

Shaun Beyer – TE

Brendan Jaimes – OT

Foster Sarell – OT

Robert Jones – IOL

Tuf Borland – LB

Bryce Thompson – CB

Brady Breeze – S

Again, BEFORE YOU YELL AT ME, remember that every pick was made by someone who covers that specific team. So save your “hE wOn’T bE tHeRe” for the other writers.

K, thanks vote for me.

Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire