We are now just a few days away from the 2023 NFL Draft and anticipation is rapidly building. The Philadelphia Eagles own 2 picks in the first round of this year’s draft and it feels like nobody quite knows what to expect from Howie Roseman.
Peter King’s latest NFL Mock Draft provides us with some unique insight and a potential new name to watch for at 10th overall.
Came very close to giving the Eagles Peter Skoronski here, but two things happened Sunday. A GM who’s always smart when I do this exercise told me he knew the Eagles love Smith. And someone else told me Skoronski’s very likely to play guard…
…And then I looked at the ages of the Eagles’ four most prominent ends or edge players: Brandon Graham, Haason Reddick, Derek Barnett and Josh Sweat average 29 years, 7 months old as of September. Okay. I talked myself into a 238-pound edge player who runs a 4.39 40-yard dash.
So, there’s no real trail of breadcrumbs to follow here other than the fact that Skoronski may play guard and the Eagles have a plethora of young starters on the inside already.
Would the Eagles select Nolan Smith?
Nolan Smith is an explosive player and the Birds do tend to favor elite athletes. His RAS score was phenomenal after a historic NFL Combine and this would definitely be the kind of pick Howie Roseman would make.
It’s worth noting that he is a former Georgia Bulldog. You know who else were former Georgia Bulldogs? Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean. Howie Roseman would undoubtedly be tapping into the knowledge and experience of his 2022 draft picks to get a complete picture on the type of player Nolan Smith is.
Smith racked up 7 TFL and 3 sacks in 2022 before suffering a heartbreaking season-ending injury. That clearly didn’t derail his NFL plans, with Smith returning to blow the NFL Combine out of the water. With that said, there are other options available and it’s not like there has been a ton of public pre-draft love.
The Eagles could also look to bolster the DT spot for the exact same reason, with names like Jalen Carterp potentially available. At Running back, we all know Bijan Robinson is the guy that some fans are hoping bucks the trend of the Eagles not selecting a first-round ball-carrier since the eighties.
It’s cool to see another name linked to Philadelphia at this stage, especially one that is an elite athlete and would fill a position of need.
We only have to wait a few more days to see what Howie Roseman will ultimately decide to do.
