Devonte Wyatt Starting to Make Sense with 15th Pick in NFL Draft
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The Eagles' pre-draft trade with New Orleans cleared up a few things when it comes to the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft for Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia brass.
When Roseman was done reshuffling the cards over the first 32 picks, the Eagles' GM went from having Nos. 15, 16, and 19 to holding 15 and 18 and pushing the other first-rounder into the 2023 draft.
While plenty can happen in the next 13 months, the Saints look far closer to a bottom-10 team in the NFL than a top-10 unit in the post-Sean Payton era. The fact that Roseman was able to add a 2022 third-round pick at No. 101 overall and a 2024 second-rounder was just icing on the cake in the deal.
The valuation of what the Eagles gave up vs. what they got back is tremendous on paper but there was at least some kicking the can down the road which highlights the first break in the clouds when it comes to this year's draft: the quarterback position.
The Eagles want to be in a stronger position in the 2023 draft when the projected top of the board - think Alabama's Bryce Young and Ohio State's C.J. Stroud - is much flashier than this year's group where the Eagles have Pitt's Kenny Pickett as the top option, valued a mid-first-rounder in Philadelphia's draft database, according to a source familiar with the organization's thinking.
Clarity was also gained when it comes to the so-called luxury picks.
With three first-rounders, perhaps the Eagles could have entertained the thought of off-ball linebacker for the first time since 1979 or stashed a Tyler Linderbaum for a year as the heir-apparent to Jason Kelce.
Down to two picks, the Eagles will likely be lasered in on certain areas while parsing through their top-30 visits and stacking their final draft board.
There is no guarantee Roseman will stay at Nos. 15 and 18 either, and a targeted move up, much like last year's leapfrog of the New York Giants to snare DeVonta Smith, is not out of the question. Nor is a move back if the Eagles feel a group of players has a similar value at 18.
The Eagles traded up for WR DeVonta Smith in last year's draft. Could they make another move up in the 2022 draft?
Philadelphia Eagles
The positions in play should be the now-annual wide receiver tradition, perhaps cornerback and the defensive line, either on the edge, or the interior.
As far as the targeted move up, three of the Eagle's scheduled top-30 visits reported to date are with players not expected to be there at 15 - Oregon edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, Cincinnati cornerback Ahmad Gardner, and Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis.
Of those, Davis, the 6-foot-6, 340-pound athletic marvel, is the most likely candidate for the targeted move up with Gardner and Thibodeaux more pie-in-the-sky hopes of dropping more than expected before Roseman might consider picking up the phone.
As far as staying put at 15, defensive tackle seems like the most likely path after the David Ojabo injury tightened up the edge-rushing market.
Ojabo's teammate at Michigan, Aidan Hutchinson, is a candidate to go No. 1 overall while Georgia's Travon Walker and Thibodeaux are almost certainly going to be off the board. A quick run on them could push Florida State's Jermaine Johnson past the Eagles at No. 15 as well.
The math could be in the Eagles' favor if quarterbacks like Pickett and Liberty's Malik Willis get pushed up the board but that remains to be seen.
Purdue's George Karlaftis is the other edge rusher that may or may not be there for the Eagles, but there's no clear indication of how Philadelphia feels about the player right now, who has been compared to another Boilermaker and 2021 Eagle Ryan Kerrigan.
The Eagles do, however, really like the second option at DT: Davis' teammate at Georgia, Devonte Wyatt, according to a former NFC personnel executive.
The thought with Davis is that a true zero- or one-technique dominator in the middle would be the final piece to Jonathan Gannon's puzzle up front and allow the dominos to fall into place with players like Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, and Milton Williams fitting into more comfortable techniques.
The No. 2 consensus option at what would be considered by most as a nose tackle would be UConn's Travis Jones, but the Eagles believe Wyatt, a 6-foot-3, 320-pounder, can play five different techniques at a high level (zero, 1-, 3-, 4i and 5) and could be the most versatile lineman in the entire draft, even more than his other UGA teammate Walker, who seems like a lock to go top-5 now.
"The benefit of Wyatt is that he’s truly able to play any technique at a high level," the personnel exec told SI.com's Eagles Today. "He’s a better two-gap (zero- or 1-technique) already than Jones on top of being a great 3-tech. ... He can be a true every-down player at five techniques."
The knuckleball in all of this could be other teams feeling the same way about Wyatt, but the Georgia product is a nice bet for your Eagles mocks followed by the best WR left at No. 18 or a leftover CB.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
