Eagles Should Look Somewhere Other Than WR in First Round
Thinking out loud…
Another mock draft came out on Tuesday and, yet again, this one had the Eagles taking a receiver with their first-round pick in April’s draft. Maurice Jones-Drew, of NFL.com, has the Birds taking Alabama’ Henry Ruggs at No. 21. I have yet to see one that has the Eagles NOT taking a receiver.
With that in mind, and not wanting to go with the flow, I am going with Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson. At least I am right now, three days before Valentine's Day.
The last time the Eagles took a cornerback in the first round was in 2002 when they landed another Florida corner, taking Lito Sheppard at No. 26. That worked out nicely.
MJD had Henderson still on the board when the Eagles picked at No. 21. He had Henderson going 25 overall to the Vikings, so there is a chance Henderson is still there for the taking, though that is hardly etched in stone.
Jones-Drew had an interesting name on his board, too. That was Auburn defensive end Marlon Davidson going No. 32 to the Chiefs. The Eagles could use another pass rusher, so maybe.
Of course, it is always difficult to predict draft picks without seeing what a team does first in free agency, and that will be here next month.
- Here’s my thinking for not taking a receiver in the first round. It is a deep class. Grab one in the second round. There’s a good chance at least one of these five could still be there:
Penn State’s K.J. Hamler
Arizona State’s Brandon Aiyuk
Minnesota’s Tyler Johnson
TCU’s Jalen Reagor
Colorado’s Laviska Shenault
I’d take any one of them.
- For some reason, I don’t seem to be in a rush to view Amazon’s “All or Nothing: Philadelphia Eagles Season Five.” One of these days I will carve out some time but will likely wait another month. Maybe because I don’t feel it offers too much new since we just saw the entire story play out this past fall. Maybe I’m wrong and will discover that when I get around to watching it.
Let me know what I might be missing.
- Other teams have begun announcing their intentions with various players. Quarterbacks Tom Brady and Phillip Rivers will hit the free agent market and the Redskins are meeting with left tackle Trent Williams to soothe his ill feelings toward the franchise.
Other than a few assistant coach hires and some restructuring of coaching duties, the Eagles have been quiet. With important decisions to be made, such as whether to re-sign Malcolm Jenkins and/or Jason Peters, one would think something would have leaked out by now. The Eagles also hold the option on whether to bring back linebacker Nigel Bradham, and yet nothing has emerged.
They have 14 unrestricted free agents, including heavy hitter Jalen Mills, Jordan Howard, and Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Again, one might think that something is close enough to being reported.
Soon maybe.
- The NFL Scouting Combine is right around the corner.
It begins Feb. 25 and that is when there is a good chance that Eagles head coach Doug Pederson and general manager Howie Roseman will meet with reporters.
If the so-called Underwear Olympics is your thing, you can catch it in primetime beginning Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. with live coverage of on-field workouts, starting with quarterbacks, receivers, and tight ends. Primetime coverage will continue throughout that weekend.
