Ed Kracz's Eagles Mock Draft Rounds 1-3: It's all about the defense
It’s been leaked that Eagles GM Howie Roseman will be exploring a QB option with the sixth overall pick.
Let me ask you when was the last time the Eagles and Roseman let anybody know what they were thinking about when it comes to the draft?
Answer: Never.
It’s a smokescreen.
Roseman wants picks. He said at last year’s NFL Scouting Combine that the more picks a team has increases the percentage of hit rates. The Eagles had 10 selections last year.
The Combine isn’t happening this year, so Roseman probably won’t be talking any time soon, but the assumption is he feels the same way this year, especially after his boss, owner Jeffrey Lurie said that the roster needs to get younger.
Translation: Get picks.
I’m not stepping into the QB trap at No. 6. I’m going down and out of the top 10 in my Eagles-centric mock draft 1.0 spanning just the first three rounds.
This is the fourth mock draft presented by SI.com’s Eagle Maven this week. The others appear at the end of this article.
There will be more mocks in the months leading up to the draft, so in this one, I’m taking the lid off the box and going outside of it.
Let’s have some fun:
FIRST ROUND (No. 6 overall)
TRADE. The Eagles swap places with the 49ers, moving down to No. 12 so San Fran can get a quarterback. For the trouble of moving back, the Eagles get the 49ers’ second-round pick, the 44th overall.
The trade out because Ja’Marr Chase is gone. He’s the only one who would be worth staying at No. 6.
In the NFL Trade Chart Calculator, there is a 1,600-point value attached to the sixth pick and a 1,200-point value with the 12th pick, so San Fran has to make up 400 points. The 44th overall pick is worth 460 and paying that extra to get a quarterback at No. 6 will be worth it to San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan and his GM John Lynch.
Now owning the 12th overall pick, the Eagles take:
CHRISTIAN BARMORE, DT ALABAMA
I don’t want to hear that it’s too soon to take him. He won’t be there when the Eagles pick again at No. 37, so grab him here. He’s the best defensive lineman in the draft and whoever is next isn’t close.
Let him learn how to be a pro on and off the field from Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham. Barmore is 6-5, 312 pounds, and can play inside and out.
It seems everyone wants a WR, well, the Eagles will take one later and sign one in free agency. They have already invested a lot of draft capital including a No. 1 pick last year.
It’s time to try something else.
SECOND ROUND (No. 37)
ZAVEN COLLINS, LB TULSA
Torn between LSU WR Terrace Marshall and Collins, who was the pick in the first mock of the week, done by Zack Patraw, the president of the NFL Draft Bible.
The last time the Eagles took a linebacker as early as the second round was in 2012 when they made Mychal Kendricks the 44th overall pick.
Collins would be a steal here.
(No. 44 FROM SAN FRANCISCO)
IFEATU MELIFONWU, CB SYRACUSE
Great size (6-2, 212) and excellent in press and man-to-man coverage.
READ MORE: NFL Draft Profile: Ifeatu Melifonwu - Sports Illustrated ...
THIRD ROUND (No. 70)
RICHIE GRANT, S CENTRAL FLORIDA
A ballhawk who had 10 interceptions and forced five fumbles in 46 games. He has good size at 6-0, 195 pounds, and is considered to have wide-ranging scheme flexibility.
(No. 84 FROM INDIANAPOLIS)
HUNTER LONG, TE BOSTON COLLEGE
A sturdy blocker at 6-5, 250 who showed good pass-catching ability for the Eagles. He would be a perfect complement for Dallas Goedert.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
READ MORE MOCK DRAFTS FROM EAGLE MAVEN:
JOHN MCMULLEN: John McMullen's Eagles Mock Draft 1.0: Transition Starts with ...
CONOR MYLES: Conor Myles' 3-Round Eagles Mock Draft: Two for Offense ...
ZACK PATRAW: Eagles Mock Draft Week Starts with a Bang from Zack Patraw ...
