Eagles Draft RB Bijan Robinson? 3 Debate Points
PHILADELPHIA - While the idea of drafting Bijan Robinson gets excoriated by those in and around Philadelphia, four members of national media believe it is a very real possibility.
ESPN’s Todd McShay and Mel Kiper, Jr. both have the Philadelphia Eagles taking Robinson at No. 10. So does NFL Media’s Pete Schrager, who does only one mock draft every year and it is based on conversations with front office personnel around the league.
Mark Dominik, the former general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who had a front office role in some capacity for 20 years and is now the draft analyst for SiriusXM NFL radio, said on Tuesday during a conference call that it wouldn’t surprise him if the GM Howie Roseman took the plunge on Robinson.
“You’re not sure what you’re going to get with (Rashaad) Penny,” he said, referring to the former Seahawks running back who is oft-injured and signed a one-year deal in free agency.
“It was just a small deal, a one-year deal, it’s very low risk. Kenneth Gainwell has been a very good player. Bijan Robinson is fantastic. I mean just really, really good; great with catching the ball.
“I wouldn’t be shocked based on the contracts that are on the Philadelphia Eagles team right now, it would make sense to me that you could take him.”
Robinson was my pick at No. 10 in an Eagles-only mock draft 1.0 back on March 1. Though Ohio State offensive lineman Paris Johnson was the pick in my mock draft 2.0, Robinson makes perfect sense to me.
To many, he doesn’t.
Here’s a counter to three arguments some make against taking Robinson:
“He’s not a good value with the 10th pick in the draft”
He may not be, but if the Eagles want an impact player, Robinson is it.
Roseman likes to draft with years two and three in mind and what that player’s ceiling could be in that time frame.
Robinson would be both – an impactful player now and several years down the road as Jalen Hurts’ monster extension grows exponentially.
Do you think the four core Eagles vets - Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Fletcher Cox, and Brandon Graham - want to wait around for a player taken here that doesn't deliver much impact in Year One?
“The reason why I think it could make value – now I don’t think 10 would be the spot where I think I would pull the trigger on him – but having that fifth year is so important that if you can have that fifth year, especially at the running back spot, you’re in control and you have him for at least five and probably six (years) and you can maybe trade him or maybe let him go.
“That’s the way the market is. I think taking a running back in the first round is still really smart because you can keep him for five or six years at a very economical frame, especially when you have a quarterback (making a lot of money like Hurts), the last thing you want to do is go spend money at that running back spot at such a huge number because you can’t just afford to do that.”
“The Eagles don’t take running backs in the first round”
It’s something that hasn’t been done since 1986 when they took Keith Byars, ironically, with the 10th pick in that draft. Quarterback Randall Cunningham was entering his second season at the time and first as a starter.
Hurts will enter his fourth, and third year as the starter.
Last year, he averaged more than 10 runs per game, whether they were designed calls or scrambles after the pocket broke down. He got hurt on one of his journeys up the field, taking a wallop that ended with him landing on his throwing shoulder on the frozen turf in Chicago and missing two games before being rushed back to action when the Eagles needed to beat the Giants in Week 18.
Eventually, Hurts and the Eagles’ game-planning is going to have to back away from letting Hurts run that much. He does it well, and he’s just 24, but eventually, it becomes too great a risk to let him run that much.
Enter Robinson.
“It didn’t work for the Cowboys or Giants”
Dallas took Ezekiel Elliott in fourth overall in 2016 and is 2-4 in the playoffs with him, never advancing to an NFC championship game in that time.
New York took Saquon Barkley second overall in 2018 and has only been to the playoffs once. That was last season when they went 1-1, with that loss coming in resounding fashion to the Eagles in the NFC Divisional.
Here’s something to consider: The Eagles franchise is run differently than those two, and some would say better recently based on the success they have had with two Super Bowl appearances in five years.
The point is, just because it doesn’t work for one franchise doesn’t mean it won’t work for another.
Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.
Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.
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