Daniel Jeremiah Loves at Least 7 Linebackers in Eagles' Range on Day 2 of Draft

At least twice now Eagles GM Howie Roseman has been asked publicly about the linebacker position during this offseason.

The first time was in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine in early March.

“The definition of what our linebackers are doing has changed with (defensive coordinator Jonathan) Gannon,” he said. “We have to find players that fit our coaches' scheme. That's the most important thing, that we're finding players that fit what we're trying to do.”

The second time was on Wednesday when he held his pre-draft news conference in South Philly.

“When you talk about off-ball linebackers, their value in the passing game is important,” he said. “There are different values in the passing game. Obviously pressuring the quarterback, being able to blitz and create pressure is an important part of that too, but being able to match mirror routes, being able to make plays in the passing game I think is an important part of that too. Being instinctive.

“…I know this is a good linebacking class and I think there will be a lot of good players that come out.”

Does that mean Roseman could be ready to go linebacker with one of his two draft picks on Thursday night?

Bahaha.

However, when dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s on your final mock draft, it may be wise to throw one into your second or third round.

With that in mind, SI.com’s Eagles Today hung on for nearly two hours to get a question in for NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah's during his nearly two-hour-long call on Thursday afternoon. It was about linebackers and who he likes in the second and third rounds that could perk the Eagles’ interest with picks 51, 83, and 101 on Day 2 of the draft.

“I love this group of off-the-ball linebackers in that range,” then he threw out of the equation Devin Lloyd, Nakobe Dean, and Quay Walker.

Here are his guys and one could be with the Eagles by the time the final weekend of April ends:

Alabama’s Christian Harris

Montana State’s Troy Anderson

Wyoming’s Chad Muma

Wisconsin’s Leo Chenal

Georgia’s Channing Tindall

“I could even go a little bit deeper than that with Brian Asamoah from Oklahoma and D'Marco Jackson from App State,” he said.

That’s seven linebackers in total who could be in the Eagles' range should they go in that direction.

“These guys can all run,” said Jeremiah. “These guys are all 4.6 or better. The ones that would probably intrigue me the most are Anderson and Muma, just because Anderson is 6-3½, Muma is almost 6-3, just under 6-3; Anderson is a 4.42 guy, Muma 4.63.

"They have tremendous range and length. When you look at kind of what teams are looking for in a modern linebacker.”

He used Indianapolis’ Darius Leonard and San Francisco’s Fred Warner as examples of what the modern linebacker looks like.

Both entered the league in 2018.

Leonard, who is 6-1, 230, was a second-round pick, No. 36 overall; Warner, who is 6-3, 230, was a third-round pick, No. 70 overall.

“They're both really, really long,” said Jeremiah. “They're really rangy. They can blitz. They can cover. That's what teams are trying to find. You think of length, I think people think about getting off blocks and using your length that way. It's also just you're crowding throwing lanes.

“If you think about the NBA and just how they went through that transition, what, probably 15 years ago, I'm dating myself, but just became length obsessed. You just want to get as many long athletes on the field as you can, and those are some intriguing linebackers from that standpoint.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.

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