How ‘Late-Risers’ Could Affect Eagles Draft Plans

Late-risers in the NFL draft are typically not real.

Personnel executives around the league don’t wake up one morning with less than two weeks to go before the big night and think ‘Gee, (insert name) really showed me something on that 57th viewing of the film against Bullwinkle’s 'Wossamotta U.’

What happens is reporters talk to sources around the league and get a better feel for how certain teams are thinking.

Inevitably, every year, there are players perceived to rise up the board because NFL executives see things differently than #DraftTwitter.

“The more you talk to teams, the better feel you get,” said veteran ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper via conference call with reporters on Wednesday. “Then you stack the board and live with it.”

From there it becomes how you perceive things - is that glass half-full or half-empty?

For the Philadelphia Eagles, who are sitting at No. 21 overall in the first round of the draft certain players many speculated could be available likely aren’t going to be there.

The most notable of that group could be LSU receiver Justin Jefferson, a player ticketed for Philadelphia in 1,001 mocks since former Eagles scout Daniel Jeremiah first floated the idea earlier this spring.

Jefferson is one of those late-risers, according to Kiper, who could end up being a top-15 pick and leapfrog Henry Ruggs as the third wideout selected behind Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb and Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy.

Half-empty becomes half-full, however, when you realize Jefferson’s ascent could have Ruggs and his 4.27 speed falling right into the Eagles lap, something Kiper projected in his latest mock draft.

“That’s too rich,” Kiper said of Ruggs when one reporter asked about the speedster going as high as the top 10.

Our own sources at SI.com have speculated on Baylor’s Denzel Mims rising mainly due to the wild-card nature of Oakland and Denver at Nos. 12 and 15, respectively, teams that could both use receivers.

Raiders GM Mike Mayock, a Philadelphia-area native, surprised everyone last year when he selected edge rusher Clelin Ferrell, a player most draftniks had going in the twenties, at No. 4 overall.

Others who some put asterisk’s next to as potential Eagles targets at No. 21 like Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson and LSU edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson are also likely coming off the board sooner than that.

“Henderson is moving up because he’s the No. 2 corner [behind Ohio State’s Jeffrey Okudah],” Kiper said.

As for edge rushers, one of the most valuable positions in the league, it’s the Buckeyes’ Chase Young and then a sharp drop to the second tier with Penn State’s Yetur Gross-Matos, Chaisson and Iowa’s A.J. Epenesa potentially getting pushed up the board.

Chaisson is undersized at 250 pounds but may have the most explosion after the supremely-gifted Young so the similar Henderson-like effect as No. 2 player at the position could unveil itself next week.

John McMullen covers the Eagles for SI.com and is an NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every day on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, Every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio, and every weekday on ESPN 97.3 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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