Former Philadelphia Eagles Exec Reveals Philly's Potential Plans in NFL Draft: 'Not Happening!'

A former Philadelphia Eagles' scouting executive offered his opinions on the organization's thinking leading up to the draft.

PHILADELPHIA - It's T-minus two weeks to the 2024 NFL Draft and the Philadelphia Eagles may be starting in no man's land at No. 22 overall when it comes to matching the valuation of the spot with the evaluation of the talent that might be left on the board.

SI.com's Eagles Today spoke with a former organizational scouting executive who understands how GM Howie Roseman thinks when it comes to building a roster. As expected, the first thoughts came at cornerback and the offensive line.

The two names mentioned at CB were Alabama's Terrion Arnold and Iowa's Cooper DeJean with Toledo's Quinyon Mitchell noticeably absent. There is little chance Arnold will make it to 22, however, and that spot might be a little too rich for DeJean, who is regarded as a tweener in some buildings around the league.

Feb 29, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Iowa defensive back Cooper Dejean

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"Terrion Arnold is a fit for any system," the scouting executive said. "Cooper DeJean would be a particularly intriguing fit for Vic [Fangio] with the ability to play basically all five spots on the field in sub personnel, but they have some of those versatile DBs already so I don’t know if they’d prioritize that."

The bigger need for Philadelphia right now is outside cornerback where Darius Slay and James Bradberry are both post-30 and the latter is coming off a very poor season with no guarantee he will be around for training camp especially if the Eagles can land a true outside CB.

While it's fun to think about a Josh Metellus-like piece to the defense who can move around seamlessly that smacks of the kind of spring talk that rarely materializes when the pads come on.

The last truly versatile piece the Eagles' have utilized on the back end was Malcolm Jenkins with C.J. Gardner Johnson and Avonte Maddox being able to handle both safety and slot work in what are mirrored positions in the Fangio scheme.

Having a player like DeJean move back and forth between outside CB and the back end isn't what's needed so unless the organization believes he can hold up full-time outside the numbers the guess here is that the Eagles look elsewhere.

And that would mean the offensive line, a foundational position in the organization's DNA and one that is loaded at the top of the draft this season. The issue is that the Eagles need an interior player right now who could replace Lane Johnson at right tackle in two or three years.

"[Amarius] Mims and [Tyler] Guyton are the two OTs who fit what they look for in a high-round pick but I think that would depend on Lane’s plan," the exec said.

The presumption is that Johnson has at least two years left in because that's the way he spoke last season. The All-Pro will turn 34 on May 8 and has just watched his good friends Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox retire and understands Year 15 for Brandon Graham in 2024 will be a curtain call.

If Johnson alerts Roseman that it's become a year-to-year proposition for him, bet the savings that offensive tackle is the choice at No. 22 because that's the position the Eagles' will almost be guaranteed good value.

Short-term, though, Johnson and Jordan Mailata are locked in at the tackle spots so the goal would be to find a prospect who could start inside at right guard before ultimately kicking out to replace Johnson down the road and that's easier said than done.

"I personally don’t see either of them having that sort of flexibility and it would definitely be a factor since they don’t plan on either being an immediate starter at either OT spot," the exec. said.

Last season, the Eagles' selected Tyler Steen, an OT in college at Vanderbilt and Alabama, at No. 65 overall with the intent of moving him inside to RG. Steen got one start against Dallas and few seem to believe he's ready in Year 2 either although a player at 22 is obviously going to have more physical traits than one at 65.

The biggest need for the Eagles remains off-ball linebacker with the unproven Nakobe Dean penciled in next to athletic lottery ticket Devin White. The best fit for the Fangio defense is Texas A&M prospect Edgerrin Cooper. That's a non-starter at No. 22, however, and it's unlikely that Cooper falls to 50 or 53 in the second round.

"The LB from A&M is the one who would fit best into the coverage schemes, but that’s not happening," the executive surmised.

As for out-of-the-box, think LSU receiver Brian Thomas Jr. because the Eagles' understand how difficult it's going to be to keep both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith long-term once Smith gets his extension, something the Eagles are already working toward.

The other potential spot at No. 22 is doubling down at edge rusher for the second straight year after Nolan Smith in 2023. Florida State's Jared Verse dropping a bit would certainly grab the Eagles' attention while UCLA's Laiatu Latu is about the medicals. Penn State's Chop Robinson might be a target in a trade-down scenario.

If you really want off the radar, consider Duke interior offensive lineman Graham Barton in a trade down as a Day 1 starter at RG.