As long as you're taking in some college football bowl game action on New Years Day, here are some players who could make sense for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Eric Stokes, CB, Georgia (6'1, 185): (8) Georgia vs. (9) Cincinnati, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Friday, Jan. 1, 12:00 p.m.
Stokes is a corner with good length and athleticism, who put some potential ball skills concerns to bed this season, as he picked off four passes, returning two for scores. He has a decent chance of landing in the first round.
In 2020, the Eagles had Darius Slay and a bunch of slot corners. They need a legitimate outside corner to pair with Slay, and Stokes would be that. He would be a clear player of interest if he slipped into the second round.
White was a five-star recruit out of high school (10th in the nation, per Rivals). He was sort of thought to be the next in line of great Georgia running backs, after Todd Gurley, Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, and D'Andre Swift, but he suffered an ACL tear his senior year in high school, and then another one his freshman year in college. At Georgia, he has not had the same impact as those other great Georgia running back prospects.
He is a physical, "one cut and go" downhill runner, who also excels in pass protection. In two years at Georgia, he has 211 carries for 1,148 yards (5.4 YPC) and 13 TDs. He is not much of a threat out of the backfield as a receiver, as he only has seven career catches. A look:
White is probably best served staying another year at Georgia to put another year of distance between his back-to-back ACL tears, but if he comes out, his style of running would complement Miles Sanders'. His value would be later on Day 3, and the hope would be that the explosiveness that made him a top recruit returns.
OK, but seriously, Ridder is a dual-threat quarterback prospect with good size and a strong arm who has led Cincinnati to a (so far) undefeated 2020 season. He has a 66.4 percent completion percentage, 17:6 TD:INT ratio, 8.6 YPA, 609 rushing yards and 12 rushing TDs in 9 games on 7.3 YPC. Here he is:
He should probably stay in school, build on 2020, and improve his draft stock by showing he can be more consistent, but if he came out, someone could draft him on his tools on Day 2. I think his better value would be early on Day 3, and the Eagles will need to add to the QB room if they move on from Carson Wentz.
Anthony Schwartz, WR, Auburn (6'0, 179): Auburn vs. (14) Northwestern, Vrbo Citrus Bowl, Friday, Jan. 1, 1:00 p.m.
Schwartz is a track star, and a deep threat from the slot or the outside. He's going to burn a super fast 40 at the Combine, however, while he has obvious long speed, he's maybe not the slipperiest of the slot receivers in this draft.
Schwartz's production has left something to be desired, as he only has 1,433 receiving yards and six TDs in 33 games at Auburn. He does have 323 yards and seven TDs as a runner. It seems like NFL teams are all looking to add jet sweep looks to their offenses, and Schwartz is a guy who can threaten defenses in that way.
Unfortunately, he was never used in the return game, which is puzzling, given his elite speed. If the Eagles want to keep adding speed guys to the offense, Schwartz would make some sense, but only on Day 3.
Greg Newsome II, CB, Northwestern (6'1, 190): Auburn vs. (14) Northwestern, Vrbo Citrus Bowl, Friday, Jan. 1, 1:00 p.m.
Like Stokes above, Newsome is a another outside corner with good length. At Northwestern, he played on both sides of the field, often traveling with the opposing offense's best receiver, and is thought to be (Jim Schwartz alert!) a highly confident player.
His first two years at NU, Newsome didn't have any picks. However, in 2020, in three games he has one INT and 7 PBUs, so ball skill potential is there.
G News 📰
Northwestern DB Greg Newsome (@__gnewsss) intercepts a pass in the 4th quarter. #GoCats
The question for Newsome will be his 40 time. If he can run a decent enough time at the Combine and prove he won't be an obvious liability against the deep ball, he'll go Day 2.
