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April 01, 2020

A look at the likelihood of wide receivers being drafted before the Eagles' pick

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040120JerryJeudy Nelson Chenault/USA TODAY Sports

Alabama's Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs are likely to be gone by the time the Eagles are on the clock at pick No. 21.

The Philadelphia Eagles, as you all saw, did not add to their wide receiving corps during free agency, and barring a trade for a veteran receiver, will have to rely solely on the 2020 NFL Draft to address their most glaring offseason need.

And so, with the Birds potentially painting themselves into a corner, it's perhaps worth taking a look at the 20 draft slots before the Eagles' pick at No. 21 overall, and determining which teams could deplete the pool of receivers. Let's go chart form (depth charts via Ourlads.com):

 Pick TeamWR1 WR2 WR3 Likelihood? 
 1 BengalsA.J. Green John Ross Tyler Boyd Low 
 2 WashingtonTerry McLaurin Kelvin Harmon Trey Quinn Low (They need WRs, but won't take one at No. 2 overall.) 
 3 LionsKenny Golloday Marvin Jones Danny Amendola Low 
 4Giants Darius Slayton Sterling Shepard Golden Tate Low 
 5Dolphins DeVante Parker Allen Hurns Albert Wilson Low (They need WRs, but won't take one at No. 5 overall.)
 6Chargers Keenan Allen Mike WIlliams Andre Patton Low (They need a third receiver, but No. 6 overall is too high for that.) 
 7Panthers D.J. Moore Robby Anderson Curtis Samuel Low 
 8Cardinals DeAndre Hopkins Larry Fitzgerald Christian Kirk Low 
 9Jaguars D.J. Chark Marqise Lee Dede Westbrook Low-to-moderate (They have way bigger needs, but who knows with this weird team.) 
 10Browns Odell Beckham Jarvis Landry Taywan Taylor Low 
 11 JetsJamison Crowder Breshad Perriman Quincy Enunwa Low (They need receivers, but they need OL help way more, and it's a good OL draft.) 
 12Raiders Tyrell Williams Nelson Agholor Hunter Renfrow High (Hey look, there's a team with worse receivers than the Eagles'.) 
 1349ers Deebo Samuel Marquise Goodwin Kendrick Bourne Moderate-to-high (They've drafted 5 WRs in the last 3 years, so it's possible they count on someone other than Samuel to emerge, but there remains a big need here.) 
 14Buccaneers Mike Evans Chris Godwin Justin Watson Moderate (They could use a third receiver, but OL is a bigger need.) 
 15Broncos Courtland Sutton Tim Patrick DaeSean Hamilton High (They have a good young WR in Courtland Sutton, and then nothing.) 
 16Falcons Julio Jones Calvin Ridley LaQuon Treadwell Low-to-moderate (Jones and Ridley are a great one-two punch, but I wouldn't sleep on Atlanta if they think the value is there.)   
 17 CowboysAmari Cooper Michael Gallup Devin Smith(?) Moderate (Cooper and Gallup are a good one-two combo, but they don't have a No. 3, at all. If one of the "Big 3" receivers falls, can they pass them up? 
 18Dolphins DeVante Parker Allen Hurns Albert Wilson Moderate (They won't take one at No. 5 overall, but they're reasonable candidates to take one at 18.) 
 19Raiders Tyrell Williams Nelson Agholor Hunter Renfrow High (If the Raiders just make both of their picks at No. 12 and No. 19 overall, it would be shocking if they didn't take at least one WR. I wouldn't rule out a double-dip.)  
 20Jaguars D.J. Chark Marqise Lee Dede Westbrook Moderate (As noted above, they have a need at WR, but there are so many other glaring needs up and down their roster as well. They're more like to take one at No. 20 overall than at No. 9 overall.) 



MORE: NFL rumors: Yannick Ngakoue tweets his 'time is up' with Jags, continues to hint at Eagles as next team | Live NFL rumors: Will the Eagles be opportunistic, snatch up CB Dre Kirkpatrick? | Should the Eagles trade for a wide receiver, like Brandin Cooks or Sammy Watkins?


And then the Eagles have to also worry about teams behind them trading up ahead of them. Let's just finish out the first round:

 PickTeam WR1 WR2 WR3 Trade up concern? 
 22Vikings Adam Thielen Olabisi Johnson Tajee Sharpe  High (After trading Stefon Diggs, the Vikings have a clear need at WR.)
 23Patri*ts Julian Edelman N'Keal Harry Mohamed Sanu Low (If they traded up, I imagine it would be for a QB. 
 24Saints Michael Thomas Emmanuel Sanders Tre'Quan Smith Low (They only have 5 picks.) 
 25Vikings Adam Thielen Olabisi Johnson Tajee Sharpe Low (If they trade up, it'll be more likely be from their 22nd overall pick, obviously.)
 26Dolphins DeVante Parker Allen Hurns Albert Wilson Low (They already have two picks in the top 20.)
 27Seahawks Tyler Lockett DK Metcalf David Moore Low 
 28Ravens Marquise Brown Miles Boykin Willie Snead Moderate (They need WR help, and they have two 2's, two 3's, and two 4's.) 
 29 TitansA.J. Brown Corey Davis Adam Humphries Low 
 30PackersDavante Adams Marquez Valdes-Scantling Jake Kumerow Low-to-moderate (WR needs, but no extra ammo to move up.) 
 31 49ersDeebo Samuel Marquise Goodwin Kendrick Bourne Low (More likely to just take one at No. 13 overall.) 
 32Chiefs Tyreek Hill Sammy Watkins Mecole Hardman Low 


Analysis: In our view, there's little hope for one of the top three receivers – Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs, as well as Oklahoma's CeeDee Lamb – falling all the way to pick No. 21. If the Eagles want to make a move for one of those guys, it will probably require too far a leap, and as a result will be too cost-prohibitive, especially with the Eagles already trading away their higher third-round pick for Darius Slay. 

The Raiders are the Eagles' worst enemy in this draft, while the 49ers and Broncos have glaring wide receiver needs as well. All three of those teams have draft positioning that lines up with where the best receivers should be expected to go off the board.

Beyond the Raiders, 49ers, and Broncos, there are plenty of other teams who could also opt to go wide receiver early, so it's not as if a guy, like, saaayyy, Justin Jefferson is a sure bet to be available at pick No. 21 either. As such, it is all the more risky for the Eagles to solely rely on the draft to solve their inarguable issues at wide receiver.


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