April 26, 2022
The Eagles are stacked with draft capital this year and next. Coming off an exciting late run to the postseason, the Eagles had an entertaining 2021, though the team doesn't quite feel ready to take some demonstrable leap to true contention. For a team that made the postseason four of the last five seasons, they have holes really everywhere. They need true impact talent. It can be had this draft.
I'm sure that the Eagles can find quality players if they stay put in the first round, owning the 15th and 18th picks. In my full first round mock draft, I had the Birds landing LSU corner Derek Stingley Jr. and Arkansas receiver Treylon Burks, respectively, with those two picks. That should be a satisfying haul!
There are three players, however, I'm most enamored with in this draft as it relates to the Eagles: Oregon pass-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton and Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis. It's easy to envision a scenario where they're all gone when the Birds are on the clock with the 15th pick though. They are all at least top-seven or top-eight players to me in this class. If any tumble, the Eagles need to pounce.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Birds may do just that, as they're reportedly making calls to move up on Thursday:
“One of the teams that has been most notable making calls to move up is the Philadelphia Eagles.”pic.twitter.com/thC1P5WAjt
— Joe Giglio (@JoeGiglioSports) April 26, 2022
Thibodeaux came into the offseason as a likely candidate for the first-overall pick in the whole dang draft. What happened? He's sliding due to "character concerns." I obviously can't speak exactly to what those are. I'm weary of character concerns when it comes to guys like Deshaun Watson and Tyreek Hill. I'm not worried if a guy is just kind of a pain in the ass, as long as he's legit good. Thibodeaux sure is.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo believes Thibodeaux is going to slide past the fourth pick. If a prospect is falling from being in top pick conversation to the back half of the top 10 without suffering an injury or even stepping on the field, I'm not buying the reasoning. I've said it a lot during the pre-draft process: talent is talent. Thibodeaux is a monster:
Just a reminder that Kayvon Thibodeaux is going to be special, and definitely underrated #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/bN67IbA4M7
— 2022 NFL Draft (@DraftRT) April 19, 2022
The Eagles build through the defensive line. It's the most drafted first round position for the Birds in the Howie Roseman era. The organization traded up in the first round to land Fletcher Cox in 2012. They won't regret doing so for Thibodeaux 10 years later, picking up a potential All-Pro player in the process.
Do the deal.
The Eagles can't head into the season with Anthony Harris and Marcus Epps as their starting safeties. Going for Hamilton wouldn't be a needless trade up for the sake of immediate need and fit though. The Eagles would do because he might be a star pretty dang quickly at the NFL level. Smart, instinctive, physical, quick with the ability to play in any defensive alignment, Hamilton is everything the modern safety position is about.
I love that after Haason Reddick signed with the Eagles this offseason, he listed his position as "Weapon" in his Twitter bio. That's Hamilton. He's more than just a safety or a defensive back. He's a weapon.
Do the deal.
I've written more about Davis than any single prospect this draft cycle. Look at his spider chart:
I think of Seth Rogen's Officer Michaels running after Michael Cera's Evan in "Superbad."
"He's a freak... He's the fastest kid alive..."
I wrote the following last week...
Davis was the fulcrum of the best collegiate defense I've seen in my two decades watching the sport. He's a hulking presence in the middle of the field that can distort whatever an offense is hoping to accomplish at the line of scrimmage.
....
I see people's concerns about conditioning and that he won't be a three-down player in the NFL. That's overblown to me. He will adjust to the pros as every player does. Davis won't be required to be a Day 1 starter anyway, given that the Eagles already have Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave and Milton Williams along the interior defensive line. That's fine. He will be an impact player in whatever playing time he receives with the optimism that he could be the best defensive player in this entire class come a few years from now.
The Eagles build their teams through the trenches. Always have. They've made 11 first-round picks since Howie Roseman become general manager in 2010. Seven total have been offensive or defensive linemen. The four defensive linemen (I'm including pass-rusher Marcus Smith in 2014 here) are Cox, Smith, Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett. Three of the four were key contributors for the franchise's lone Super Bowl team. Cox has been selected to numerous All-Pro teams and Graham is the man behind the greatest play in the history of Philadelphia sports. This strategy has given the Eagles clear results.
He belongs in midnight green.
Do. The. Deal.
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