Daniel Jeremiah talks Eagles draft ahead of the NFL Combine

[time2rock]

Daniel Jeremiah talks Eagles draft ahead of the NFL Combine

What will the Eagles do with the 22nd pick? Some thoughts from Daniel Jeremiah.

BY JIMMY KEMPSKI
PhillyVoice Staff

KIRBY LEE/USA TODAY SPORTS

NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah

On Thursday, former Philadelphia Eagles scout and current NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah spent a couple hours answering questions from reporters about the NFL Combine and the 202 NFL Draft. Many of those questions were about the Eagles. I was interested to read through his thoughts on the Birds, so maybe you are too? 🤷‍♂️ 

Here's what Jeremiah said, and I'll throw in my two cents as well.

Eagles-specific questions

Q. I know cornerback has been a popular position for the Eagles at 22. How do you see the value lining up there? Then when you kind of look at the depth at corner in this draft, is it worth it to get one in the first round? 

DANIEL JEREMIAH: I think it's worth it. I think it's a good group of corners. I go about -— I think I have about 14, 15 corners with a Round 1-3 grade range there, which is a good number. 

No, I think there are guys worthy of picking there, and I think once you get through that top group, I think there's a lot — that second, third round range, a good number of those guys are going to be nickels. In terms of guys that can play outside with the versatility to play inside, I think they'll be good options for them there where they're picking. 

Nate Wiggins is one I'm curious about, keep an eye on, from Clemson. He is big and ultra, ultra fast. A really, really fluid kid. I think you'll see him kind of rise up as we're going through the process. 

Cooper DeJean from Iowa is intriguing as well. Those guys are kind of in that range for me. 

I think I had them taking Ennis Rakestraw from Missouri. He is my third corner. Kind of has some Slay to him. Kind of built a little similarly to Slay. Tough, feisty, can press you. Plays with a ton of energy, which I love. I think they would get a kick out of there in Philly. Just passionate, energetic dude. Real fluid, real fast, real tough.

#JimmySays: There's also Toledo's Quinyon Mitchell, who Jeremiah noted in an answer to another question that he'll likely be gone by the time the Eagles pick. 

Q. What would you be looking for in either Rakestraw or somebody else to make an immediate impact in the Vic Fangio scheme? 

DANIEL JEREMIAH: That's a good question. Look, eyes are going to be big with Vic, so I look at Rakestraw I think has really, really good eyes. He can play the ball. They're going to get pressure. I know they kind of — their numbers fell off a little bit last year, and I know they have some new faces, some young guys that will get opportunities up front, and they need some of those guys to step up. 

I look at guys that have those eyes and can find and play the ball. Another one that I think is kind of interesting is — we haven't talked about this corner, but it's Kamari Lassiter from Georgia. That might be a little bit early for him, but he is somebody that I think kind of fits what they look for and what they like. He's a good player. I think he has some inside-outside versatility, can play the nickel, can play outside if he wanted to as well.

 

#JimmySays: I think Lassiter makes a ton of sense for the Eagles in Round 2. He can play in the slot as a rookie, and eventually take over for Slay on the outside. We had him in our Eagles-only mock draft draft, version 1.0, in the second round. He has appeared in some mocks to the Eagles in Round 1, but I agree with Jeremiah that Round 1 is too high for him.

Q. I think you just referred to Cooper DeJean as an intriguing prospect. What stands out to you when you are evaluating him, and which secondary spot do you see him gravitating towards in the NFL? 

DANIEL JEREMIAH: Yeah, I think he can play anywhere. That's one of the things I love about him. You are drafting a big-time athlete who has just got — he has football instincts. He has ball skills. 

At corner there's one — just one little thing that bothered me a little bit. I just think there's a little bit of a pause in his transition, but I'm probably nitpicking a little bit there. To me I like the fact of having a guy that you could play — he could play nickel and be a big, physical nickel. You could play him as a high safety, let him do that. 

I think you kind of sort it out. I hate saying it this way, but you almost sort it out when you get him there and see who you have got. He allows you, almost like an offensive lineman that is versatile, to get your best five DBs on the field because of his versatility and athleticism to be able to play in any spot. 

I wouldn't pigeon-hole him into corner or nickel or safety at this point in time. I would say, hey, get him in there. I think he is somebody that's going to be able to learn everything and evaluate the rest of your roster and use him where you need to use him.

#JimmySays: DeJean is awesome. I'd take him over Rakestraw in half a heartbeat. I'm surprised there's even a debate, honestly.

Q. This is a specific question to the Eagles. They need a linebacker, among other things, on defense, clearly. The people in Philadelphia are enamored with Jeremiah Trotter for obvious reasons, because his dad has obviously played here. Where do you project him? I saw your mock draft, and it doesn't have him in your first round. How good is he, and where do you project him, and what do you think the Eagles will do with that pick in the first round?

 

DANIEL JEREMIAH: Does Mike Schmidt's kid have a kid coming to the baseball draft here, too? Can we just solve all the problems in the whole city here? 

To me, look, he is a good player. I don't think he is a first round pick. I'm curious to see how fast he is going to run. His game is more about instincts, which obviously are very crucial and very important at the linebacker spot. 

When I watched him, he is a little bit undersized. He has really good eyes. He sifts and sorts, and he will fill and be physical. He can thud off blocks, which you don't see a lot of guys take on. 

I thought the speed and the range was just kind of so-so. If he runs well, yeah, then I think he can really help himself. I have him more in the third round personally. But, shoot, he goes out there and moves around really well and kind of aces the rest of the tests, I think he can find his way into potentially into the second round. 

It's not a great off-the-ball linebacker draft.

#JimmySays: I like that Mike Schmidt line from Jeremiah. If you like the player and his skill set fits what you're looking for, then great, take him. But I don't think you take a guy because his dad was a popular player here.

Q. The Eagles go into the offseason pretty sparse at running back. Who are some of the guys potentially on Day 2 that you maybe think could at least come in as a featured role type of act? 

DANIEL JEREMIAH: I think Day 2 is going to be the running back day. I'm curious to see — I have a little bit of a theory here. I have about six to eight running backs that are very closely graded. I don't have any of them up to where we had Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs last year with those types of grades. Six to eight really solid players. 

I wonder if we're going to see a game of chicken in the second round where teams are saying, well, we have the grade to take this guy here, but we don't want to be the first one in line. We just need to make sure we're not the last one in line. 

Does that push the running backs down? Maybe we could get to the bottom of the second, maybe even the top of the third round, and then once the first one goes, I think you'll see all these guys come off the board.

Some of the names, Jonathan Brooks coming off injury from Texas, he's as talented as any of these guys. My two favorites are Jaylen Wright from Tennessee, who is just real springy and juicy, stop-start quickness, home run hitter, finishes runs. He can get skinny through the hole. Really, really quick feet. He is 210 pounds, so he has a little bit of size to him. Enough size to him. He is probably the fastest, the most explosive of all these guys. 

Then MarShawn Lloyd from USC? 217 pounds. Reminded me ironically of D'Andre Swift. That was my comp for him. Patient. Explosive. I think he will run really well in Indianapolis as well. Kind of an aggressive attacking running style. 

Those are two of my favorites, along with a little undersized version there in Bucky Irving, who reminds me of Devin Singletary. Ultra quick. Full speed change of direction stuff. Very elusive. He caught 58 balls too, so good in the pass game. 

Those are my three favorite guys just in terms of watching them. 

Ray Davis from Kentucky, Audric Estime from Notre Dame, Braelon Allen from Wisconsin, Trey Benson. Those guys are all in that mix together.

#JimmySays: As we noted in our "stay or go: running backs" post, Kenny Gainwell will be back, but D'Andre Swift, Boston Scott, and Rashaad Penny are all free agents.

As Jeremiah notes, there isn't an obvious first-round running back in this class, so you won't have to hear WIP hype someone up over the next few months when we should all know full-well by now that the Eagles just don't value the position that highly.

I do think that the Eagles could take a running back on Day 2, but Day 3 feels more likely.

In our prospects series during the football season, we profiled Brooks, Irving, Davis, Estime, Allen, and Benson. I also got a look at Lloyd at the Senior Bowl and liked what I saw. They're all legitimate fits for the Eagles, in my opinion. I have not watched Wright, who sounds intriguing.

Questions that weren't about the Eagles but could be applied to them

Q. You mentioned the offensive tackles at the top. Jets-related question at number 10. How do the top few tackles separate in your eyes, and also, who do you think is their most likely option at 10?

 

DANIEL JEREMIAH: Well, they're all different flavors. They're all really talented. When you look at that top group of guys, really I would say you're talking about Joe Alt (Notre Dame), Olu Fashanu (Penn State), Taliese Fuaga (Oregon State), and JC Latham (Alabama). I would think those are pretty unanimous, whatever order you have them, those are kind of the top four guys. 

I don't think that Alt will be there because I think he is the cleanest of the bunch. He's huge. He's long. He just keeps getting better. He doesn't get beat. He is not the most dynamic athlete. He is not an elite bender, but he doesn't get beat and just plays with outstanding awareness, and he can move people on the run game. I think he will be gone. 

Then you start getting into the possibilities for the Jets. You have Fashanu from Penn State who is massive. He has the ideal frame, ideal length. The Ohio State game this year was kind of the one that people will point to where he got in some trouble where his eyes were kind of in the wrong place.  He gave up his chest and got bulled and moved around a little bit, but really on the whole I think his tape is pretty solid. He would be plug and play. I think he can play on the left and on the right. 

Fuaga is a really, really clean player for me. He has played on the right side. I don't see really why you would want to move him. I think he is plug-and-play as a right tackle. He could play guard if you needed him to, but just really consistent. Quick feet. Really explosive and dynamic when he gets into guys. He has some nasty to him. Plays with good temperament. That to me is like the plug and play. He has a home at right tackle, and off you go. I have him as the second lineman on my list. 

Then JC Latham from Alabama was a big-time recruit. He has a lot in his body. He is huge. 330-plus pounds. He has torque and power, especially in the run game. He can anchor all day long. He had some issues more so than the other guys with just some of the games and stunts and twists that they saw. 

I thought his eyes were a little bit late, and he got in a little bit of trouble with that. He would be the fourth guy for me in that mix. I would say Alt is gone. Fashanu probably is gone. That's why I think it could come down to Fuaga versus Latham with that selection.

#JimmySays: A lot of Eagles fans want no part of an offensive lineman in the first round, but, I mean, it's very much in play. Anyway, those are Jeremiah's top four guys. Thereafter...

 

Q. Specifically with the offensive tackles in this draft class, do you necessarily see a tier drop-off from round one to two at all? And specifically with New England at number 34, what could be the price of trading back into the 20s range for a tackle be? 

DANIEL JEREMIAH: I do think there's a little bit of a dropoff. To me I'd get to Amarius Mims (Georgia), so that's Alt, Fuaga, Fashanu, Latham, Troy Fautanu from Washington, Tyler Guyton (Oklahoma), Mims. That's the collection from me. I have all those guys in my top 20 players. 

Maybe you get one of those guys to drift down there. If you are talking about trading back up in, gosh, I don't know. I would have to pull up the chart. I don't have the chart in front of me in terms of what that cost would be, but you're talking about a mid-round pick more than likely. Probably talking about a three.

#JimmySays: Guyton would make a lot of sense for the Eagles among the players Jeremiah noted who could be available in the 20 range.

Q. Looking more at the later second round and kind of in context of the Browns, who is I guess in a really intriguing prospect or two that stands out in grouping that maybe isn't talked about as much? 

DANIEL JEREMIAH: The linebackers in that second round range, I think Junior Colson who we talked about from Michigan probably in there, who is just real instinctive, plays downhill, can cover tight ends. He was hurt and beat up a lot this year and played through it at Michigan. Kind of shows you the toughness and the leadership that you want there from that position. 

And Payton Wilson from NC State kind of reminded me of Kiko Alonso coming out of college. Wrestling background. Has had some injuries, but really, really instinctive. A ton of speed, a ton of range. Just a really good player.

#JimmySays: Personally, I'd take guys like Colson or Wilson or Edgerrin Cooper from Texas A&M over Trotter.

Q. It seems like a decade ago the NFL was trying to find ways to limit the number of underclassmen headed to the draft every year, and now it seems like we're almost at the other end of the spectrum. What are GMs saying about it? Are they okay with it? How do you think it changes their approach to this draft? 

DANIEL JEREMIAH: I think they're okay with it and excited about the future of it. I think we're in the middle year now where we have — we don't have that influx of juniors, but we don't have some of the top guys from the previous year because it's just this new phenomenon. I think it's made this year's group a little light. 

I think next year what we're going to end up doing is having a more experienced draft class, which is good for — I think it's good for everybody. It's good for the player. He gets more development there. He finishes college. That's great for them. It's great for the college coaches. They have older, more mature players that are experienced. 

It works for evaluators, where it's just more — there's more canvas to look at there. There's more to evaluate. There's more of a track record, good or bad. That makes it easier for them. 

I think it's great all the way around. We're just in that in-between year this year where I think at certain positions specifically it really falls off earlier than it has in the past, and I don't think the draft is quite as deep because we don't have the underclassmen, but yet, we don't have the — all those experienced guys that we'll get next year. 

I think it's kind of a weird year that way. 

#JimmySays: The Eagles have four fifth-round picks, but none in Rounds 6 or 7. If the Eagles agree that this is a light draft, perhaps they will move some of those fifth-round picks, either as a way to move up with some of their earlier picks, or for picks in 2025.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/daniel-jeremiah-talks-eagles-draft-ahead-nfl-combine-2024/

[UK_EaglesFan89]

On 2/24/2024 at 2:08 PM, time2rock said:

He allows you, almost like an offensive lineman that is versatile, to get your best five DBs on the field because of his versatility and athleticism to be able to play in any spot. 

Whilst there’s a lot to be said for this I do worry with that approach. A guy in the back 5 who you just put out there in any position? I like the concept but feel like you want consistency and you want your players to play in a certain position not ask them to do too much?

[weko]

We need more picks, a lot more.  I'd look to trade down 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

14 hours ago, weko said:

We need more picks, a lot more.  I'd look to trade down 

Do we? I mean I get the sentiment to load up on picks and then I guess you have a better chance of striking it right? But the lower your picks the harder it is to get the picks right.