Thanksgiving Day Mock 11/25

[eaglesfan0075]

Rnd 1 (MIA): DeMarvin Leal DT Texas A&M - Fletcher Cox's contract was restructured in a way that he could not be moved before the trade deadline, but he actually can be traded in the offseason with a more reasonable cap hit, in the event the Eagles can find his replacement in the draft, which I have them doing here. Javon Hargrave has proven that he can he can hold his own as a starter and Milton Williams has shown some flashes as a rookie as a rotational DT.

Rnd 1: Kenyon Green OT/G Texas A&M - The Eagles double dip from the same school with their first two picks for the second year in a row, and fortify the offensive line. Jason Kelce will likely retire after this season, opening up a starting spot at center. If Landon Dickerson moves back to center, the Eagles will be relying on two guards coming back from IR (Isaac Seumalo and Brandon Brooks) to return to form and start, which is a tall task. Green has played all 4 positions on the OL outside of center for A&M and has done it fairly well. He can start at guard as a rookie and can be groomed to replace Lane Johnson at RT down the road.

Rnd 1: Kingsley Enagbare DE South Carolina - With Brandon Graham another year older and coming off a major injury, Derek Barnett regressing since his promising rookie debut, and Ryan Kerrigan providing nothing of statistical significance, the Eagles find a new starter at DE to pair alongside Josh Sweat. The Eagles pass up on the highly regarded DE prospects from the Big Ten (Hutchinson, Karlaftis) with their earlier picks and pick up a prospect from the SEC that projects to be a better schematic fit for our 4-3 defense. 

Rnd 2: Roger McCreary CB Auburn - Steven Nelson is an impending free agent, which leaves a hole at CB2 for the Eagles. Darius Slay and Avonte Maddox have played well in their respective roles at CB1 and slot CB, but it's about time the Eagles invest another premium pick on a DB, and one can even argue for one of the 1st rounders being used on a one. In any case, we continue the SEC theme here with McCreary.

Rnd 3: Brandon Joseph S Northwestern - Rodney McLeod and Anthony Harris are both impending free agents and it is unlikely that the team re-signs both players this offseason, but given that McLeod is a team captain on defense, I think he makes it back another year to help mentor the young players on the defense, especially if the team moves on from Brandon Graham this offseason. K'Von Wallace was considered a value pick when he was drafted but never really panned out as a starter, so the Eagles go back to the drawing board and select Joseph, who projects to be a SS based on his size and skill-set. 

Rnd 4: Phil Jurkovec QB Boston College - Surprise pick here. While Jalen Hurts has shown signs of improvement during the 2nd half of the season after the team's commitment to the run game, Jurkovec has the traditional prototypical QB size at 6'5 and 225 lbs and has experience playing in a pro-style offense at Boston College after transferring from Notre Dame. With the Eagles having two smaller QBs on the roster in Hurts and Minshew, they add a big-bodied pocket passer to the "QB factory". Jurkovec falls because he missed most of the season due to injury and could very well go back to BC for another year, but in this mock he goes early on Day 3.

Rnd 5: Tre Sterling S Oklahoma State - Sterling falls in the draft after undergoing season ending wrist surgery in September and missing most of the season, but possesses the coverage skills to play FS and is an injury stash with upside late in the draft.

Rnd 5: Ainias Smith WR Texas A&M - Jalen Reagor is looking like a bust and Greg Ward might not be re-signed by the team, leaving Devonta Smith and Quez Watkins as the only starting caliber WR on this team. Smith can push Reagor for the slot WR position and at the very least brings as skillset as a KR/PR.

Rnd 5: Rachaad White RB Arizona State - Jordan Howard is an impending free agent and the Eagles have three RBs on the roster with similar skillsets in Sanders, Scott, and Gainwell. White is a big back at 6'2 and 210 lbs and would add an element of the power run game to this offense, which will come in handy on short yardage and goal-line situations.

Rnd 5: Andrew Vorhees OG USC - Another developmental OG prospect for Jeff Stoutland given all the injuries we have had at guard over the past few years.

[Ray75]

Love it! 👊🏻

[Rob331]

Thanks Eaglesfan, I'm really impressed with this one EXCEPT for the OL pick in the first round. Here's my thinking - Mailata, Dickerson, Driscoll, Johnson, Opeta, Herbig, Toth, Clark (who just signed for 2022), and Awisoka are all here next year. At least 1 from the group of Kelce, Brooks, Dillard, and Seumalo will be here also. My guess is that it's Seumalo who would replace Kelce. That's 10 offensive linemen as of now, 11 if you include Kelce, and 12 if you include Anderson. With Clark and Driscoll being able to play tackle I just don't see a tackle in the 1st. 

I would take another DE. You've stated the needs quite well. I don't think Hutchinson will be ther for us even with our best pick, but I do think we could get Karlatsis  with our 2nd 1st round pick and I would still go with your guy Enagbare with the final 1st round pick.

I'd hop Howie trades those 2 5th round picks for another 4th.  

I like your thinking - thanks

[Ray75]

12 hours ago, Rob331 said:

Thanks Eaglesfan, I'm really impressed with this one EXCEPT for the OL pick in the first round. Here's my thinking - Mailata, Dickerson, Driscoll, Johnson, Opeta, Herbig, Toth, Clark (who just signed for 2022), and Awisoka are all here next year. At least 1 from the group of Kelce, Brooks, Dillard, and Seumalo will be here also. My guess is that it's Seumalo who would replace Kelce. That's 10 offensive linemen as of now, 11 if you include Kelce, and 12 if you include Anderson. With Clark and Driscoll being able to play tackle I just don't see a tackle in the 1st. 

I would take another DE. You've stated the needs quite well. I don't think Hutchinson will be ther for us even with our best pick, but I do think we could get Karlatsis  with our 2nd 1st round pick and I would still go with your guy Enagbare with the final 1st round pick.

I'd hop Howie trades those 2 5th round picks for another 4th.  

I like your thinking - thanks

I’m gonna be honest, Rob.

Although I believe QB is definitely in play (either in the draft or by trade), I wouldn’t mind an all trenches first round. Say Leal, Ojabo (if he even declares) and someone like Linderbaum.

Hear me out;

Eagles did entertain trade offers for Cox. Although his dead cap hit would be 40 million, they would also save roughly 25 million in cap space. If Howie can find a suitor, taking Leal in the teens would make perfect sense IMO.

Ojabo like Leal screams Eagles to me. He just moves and looks like the type of player this FO falls in love with.

No one will argue Linderbaum is one of the safest prospects in the entire draft and reminds albeit everyone of Kelce. Although JK is one of a kind, he’s thinking about retiring for 3 years now. You could make an argument they did draft Dickerson or groom Seumalo to be his eventual replacement, the former is lighting it up at LG and the latter is a very serviceable guard but ultimately a major step back if you play him at center IMO.

Why move Dickerson to center if you found his ideal spot on this front? If Seumalo can play RG at a high level too, why would you pass up on the opportunity to add arguably the best center to come out in recent memory? If Jason hangs it up, we likely wouldn’t miss a beat with a Mailata, Dickerson, Linderbaum, Seumalo and Johnson OL. Right?! 

And that’s why I would be stoked if Howie flat out takes Linderbaum with one of those 3 first rounders.

But...I wouldn’t be surprised if Howie trades a couple of first rounders to Seattle for Russ. Not only is Wilson the QB that got away from Howie, there are already rumors swirling around he’s not sold on Hurts. If he can get his hands on a still top 5 QB, he’ll likely pull the trigger IMO.

[Rob331]

That would be a big disappointment. In my opinion, Wilson is shot

[eaglesfan0075]

@Rob331

I think you can certainly make a strong argument towards two DE in the 1st round. I would not be opposed to straight up rebuilding the DL with Leal, Karlaftis, and Enagbare, with the hope that Milton Williams and Tarron Jackson grow into solid rotational pieces with starter upside.

The rationale behind my choice of Kenyon Green was projecting the Eagles to move on from both Jason Kelce (retirement) and Brandon Brooks (age/injuries/cap hit) in 2022. Regardless of whether you see Dickerson as our LG of the future or C of the future, your starters would project as follows in that scenario:

LT: Mailata

LG: Dickerson/Seumalo

C: Dickerson/Seumalo

RG: Herbig

RT: Johnson 

 

Nate Herbig has definitely shown improvement this year, and Seumalo has shown he can be a serviceable starter at LG, but I think it's not unreasonable to add another premium asset in the interior if we're thinking about the long term.

Bonus value with Green is that you can possibly make a case for him as an RT of the future with Lane Johnson getting older. 

If Kelce stays another year, I think you can definitely wait another year before using a premium pick on OL.

[Overlord]

On 12/12/2021 at 1:27 PM, eaglesfan0075 said:

Regardless of whether you see Dickerson as our LG of the future or C of the future, your starters would project as follows in that scenario:

LT: Mailata

LG: Dickerson/Seumalo

C: Dickerson/Seumalo

RG: Herbig

RT: Johnson

dont forget Driscoll who was playing decently well himself at G before injury if i remember correctly

[eaglesfan0075]

15 hours ago, Overlord said:

dont forget Driscoll who was playing decently well himself at G before injury if i remember correctly

Good catch.

Once again, definitely not opposed to using all 3 first rounds picks to beef up that DL and pass on an early OL selection. The 2017 Super Bowl team was a force on defense in large part due to a deep DL rotation, so it would make sense to try to rebuild a unit as strong.