There’s not as much drama surrounding the Eagles and the 2016 draft as a typical team. Or maybe there’s more drama. I guess it all depends how you look at it. The Eagles have just five draft picks. But they also traded up to the number two overall selection for a quarterback and we still don’t know which one the team will be picking. That’s pretty dramatic.
After the obvious quarterback selection, the Eagles will have six picks to try to fill necessary holes on their roster. There’s no position on the team right now where the Eagles have a player they absolutely can’t enter the season with as a starter. But they do have a number of needs on the team, and any team would be thrilled with the number two overall pick AND six more picks to fill holes.
Below is my first and only official Philadelphia Eagles mock draft.
1(2): Carson Wentz, QB, North Dakota State
Ask anyone and they will tell you that the Rams are picking Jared Goff. I think the Rams will. But I certainly don’t know that they will for a fact. It’s worth noting that Jeff Fisher was the Titans’ head coach in 1995 when the team selected Division 1-AA quarterback Steve McNair third overall. McNair, of course, went on to a stellar career that included an MVP and Super Bowl appearance. Fisher has always preferred the bigger, faster, stronger quarterback. I’m going to assume that the Rams pick Goff, just because literally everybody is saying they will. But I think it’s about an 80 percent chance, not 99.9 percent.
With Wentz, the Eagles will have officially re-created the Andy Reid era by selecting a potential franchise quarterback with the number two pick. Wentz probably won’t sit all season, as the Eagles have suggested, but I do think he’ll start the season on the bench, even if the Eagles end up trading Sam Bradford (and I don’t think they will). There’s no way of knowing now whether the Eagles will regret trading five draft picks for Wentz. Only time will tell if the Eagles, specifically Howie Roseman, made the right decision.
3(16): Carl Nassib, DE, Penn State
The Eagles need defensive end help. I’m not sure why this doesn’t get talked about more. Right now, the Eagles’ best pass-rusher is probably Fletcher Cox, and anytime your best pass-rusher is an interior lineman, there’s a problem. Connor Barwin led the NFL with 14.5 sacks in 2014, but he’ll be 30 this season. Vinny Curry has a ton of potential but has never been a full-time starter. Brandon Graham is starting to remind me of the defensive Sam Bradford. There’s always an excuse and ‘wait till next year.’ In Carl Nassib, the Eagles have a mammoth local defensive end who can rotate as a rookie and compete for a starting spot by his second season. Oh, and his pro player comparison on CBSSports? Connor Barwin.
5(14): Kenyan Drake, RB, Alabama
One of the more intriguing running backs in the 2016 draft class, Drake was technically a backup for his entire career, playing behind Heisman winner Derrick Henry. So don’t expect Drake to ever become an NFL star. He’s not just equipped for a full workload. But he’s a perfect piece for what Doug Pederson likes to do with his running backs. He’s comparable to Charles Sims, a player who can carry 8 to 10 times per game while adding four or five receptions. He’s versatile, shifty and dangerous with the ball in his hands. He would be a terrific complement to Ryan Mathews and the future replacement for Darren Sproles, who is likely entering his final season in Philadelphia.
5(25): Demarcus Robinson, WR, Florida
Demarcus Robinson has character issues. Let’s get that out of the way first. He was suspended multiple times while at Florida and if Chip Kelly was still coaching the Eagles, Robinson probably would be off the draft board. But this is a new era of Eagles football, one that desperately needs help at wide receiver, even after using three early picks at the position in the last two seasons. And the Eagles did use one of their 30 private workouts on Robinson, so you know they’re at least moderately interested. Robinson is a tremendous deep threat, a weapon with the ball in his hands, and a player who would be good enough, even as a rookie, to compete for the number three receiver spot behind Jordan Matthews and Nelson Agholor.
6(13): Kevin Byard, SS, Middle Tennessee
The Eagles had a private workout with Middle Tennessee safety Kevin Byard, who is projected to be taken around the fifth or sixth round. Byard, at 5’11 and 226 pounds, isn’t one of the faster defensive backs, but he’s an absolute playmaker with the ball in his hands. He recorded at least four interceptions in each of his four college seasons, accumulating 377 interception return yards and a pair of touchdowns. If drafted in the sixth round, he would likely compete with Ed Reynolds and Jerome Couplin for the number three safety spot behind starters Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod.
7(12): Joe Haeg, OT, North Dakota State
The obvious link between Joe Haeg and the Eagles is North Dakota State, as Haeg was the blind side protector for Carson Wentz during his college career. Haeg falls a little in this mock draft, as players tend to do for no apparent reason, and he’s great value in the seventh round. I’d say he’s a long shot to take over as a starter one day, but even if he be a quality backup, that’s worth it for a player drafted this late.
7(30): Adam Gotsis, DT, Georgia Tech
The final 2016 draft pick for the Eagles, Adam Gotsis will provide depth to a defensive group that also added former Tennessee Titans backup Mike Martin earlier today. Gotsis is a former Australian Rules player who suffered a torn ACL in October. Gotsis’s chances of making the 53-man roster in September are probably 50 percent at best, but he has a chance to one day provide solid depth in Jim Schwartz’s 4-3 scheme.
