Philadelphia Eagles Draft Selections
Philadelphia Eagles Draft Selections
It wasn’t Marquise Brown, it wasn’t one of the DTs, it wasn’t one of the safeties, and it wasn’t Josh Jacobs. Philadelphia traded up three spots to nab their starting tackle of the future, Andre Dillard from Washington State. In order to move up from 25 to 22, Philadelphia gave Baltimore 4th and 6th round picks in addition to the 25th. Their main goal was to jump the tackle-needy Houston Texans in order to select their man. If Dillard becomes the player that Philadelphia believes he can be, then it doesn’t matter how much they gave up.
It was a surprise to see the Eagles grab the OT, especially with Marquise Brown, a player they were heavily linked to in the past few days, still on the board. The Ravens eventually took Brown with the 25th. Dillard was a four-year starter at Washington State and excelled as a pass blocker. He’s extremely athletic, a trait that the Eagles love with their offensive linemen. He must work on his power, but he has a “high ceiling and high floor” according to Bleacher Report, which is exactly what you want in a player.
Roseman had Dillard ranked as a top ten player in the draft, and the best tackle overall. After he started falling they made immediate moves to go up and get him. If you get a top ten player on your board at the 22nd pick, that’s a big win. Philadelphia almost ended up with DT Christian Wilkins out of Clemson, but the Miami Dolphins backed out of a potential trade. With this pick, the Eagles hope they’ve found the successor to future HOF Jason Peters.
In the second round, Philadelphia snagged Penn State RB Miles Sanders, a personal favorite of mine. Sanders emerged from the shadow of Saquon Barkley to put together an impressive season of his own. His game is the perfect complement to recently-acquired Eagle Jordan Howard, but his ball-carrying must be improved in order to succeed at the next level (Bryce Brown anybody?). Sanders and Philadelphia’s all-time leading rusher LeSean McCoy were both selected in the 53rd overall spot ten years apart.
With their second second-round pick, the Eagles took Stanford’s JJ Arcega-Whiteside. The 6’3, 225 lb. the receiver has drawn comparisons to current Eagle Alshon Jeffery. “JJAW” excels at winning against defenders with pure strength and size, and could be an exciting red zone threat for the Eagles. He ran a 4.49 at his pro day. Some fans weren’t happy that the Eagles went with yet another offensive player, but Howie Roseman is stacking up weapons for Carson Wentz to prepare for a Super Bowl run.
Philadelphia didn’t have a third-round pick, but they selected another Penn State player in DE Shareef Miller during the fourth round. He was the only defensive player selected by Philadelphia and adds defensive end depth.
Not so surprisingly for anyone following closely, the Eagles took a quarterback in the fifth round. Clayton Thorson, a Northwestern product, isn’t anything close to a Wentz replacement but is a developmental QB who will compete with recent AAF addition Luis Perez for the third QB spot. Owner Jeff Lurie said that the Eagles will frequently try and add QBs through the draft, hoping to develop them and likely receive good compensation in trades for them.
The Eagles also had a seventh-rounder, but they flipped it to the Colts for DT Hassan Ridgeway, who adds even more depth to the defensive interior. Ridgeway posted a respectable 73.9 grade from Pro Football Focus last season.
-By: Micah Jimoh