Mock Draft Monday: Philadelphia Eagles Select WR Mike Evans Over CB Darqueze Dennard

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 Every Monday between the Championship Monday until the May 8th NFL Draft, Section 215’s Tim Kelly will run a simulated mock draft using Fansided’s mock draft tool. The goal of the mock drafts is to try to give fans an understanding of which NFL prospects have the best opportunity to be wearing midnight green next fall. 

The idea of the Eagles taking a wide reciever with their first-round pick in this year’s NFL draft, when they already have DeSean Jackson under contract, and the chance to re-sign at least one of their two free-agent wide recievers (Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin), almost seems like a waste to me. It would be one thing if the Eagles didn’t have holes in their secondary, or linebacker corps, but Billy Davis’ defense could stand to be upgraded.

I think Chip Kelly has an understanding that while he would love to handpick another skill position player with a high-level pick, that he needs to be successful on both sides of the ball. If he doesn’t, then general manger Howie Roseman does. Unless a miracle happens, and Texas A&M Wide Receiver Mike Evans falls all the way to the Eagles at the 22nd pick, which would be nothing short of a miracle. Yet, that’s exactly what happened in my first simulation.

ALL PICKS

1) QB TEDDY BRIDGEWATER

HOUSTON TEXANS

2) OT JAKE MATTHEWS

ST. LOUIS RAMS

3) DE JADEVEON CLOWNEY

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

4) WR SAMMY WATKINS

CLEVELAND BROWNS

5) OLB KHALIL MACK

OAKLAND RAIDERS

6) DE STEPHON TUITT

ATLANTA FALCONS

7) TE ERIC EBRON

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

8) QB JOHNNY MANZIEL

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

9) G CYRIL RICHARDSON

BUFFALO BILLS

10) WR MARQISE LEE

DETROIT LIONS

11) OLB ANTHONY BARR

TENNESSEE TITANS

12) ILB C.J. MOSLEY

NEW YORK GIANTS

13) OLB KYLE VAN NOY

ST. LOUIS RAMS

14) DT RA’SHEDE HAGEMAN

CHICAGO BEARS

15) OT GREG ROBINSON

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

16) DT TIMMY JERNIGAN

DALLAS COWBOYS

17) WR JORDAN MATTHEWS

BALTIMORE RAVENS

18) WR ALLEN ROBINSON

NEW YORK JETS

19) OT CYRUS KOUANDJIO

MIAMI DOLPHINS

20) QB BLAKE BORTLES

ARIZONA CARDINALS

21) OT ANTONIO RICHARDSON

GREEN BAY PACKERS

22) WR MIKE EVANS

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

23) WR DAVANTE ADAMS

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

24) ILB SHAYNE SKOV

CINCINNATI BENGALS

25) DE KONY EALY

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

26) QB DEREK CARR

CLEVELAND BROWNS

27) CB DARQUEZE DENNARD

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

28) WR ODELL BECKHAM JR.

CAROLINA PANTHERS

29) DT EGO FERGUSON

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

30) WR KELVIN BENJAMIN

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

31) CB JASON VERRETT

DENVER BRONCOS

32) OT TAYLOR LEWAN

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Evans, projected by many to be a top-10 pick in May’s draft, was Johnny Manziel’s favorite target at Texas A&M over the past two seasons. Like Manziel, Evans was red-shirted as a freshman. Unlike “Johnny Football”, Evans wasn’t a lifelong football player. Rather, Evans didn’t play varsity football until his senior season, when he exploded onto the blue-chip landscape with 750 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.  That was enough for him to be recruited by an elite football program in Texas, which made the smart move of red-shirting him for his freshman academic year, and allowing him to become more familiar with the game of football. That move worked out just a little.Evans would be overshadowed by the insanely fun lightning-rod that is Johnny Manziel, but truth be told, Manziel never would have been “Johnny Football” without Evans. Over the course of the next two seasons, Evans would catch 151 passes for nearly 2,500 yards, and 17 touchdowns.  He was named Freshman All-SEC in 2012, First-Team All-SEC in 2013, and was a consensus All-American this past season as well.

Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans were arguably the best Quarterback-Wide Receiver duo in the NCAA over the past two seasons.

After only two seasons of college football, Evans is entering the draft. Many are somewhat scared by the fact that he has played competitive football for just four years (one of which he was only a practice player), but his elite production speaks for itself and should be enough to to realize that Evans is worth the slight risk that his inexperience comes with. If his production doesn’t do enough to overshadow his limited experience in your mind, maybe the fact that he compares well to Plaxico Burress in his prime, will. Not only does Evans have solid hands and above-average speed, but he also brings a physicality to the table, as he is 6’5, 225. He would be like Riley Cooper, only an inch or two bigger, and a better athlete.

All of that taken into account, the chances that Evans does fall out of the top ten aren’t high. In the nine other simulations I did, Evans didn’t make it past pick 11. Assuming that happens, trading up 11 or 12 picks, when you still have DeSean and the option to keep a poor-man’s Evans in Cooper, might not make sense. By some miracle if he falls to pick 14 or 15 though, Howie Roseman better be on the phone trying to pull the trigger to move up and select Evans.

Again though, even the simulator only had Evans falling this far once. An interesting candidate who fell to number 22 four times out of 10, was Michigan State Cornerback Darqueze Dennard. Dennard is projected to go around 15, but if him and Evans were both on the board, it would be interesting to see what the Eagles would do. Dennard fills a long-term need better than Evans does, but Evans has a higher ceiling than Dennard.

I’m not saying that Dennard couldn’t be a very above-average corner,and end up better than either Cary Williams or Bradley Fletcher, but Evans has superstar receiver potential. Selecting Dennard may make the Eagles a more complete team in the short-term, but four or five years down the road, I think the Eagles would regret not taking Evans because he could serve as the perfect compliment to DeSean Jackson. Drafting either will likely require trading up, not sitting at the number 22 pick.

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