Mock draft season is in full swing, and several players have been projected to the Philadelphia Eagles in Round 1. But what about those that haven’t?
Dalvin Cook and Leonard Fournette. Corey Davis and Mike Williams. Every CB imaginable, from the duo in Florida (Quincy Wilson and Teez Tabor) to the Buckeye pair (Gareon Conley and Marshon Lattimore). Sitting at either pick #14 or 15, upwards of ten prospects have been mocked to the Philadelphia Eagles.
These mocks endeavor to marry positional need and relative value. A game-changing back like Cook or Fournette could reinvent the Eagles’ offense, removing pressure from second-year starter QB Carson Wentz. A true WR1 like Davis or Williams would provide Wentz with a reliable and dangerous target. Or a CB such as (insert one of many names here), capable of sticking with an opponent’s primary receiving threat, could give DE Brandon Graham and the Eagles’ pass rush the time it needs to generate more sacks.
All three positions–RB, CB, and WR, boast of prospects worthy of a Top-15 selection. As such, the Philadelphia Eagles can–and likely will–address one of those three positions the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
But what if they don’t?
The top end of this draft has a ton of talent. I’ve got 14 guys with a Top-10 grade, and Philly sits right on the cusp of that value. Given the riches at the positions we identified, the intersection of need and talent will likely be there. But if one of their Top-5 players starts to fall, or the RB, WR, and CB talent dries up too quickly, the Eagles will go a different direction.
In this post, I’ll take a look at five prospects the Philadelphia Eagles could draft in the first round, if the right conditions arise. Let’s get it poppin’.
1. OJ Howard, TE, Alabama
Given the extensions of TEs Zach Ertz and Brent Celek last season, the Eagles definitely don’t need to invest a first-rounder at the position. But when you take a closer look at the contract situations, things get interesting, quickly.
First and foremost, the Eagles need another player at TE if they let RFA Trey Burton walk. I anticipate they’ll try to keep him, but a few other teams will definitely make a play if they can.
Furthermore, Brent Celek’s contract extension wasn’t so much a reward for being an over-the-hill blocker, but a reallocation of cash into later years. For Howie to dole out the contracts he did last year, he needed to open the space. In the upcoming season, Celek’s $5 million/year contract will have $4M in dead cap. In 2018, that number drops to $1M. I expect Celek to hear his name called come cap cuts next season.
Ertz’s contract will definitely keep him safe through the 2018-2019 season, so he’ll have a couple more years to continue his perpetual “breakout” season. But it is conceivable that he could be the only tight end of the current roster that remains after 2018.
Which brings us to O.J. Howard. While it’s far more likely the Eagles replace a departing Burton with a mid- or late-round pick in a deep TE class, Howard is the blue-chip offensive weapon to grab if the Eagles’ RB and WR targets don’t make it to #15.
That’s a TE, people. Nothing deceptive about that speed, let me tell you.
Doug Pederson loves to utilize run sets with six offensive linemen–but with Howard on the roster, he can operate as that sixth man. That’s how well he can block. Instead of swapping Celek and Ertz for run and pass plays, respectively, Howard could stay on the field for every down and distance, threaten all three levels of the passing game, and win one-on-one match-ups with any athlete on the defensive side of the ball.
Despite the bigger needs at RB and WR, don’t miss the full picture: the Philaelphia Eagles need playmakers. No defense could successfully cover Howard and Ertz for an entire game. As Howie Roseman, Joe Douglas, and Co. search for playmakers for QB Carson Wentz, they’ll take a long look at O.J. Howard.
Solomon Thomas, DT/DE, Stanford
I was tempted to put Howard’s Crimson Tide teammate DL Jonathan Allen here, who has a similar skill set to Thomas, but Solly gets the call here because of his length.
Apparently, it isn’t ideal.
Thomas was an incredibly productive player for the Cardinals this past year. He rushed successfully from the edge and the interior, showing fantastic hands and a great motor. He understands how to play with leverage and wins in a variety of ways. Everything you want to see from a first-round defensive lineman, you see on Thomas’ tape.
This right guard has a family and Solomon Thomas was just throwing him around like a rag doll all game. pic.twitter.com/bGRPy2zF0Q
— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) February 3, 2017
But reports have surfaced recently that teams are concerned with his size/positional fit at the next level. Is he long enough to play as a defensive end? Is he stout enough to play as a defensive tackle? To be honest, the only thing to dislike about Thomas’ tape is that he can disappear for spells. He’s consistent, but not exactly dominant, at either position.
That being said, Thomas took the 8th overall spot on the big board I released earlier this month. The ceiling is there. Thomas on this defensive line? Sweet Christmas. He could play outside, opposite Brandon Graham, on early downs; bump down next to DT Fletcher Cox and provide a pass rush from the interior on later downs.
If the Philadelphia Eagles select any edge rusher with this pick, their defensive line would boast of three first-round selections, and all of them would be under contract through the next two seasons (Graham becomes a free agent after 2019). If they can’t take over games regularly then, I don’t know if they ever will.
Joe Mixon, RB, Oklahoma
This is a tough one. Let’s just walk it through.
In 2014, Mixon punched a fellow student, Amelia Molitor, and received a misdemeanor charge. He was suspended from the Oklahoma football program for one year.
Two years later, in 2016, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the footage of the incident had to be released to the public. Instead of waiting, Mixon’s lawyers released the footage themselves, in an effort to help put the case to rest. Given the violent nature of the footage, questions regarding Mixon’s character, risk level as a prospect, and draftable round have arisen. If you want to learn more about the case, here’s a good spot to get started.
On the field, Mixon is a Top-10 talent. Kyle Crabbs, Director of Scouting at NDTScouting, dropped this l’il nugget:
That’s hefty praise. And Dallas Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott is ranked low. Bonus.
However, Mixon has clearly demonstrated off-the-field character concerns that will make every team think twice–or three, or four, or five times–about drafting him. Especially given the heightened awareness of domestic violence and violence toward women in today’s NFL, Mixon’s case is particularly charged, and thereby particularly tricky to sort out.
People who punch women shouldn’t get paid millions of dollars. Simple as that. But the fact of the matter remains that in 2014, Mixon made a mistake, the university doled out his punishment, he accepted it, and it seems he has tried to move forward.
The video was just recently released, and it’s bad–it’s terrible. It’s downright awful. But nobody can assume that Mixon isn’t sincerely contrite and earnestly repenting without sitting down with him, talking to him, and coming to their own conclusion.
That’s what every team will do if they’re at all willing or interested in taking on a player of questionable character. They’ll interview him, and they’ll figure out whether or not they believe he truly represents the values they’d like to champion in their organization.
Mixon did something downright despicable. But if he worked in a profession further from the public eye, his occupational future wouldn’t be so much in question. If a team believes in his progression as a person and is willing to take the risk, they can–and should–draft him. He deserves an opportunity to show that he is more than his mistakes. We all do.
Will the Philadelphia Eagles be that team? I don’t know. They don’t have much of a history drafting character concern players, and Joe Douglas strikes me as the sort of blue-collar guy who might immediately take Mixon off of his board. But Mixon is a doggone talented football player, and if he expresses sincere contrition and transformation, the Eagles should select him in the first round.
Ryan Ramczyk, OT, Wisconsin
The Eagles asked OT Jason Peters to take a pay cut. Of course they did. Per Spotrac, Peters will hit the cap for $11.2M in 2017. That’s a ton of money for a 35-year-old player with an heir apparent waiting in the wings. Peters knows that, and so does Philly. So ask him to take a pay cut.
The ramifications of this move have been discussed at length, but we aren’t talking enough about a realistic potentiality. First, Peters doesn’t take the pay cut. Next, negotiations deteriorate. Finally, the Eagles release him to recoup $9.2M.
Nobody wants Peters to walk. He’s been a cornerstone of the Philadelphia organization since he came over from Buffalo–a positive presence on the field, off of it, and in the locker room. But the NFL is a business, the Philadelphia Eagles are a business, and $9.2M can do a lot–a lot–of things for the Eagles.
If Peters is a cap casualty, do the Eagles move forward with OT Lane Johnson finally sliding over to the left and second-year player OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai on the right? I don’t know about that.
Even if Peters stays, the Eagles need a better plan at the tackle position. The 9-time Pro Bowler could retire any year now, and Johnson is one supplemental slip-up away from a two-year suspension. If everything breaks wrong, the Eagles could be starting 5th-rounder Vaitai and…
Yeah.
Well, I have a name for you: Ryan Ramczyk.
The Wisconsin Badgers’ bookend plays with fantastic athleticism and surprising power for a player with a slightly narrow frame–while he isn’t nearly the freak athlete Lane Johnson was, he does remind me of Lane in that way. Currently, under the knife with a torn labrum in his hip, Ramczyk won’t participate in any Combine/Pro Day activities, but his tape speaks for itself. He’s my OT1.
Duke Manyweather, the undisputed man for OL analysis, did a film breakdown here. Definitely worth a look.
https://twitter.com/BigDuke50/status/829574096035991553
Should the Philadelphia Eagles cut Peters, OT skyrockets in their list of needs. I’d argue it would only rank below CB. In the event they fall in love with Ramczyk, it wouldn’t surprise me if they pulled the trigger.
Rasul Douglas, CB, WVU
I believe my love for Rasul has been well-documented by now, but if not, don’t worry. I’ve got you. Here it comes:
I love Rasul Douglas.
The West Virginia CB has ideal size (6’2 and 32 1/8″ arms) and toughness for press corner work, but also shows the instincts and diagnostic speed to play in off-man or zone coverage–that’s ideal for Philly. His ability to read and react to QB drops and route combinations blows me out of the water. He’s a cerebral corner.
Douglas also makes a number of impressive plays on the ball, with hands and a catch radius like a wide receiver. He led the nation with eight interceptions this year, and kept opposing quarterbacks to a passer rating below 40 over the season.
Douglas’ detractors will mention his perceived inability to track/mirror receivers through the entirety of their routes. However, the amount of time Douglas was asked to spend on each receiver–and how often he successfully spent that time on them–in West Virginia’s unique 3-3-5 defense puts this perceived flaw in perspective. The Mountaineers failed, all year long, to generate any sort of consistent pressure, and West Virginia’s corners often suffered for it.
As a matter of fact, that 3-3-5 puts the interception/passer rating numbers into even brighter light. To generate that production, with such little help from the defensive line? Sheesh.
I expect Douglas’ stock to really rise after the combine, where his long speed and short-area burst will shine. They regularly flash on tape (see: Rasul Douglas vs. Oklahoma and WR Dede Westbrook), but Douglas will have his biggest opportunity to showcase his athleticism in Indianapolis come March. I expect he capitalizes, and his stock begins to rise.
The Philadelphia Eagles will have their choice of corner at #15, and while the media may not be singing his praises just yet, why can’t Douglas be that guy? His play style reminds me a touch of Asante Samuel, and I expect him to produce similarly at the next level.
Next: Philadelphia Eagles Seven Round Mock 2.0
Are there more names that could hit this list? Most definitely. If the Eagles fall in love with a dark-horse guy others perceive as a reach, they should trust their scouts and go for it. Yes, that’s what they did with WR Nelson Agholor and DE Marcus Smith. But teams don’t sit around and read reports, the way you and I do. They do the hard work necessary to synthesize their own grades, and if there’s a prospect they love, they’ll go get him. No matter what the media thinks.