Philadelphia Eagles: Missing Christian Wilkins was a blessing in disguise

Regardless of how Andre Dillard’s career shakes out, the Philadelphia Eagles’ non-trade for Christian Wilkins was a blessing in disguise.

Howie Roseman may be one of the more innovative GMs in the NFL when it comes to managing the salary cap, but his strategy of building the Philadelphia Eagles by investing premium picks in the trenches is as tried and true as they come.

And if some rumors are to be believed, the Eagles very well could have come away from the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft with a different big ugly on the other side of the ball.

If you recall, after the initial excitement of Kyler Murray‘s selection atop the first round, Benjamin Solak, the Deputy Editor at SB Nation’s Bleeding Green Nation, ‘broke‘ the news that the Eagles were trading up with the Miami Dolphins to select Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins with the 13th overall pick. In a way, Solak was correct, as Wilkins did go 13th overall, only the Dolphins opted to keep the pick and simply select the 6-foot-4, 315-pound interior disruptor themselves.

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Hey, if the Eagles like a defensive tackle, he must be good, right? It’s kind of the team’s specialty.

With Wilkins no longer available, the Eagles bided their time and waited patiently for the board to fall as it may… at least until Andre Dillard slipped into the 20s and Roseman opted to leapfrog the Houston Texans to steal their guy at 22.

Sidebar: Boy did that move hurt the Houston Texans. With Dillard gone, Bill O’Brien had used two of his first three picks on offensive tackles and still had to surrender a ton of draft capital to steal away Laremy Tunsil from, you guessed it, the Miami Dolphins. Had the Dolphins just accepted the deal they reportedly agreed to, they’d probably have a top-15 left tackle to block for Tua Tagovailoa and the Texans would probably still have DeAndre Hopkins, who they ultimately traded to bring back draft capitol. This non-move may have changed the NFL as we know it forever.

While the exact conditions of said trade were not specified by Solak and may never be officially known, it’s safe to assume the Eagles weren’t going to move up from 25 to 13 without surrendering some serious draft capital. Per the Draft Value Chart, the difference between the 13th overall pick and the 25th overall pick is 430 points or roughly a mid-second round pick. Would the Eagles really be better off with Wilkins locked into a five-year deal over Dillard, Miles Sanders, and Shareef Miller? Do I even have to ask?

Would Wilkins have made a bigger impact on the Eagles’ 2019 season than Dillard? Most certainly, as the team had to make do with some questionable NFL players alongside Fletcher Cox from Weeks 3-8, but that doesn’t really translate to long-term value. Even if Jason Peters opts to play until he’s 40 and the Eagles could have used the money they invested on Javon Hargrave in free agency on, say, a solid middle linebacker, landing a franchise left tackle is one of the five or so most important positions on an NFL roster and in Dillard the Eagles have their best backup plan at the position since Lane Johnson joined the team in 2013.

And full disclosure, I really liked Wilkins coming out of college.

A four-year starter and on-field leader of one of the best defenses in the nation, Wilkins is the first scholarship player in Clemson history to earn a degree in two and a half years. He was a positive force in the community, stuck around for his senior season regardless of his draft grade, and still finished out his college career with 16 sacks, 15(!) passes defensed, and 192 total tackles. Was his rookie season particularly impressive? No, Wilkins only generated eight hurries, two QB hits, two sacks, and 12 pressures on 729 defensive snaps, but growing pains are to be expected during a rookie season, even for a top-tier prospect.

Wilkins also caught a touchdown on his lone reception on the season, which was pretty cool (check it out here).

Next. Jalen Hurts is going to sell a ton of jerseys. dark

Christian Wilkins will be in the NFL for a very long time. Regardless of whether he ultimately becomes a franchise-caliber player for the Miami Dolphins, or has to bounce around the league for the next decade on a few mid-level, mid-money deals, there will always be a market for a stout interior lineman who can lineup at multiple positions across multiple fronts and rush the passer relatively well. Still, even if Andre Dillard just becomes an average left tackle for the duration of his rookie contract and a few more years at a much higher salary cap hit, it will be more valuable than even the top-end of Wilkins’ upside. Factor in the potential of having to miss out on additional players like Miles Sanders and Shareef Miller in 2019 or even Jalen Reagor and Jalen Hurts in 2020 and it’s safe to say the Philadelphia Eagles’ non-trade was the best deal on the table.

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