If Kayvon Thibodeaux starts to fall, could the Philadelphia Eagles trade up?

There was a time midway through the 2021 NFL season when it looked like the Philadelphia Eagles could end up with a top-3 pick.

The Indianapolis Colts were bad, the Miami Dolphins were worse, and, to their credit, the Eagles weren’t exactly guaranteed to make the playoffs, if you know what I mean. If things went from bad to disastrous for one of the three franchises – assuming Carson Wentz played enough snaps – there was a chance Howie Roseman would have some serious capital to reload his roster with premier talent, even if this year’s draft lacked the sort of generational top-end talent of the past few drafts.

Unfortunately, that dream was eventually dashed, as all three teams started winning. After suffering through a seven-game losing streak, the Miami Dolphins won seven straight to close out the season 9-8, the Indianapolis Colts came a Week 18 loss to Jacksonville away from making the playoffs, and, despite also finishing the season 9-8, the Eagles beat out the odds and gave Tom Brady his final NFL win in the Wildcard Round. While having three top-20 picks is still good, it effectively ends the chances of the team landing a legit difference-maker like Kayvon Thibodeaux, who was expected to go first overall before the season began.

But what if Thibodeaux starts to slip? What if he’s still on the board at six, seven, or even eight, as Daniel Jeremiah suggested in his most recent mock draft? Would the Philadelphia Eagles trade up to secure a better player at the expense of some of their expansive war chest?

The Philadelphia Eagles could certainly trade up for the right player.

As fun as it is to mock up full or even just first-round mock drafts, it’s pretty hard to imagine the Philadelphia Eagles walking away from the 2022 NFL Draft with three players secured in the top-20 picks.

While this year’s evaluation period will at least have the benefit of the combine, which was painfully absent in 2020, the 2021 NCAA season was weird, and incorporating in three premier players from such an atypically scouted class is a risk.

Factor in the team’s lack of young, high-end talent and their potential need to trade for a quarterback in 2022, and the popular idea appears to be that Howie Roseman will trade at least one of his first-round picks into the future or for more NFL-ready contributors who are on the same timeline as DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and Jordan Mailata.

Could that include trading up for a falling player at a position of need? Well, if that player is Kayvon Thibodeaux, who plays arguably the biggest position of need on the Eagles roster, then I, for one, could totally see it happening.

Once considered a player worthy of the number one pick, Thibodeaux, the edge rusher out of Oregon, has rapidly watched players like Alabama’s Evan Neal, Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson, and Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton fly up boards across the player evaluation world, with his chances of being drafted in the top-3 no longer a guarantee. Whether due to his larger-than-life personality, his limited pass-rushing production  – 19 sacks over three seasons – or his perceived hip tightness and raw set of pass-rushing moves, Thibodeaux has slowly but surely lost the momentum that had folks calling him a can’t-miss number one overall pick back in October.

Could that change come the NFL Combine? You bet, Thibodeaux could run a 4.5 40, and suddenly he’s number one with a bullet, but if he instead runs a 4.74 or worse, there’s a chance his stock could dip closer to ten than one.

If that happens, the Eagles could swoop in and keep Thibodeaux in a green uniform. Why? Because he’d likely be the team’s best pass rusher right out of the gate as a rookie.

Assuming Brandon Graham is back in 2022  and Derek Barnett isn’t, Thibodeaux would instantly enter the Eagles’ top-four edge rotation with Josh Sweat and either a free agent addition or Milton Williams – or both – and might just find himself starting by midseason. His ability to bull rush through opposing tackles is special, and even if he needs to work on his pass-rushing move sets, that alone should keep the Los Angeles native swimming in sacks as soon as he hits the league.

Sure, landing four good players in the top-50 picks in this year’s draft would be sweet, but adding three or even only two would be just fine as well if the players added are legit difference-makers right from the jump.

No matter what some will tell you, Thibodeaux undoubtedly falls into that category and should immediately make a difference for whatever team he lands with, the Eagles or otherwise.

Could Daniel Jeremiah be right about Kayvon Thibodeaux dropping down draft boards? Sure, he’s a very well-connected scout, and if he’s making such an assertion, it is likely an informed one. If that happens, maybe the Philadelphia Eagles will cash out a pick and/or a player like Andre Dillard to move from 15 to, say, seven to secure his preferred player like he did in 2019 and 2021. And if not? Well, Jeremiah has three solid players heading to South Philly in David Ojabo, Devonte Wyatt, and Garrett Wilson, so that certainly wouldn’t be a bad outcome either.