Philadelphia Eagles: First Round Eve 7-round Mock Draft

With Bryan Cook already in place, the Philadelphia Eagles are likely done with the safety position, right? Well, when a general manager has ten picks to play with, sometimes they have to double-down on a position of need if the value is right, especially if the two players have vastly different games.

As the pretend general manager in this particular mock draft, that meant selecting Verone McKinley III out of Oregon to (potentially) become the Eagles’ free safety of the future.

Following in the footsteps of Walter Thurmond – who, in my humble opinion, is one of the biggest ‘What if’s’ in Eagles history – McKinley is a cornerback-sized free safety who is an absolute ballhawk on the back end of a defense.

While he has short arms and isn’t the fastest safety, running a few hundredths of a second over 4.6 at Oregon’s pro day, McKinley had 11(!) interceptions to go with 10 passes defensed and 169 tackles during his final three seasons at Oregon and was one of the team’s premier defensive playmakers alongside Kayvon Thibodeaux and Noah Sewell.

Transplanted into the Eagles’ scheme, McKinley would likely compete with Marcus Epps and K’Von Wallace to become the team’s third safety in 2022 and could earn an expansive role as a second-year pro if he shows out.

Again, for a fifth-round pick, that’s some solid value.