Philadelphia Eagles: Ranking the 2022 NFL Draft Class

If Nakobe Dean was the steal of the entire 2022 NFL Draft, then Jordan Davis was the steal of the first round, especially considering the minor premium the Philadelphia Eagles paid for his services.

With the Baltimore Ravens sitting pretty one spot above the Eagles at pick 14 and Davis the Ravens-iest player in recent NFL Draft memory, there was no chance the player Howie Roseman and company coveted as the long-term replacement for Fletcher Cox would still be there at pick 15.

So, for the price of picks 15, 124, 162, and 166 overall, the Eagles moved up a few spots, got their guy, and in a perfect twist of fate, earned the honor of pairing him up with his Georgia partner in crime, Nakobe Dean, for the next four years.

The privilege, I’m sure, will be the offensive coordinators from around the NFC East, as they’ll have to deal with his pocket-collapsing ways for the next half-decade.

Now some have suggested that Davis is simply too big to be an effective defensive end in a 4-3 scheme. They’ve called him a two-down player and questioned whether or not he’ll ever be able to be an effective pass rusher for the Eagles on money downs. Those evaluations are largely shortsighted, as they discount the attention Davis will draw from opposing interior linemen and how much easier things will be for the linemen and linebackers around him.

Rewatch Dean’s college highlight reel, and you’ll almost always see Davis setting it up; expect to see a whole lot more of that with the Philadelphia Eagles this fall.