What Should The Eagles Do in the First Round?

AUTHOR: NICK WILEY

With the NFL Draft moving closer and closer it is the time of the year that NFL fans are hopeful of what their teams' futures can be. This year's draft has an unprecedented amount of teams with more than one first-round pick. The Eagles being one of those teams have a lot of options in what they can do in the first round.

The Eagles have many issues on the team but you cannot address all of them in the first round, especially at linebacker, wide receiver, defensive line, and the secondary. You cannot address all these positions in the first round. Now let's begin with lineback, a big weakness of the team but one which the Eagles do not value particularly high so they will not be using one of their two first-round picks on. Another easy position to view is the defensive line because this is also a weakness for the Eagles and an area they value greatly so it goes without saying that the Eagles will address that with one of the picks. So for the second first-round pick that leaves the secondary and wide receivers that the Eagles will be deciding between. The way this will be decided is the way the board falls. If players LSU’s Derrick Stingley Jr. or Cinninatti’s Ahmed “Sauce” Gardner are available then they will address the secondary but if not they will probably go wide receiver. Most likely the way the board is most likely to fall I do not see either of those cornerbacks falling to pick fifteen or eighteen so I have them drafting a wide receiver. With all that being said now we can move on to the players the Eagles should pick.

With the 15th overall pick, the Eagles should take defensive tackle out of Georgia Jordan Davis. Davis is 6,6 and 341 pounds and was one of the best players in college football last season. Last season he had 2 sacks and 25 tackles which is great production but he is still a great player nonetheless because of the gravity he commands from the opposing team's offensive line because he has to be the double-teamed on every pass rush making everyone else on the defensive line have one on one matchups. Davis also has the second-best NFL combine grade ever, he is just behind Calvin Johnson. The Eagles have always valued the defensive line greatly and with Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave in the last years of their deals.

Davis would go a long way with ensuring the Eagles have great defensive tackles for the future that they can pair up with Milton Williams who showed flashes last year.

With the 18th overall pick, the Eagles should draft wide receiver Treylon Burks out of Arkansas. Burks had 66 receptions, 1,104 receiving yards, and eleven touchdowns. This would be the Eagles' third time in a row taking a receiver in the first round. While that may be easy to criticize, people should keep in mind that Jalen Reagor is a flat-out bust and that the team needs another wide receiver.

This is what the Eagles should do and has a realistic chance of happening. There are other options though that I feel like they could realistically go for as well if they are still there. For example, a player like Jermaine Johnson II, a defensive end out of Florida State, had a good season and was easily the best player in the Senior Bowl. With the way the Eagles value edge rushers they will not pass up Johnson II if he is still with the 18th pick. While I like Johnson he just does not have the ceiling a player like Davis or Burks has. The Eagles in this year’s draft should swing for the fences in this year’s draft instead of playing it safe.

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The Future of The Eagles Situation

Author: Nick Wiley

This offseason in the NFL has been about the movement, especially at the quarterback position. You saw QBs Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, Carson Wentz, and Matt Ryan be traded just to name a few. The Philadelphia Eagles currently have a very questionable QB situation.

Let's take a look at the current Eagles QB1 Jalen Hurts. Hurts is coming off a season where he had 3,144 passing yards, 16 passing touchdowns to 9 interceptions, and a 61.3 completion percentage. He also had 784 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. Hurts had a below-average season as a passer and a good season for a rushing QB. Hurts also brought the team to the playoffs after a terrible season last year.

Hurts is not the Eagles’ answer at QB. It is obvious to see why he is not a great passer in what is a passing league. Obviously, the Eagles do not believe in him as well due to the fact that they have been poking around at QBs according to reporters all offseason. Even at the owners’ meeting when Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was asked about Watson he did not immediately just say no they were not interested in Watson, he instead spoke about the Eagles doing their due diligence upon other things. When the owner is not denying looking for an upgrade you know he does not believe in that QB.

The Eagles in 2022 do not have that many options at QB besides Hurts. The only player that the Eagles might look at as an upgrade over Hurts is Liberty QB, Malik Willis. Willis is a QB who is still incredibly raw and has a high ceiling and a low floor. With Willis being such a high variance player it does not make sense for the Eagles to take him with one of their three first-round picks.

The Eagles are most likely to wait for next year's QB class. Jalen Hurts is perfectly serviceable for next and if he proves that he can be a franchise guy, you have your answer. But if he does not then the Eagles should be looking at Alabama QB Bryce Young or Ohio State QB C.J Stroud. To get one of these QBs the Eagles traded one of their 1sts this year then attempted to trade up in the draft next year. A very savvy move by Howie Roseman that will pay dividends next season.

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What has Led to the Craziest NFL Offseason Ever?

Author: Max Greenberg

Just when you think the NFL offseason has seen all it can handle, another development comes up. The actual season was bonkers enough, and it has gotten to the point where the offseason has been the craziest it has ever been.

It started with Russell Wilson getting traded, then Carson Wentz got traded, Tom Brady came out of retirement, and Deshaun Watson got traded. Several other key non-quarterbacks were dealt, most notably Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill.

The AFC has several teams that could be looked at as contenders, and the AFC West in particular might be one of the most stacked divisions of all time. Besides going rates, what has led to the utter madness we have seen within the past month?

Let’s start by refuting a common misconception among NFL fans – the salary cap is most certainly not a myth. Teams are shipping off big name players due to financial restraints, and in no way is this more obvious than looking at the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs.

Both have two of the best quarterbacks in the league and both have contracts of over $50M per year. They did also have two of the best receivers in the game in Adams and Hill, but both wanted close to $30M per year, a price that neither team could come close to affording. Obviously, this led to the aforementioned trades of both players.

What this is showing us moving forward is that wide receivers, and really all big name skill position players are going to have a tough dilemma moving forward. Are these guys going to want to prioritize money, or are they going to want to prioritize winning?

We are seeing that once elite quarterbacks and elite skill position players are ready for second contracts, it is going to be tough if not impossible for them to coexist while maximizing their values. Of course, teams are going to prioritize their quarterbacks, so in most cases, it will be up to the skill position guys to decide which route they want to take. It is only a matter of time before we see how it affects Stefon Diggs when Josh Allen’s contract makes things messy.

But looking at the bigger picture, why are so many teams making all in moves like the ones that have been made this offseason? The truth is that in today’s NFL, we are living in an era of extreme desperation. And the Los Angeles Rams proved that by making the right moves, going all in can work.

The NFL, like all other leagues, is a copycat league, and other teams will follow the same guidelines as the Rams. They think they are one big piece or two away from making noise, and some of them might be correct, but for the others, there are going to be many regretted decisions a few years down the road.

The Browns giving up the package they did PLUS giving Deshaun Watson a contract that is five years, worth $230M fully guaranteed, is a HUGE risk, especially for someone with noted character issues. The Dolphins are taking a major risk by acquiring a $30M per year receiver before they are confident in their quarterback, and I personally struggle to believe that Hill is worth two fourth rounders, a sixth, and $3M more than Adams.

These moves make sense in theory, but remember that only two teams make the Super Bowl every year, and only one wins it. There are going to be many extremely talented rosters on the outside looking in, and it puts us at a serious crossroads moving forward.

Are we going to see teams fail at making these moves and see more caution from others moving forward, or are we going to see even more desperation in order to salvage whatever possible? If history is any indication, teams are going to continue to get greedy, especially in a league in which the cap goes up every year.

That being said, the cap is only so much, and prices add up when you have to pay so many players. It feels like these teams are going to be broken to the point of being unable to make big money moves like we have seen this offseason, and it may not be this offseason or the one after, but it cannot be far out.

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