The Eagles have 12 picks in the upcoming draft, with 2 of them in the first round, picks 21 and 28. Mark my words, the Eagles will not be selecting two players in the first round.
While talking to NFL.com anonymously, several GM’s around the NFL have said that during their grading period of this year’s prospects, that only between 20-22 of them are of a first-round quality.
The Eagles select 21st overall, so they would be right at the end of the pickings for the first round talent.
That’s not a position that this front office wants to be in. So what’s the solution?
Either one of two things will most likely happen. Either the Eagles will package those two picks in order to move up, or they will stay and select the best player on the board at 21 while attempting to trade the 28th pick.
For those who don’t know, the NFL’s draft spots work on a point system which simply puts a point total to each pick.
At 21 and 28, the Eagles’ picks are worth 800 and 660 points, respectively. Adding the two picks together, the point total comes to 1,460, which lands in between the 7th (1,500) and the 8th (1,400) selection.
This move would give the Eagles the chance to likely select either the best left tackle on the board, or more to the liking of Philly-nation, Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree.
Of course, this is contingent upon the Oakland Raiders or Jacksonville Jaguars biting on the trade. This is entirely possible because of their many needs. However, getting Al Davis to part ways with possibly selecting Michael Crabtree is almost impossible.
So the more likely scenario is that the Eagles decide to stay at 21, selecting the best player available, while trading the 28th pick.
For the 28th pick, the Eagles could probably get a mid-round 2nd round pick and mid-round 3rd, or a move like this would allow them to possibly also make a draft-day trade for a guy like Anquan Boldin, Jason Peters, or Braylon Edwards.
Then with the 21st pick the Eagles could take any number of people depending on how they value them. Moreno, “Beanie” Wells, Britton, Oher, or whomever that may be.
While I would prefer that they go the second route, I wouldn’t mind them moving into the top 10 either. Even though that may be just a bit too pricey for the front office.
All in all, the second option is more likely and would seem to make the most sense. Either way, no matter which way the Eagles decide to go, I would be willing to bet that they don’t come out of this draft with two first-round rookies.
