This Philadelphia Eagles 2019 mock draft means it’s already been over a year since the green & white confetti fell in U.S. Bank Stadium. Eagles fans had their dreams come true with the biggest rollercoaster of a season a team could ever have. I then proceeded to have the best year of my life with adopting my daughter, marrying my sweetheart, getting her pregnant with our first boy, buying my first house, and even starting back college to get a big boyyy tech job!!! Oh, AND THE EAGLES WON THE SUPER BOWL HOLYC$)#%)#!
Against the big bad Level 99 End Game Boss, Tom Brady. With the original OG, Nick Foles. It’s gonna be hard to top that season.
But, Philly tried to top it anyways with adding guys like Michael Bennett and Mike Wallace. Oh, and the would-be MVP of 2017, Carson Wentz, is gonna defy human biology and come back from a torn ACL, torn LCL, and a partially torn iliotibial band in NINE MONTHS?!
Well, the season didn’t quite go as planned. 2017 Eagles prided themselves that despite losing their starters, the depth of the team shined with the backups playing out of their minds. The 2018 Eagles went through a similar season where a huge chunk of starters were lost to injury…but then the backups all got injured, too! Then, Carson Wentz’s miraculous 9 month recovery (supposed to be 12 months) ended up not so miraculous as he suffered a stress fracture in his back and his season ended prematurely once again.
It was then revealed that Cowboys DE David Irving had been poisoning the leftover Chip Kelly protein shakes, which had resulted in lost seasons for 10 of the 22 starters going into the season. But in the middle of December, role model Irving started concentrating more on his social media accounts and was supposed to make a trip up to Philly….but then he got
Which resulted in a resurgence of what was left of the Eagles as the endowed one, Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles, laid it down on the eventual Super Bowl chumps (LA Rams), the Texans, the Redskins, and doinked their way into the second round of the playoffs where they met their demise to the red hot Saints.
So, after an exciting end to the season and an always exciting Eagles free agency, it’s DRAFT TIME!
For this 2019 Philadelphia Eagles Mock Draft, we used this cool simulator which I think we are not affiliated with.
Let’s be real. Despite my fantasy football trading reputation *cough* *cough*, I learned from the best. Praise be Howie Roseman. The last thing the Eagles are gonna do on draft day, much like Robert Kraft across the street from a massage salon, is stand still.
The Eagles have made nine draft day trades (if you want to include the two trades to move up to #2 for Wentz) in this era of the Eagles (three seasons). So, we wheelin’ & dealin’!
Philadelphia Eagles 2019 NFL Mock Draft
Round 1: Pick 29 – WR AJ Brown (Ole Miss)
The Eagles always tend to have bad luck draft in spots 20+ in terms of grabbing one of their top guys. We tend to get sniped every time whether it’s Byron Jones or Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. So, in this scenario, in this historic DL class, all of the top DL is off the board. Eagles decide to trade down to recoup their 3rd round pick (lost with Golden Tate) and still nab the best WR in the whole draft before Green Bay or the other WR needy teams in the 2nd round can get to him.
AJ Brown can line up all over the field, but he is considered the best slot WR in the entire draft. With this past offseason, precedent was set for the slot WR market. How much $$ does a free agent slot WR cost in the year 2019? $9 million (Adam Humphries, Jamison Crowder, Golden Tate, Cole Beasley). The Eagles have all the WR money tied up in Alshon Jeffrey and DeSean Jackson. Agholor is not going to be an Eagle next year. The Eagles have placed a premium on WR talent with Alshon & DeSean and by being one of the top teams to recruit Antonio Brown this past offseason. But, another problem: Alshon is 29 and DeSean is 32 years old. Eagles gotta get young. AJ Brown is all about the RAC, which is what Tate was supposed to do here. His tape doesn’t pop and dazzle with crazy plays and catches. He’s Mr. Consistency which is what you need in the slot. He exploits the zone. Has the strength to win 50/50 balls, runs like a running back after the catch, and puts people out of their shoes with his premium route running.
The Eagles, for the past 2 seasons, have had problems with 3rd downs being 3rd & long more often than any other 3rd down. Brown is born to move the chains. Built for the NFL with an outstanding lean muscle mass over a compact frame.
Put Alshon, DeSean, Ertz, Goedert, and Brown on the field at the same time. Sucks to be your defense.
NFL Player Comparison: JuJu Smith-Schuster (or Julio Jones if you ask Nick Saban!)
HOLD ON, WE’VE GOT ANOTHER TRADE!
Round 2: Pick 38 – OT Dalton Risner (Kansas State)
WHOA TRADES! It’s no secret that while the Eagles have consistently had a Top 5 (if not higher) offensive line for seasons now, there are some big question marks going into this season. There were rumors of C Jason Kelce retiring (31), and Brandon Brooks suffered a devastating torn Achilles in the Saints playoff game. Brooks isn’t expected back until a month into the season at best. The Eagles offense crumpled once he went down (Brooks went the opening game of 2016 through the end of the 2018 season without giving up a single sack). Then, Jason Peters (37)…we’ve been over this for 3-4 seasons now. THIS IS DEFINITELY HIS LAST SEASON THIS TIME, YOU GUYS. The Eagles reworked his contract to be up after this year.
With the Eagles jumping the Bills in this huge trade with the Jags, we tearfully depart with Nelson Agholor after grabbing WR AJ Brown in the first (but reuniting him with BDN in Jacksonville, so it COULD be worse). But, turn that frown upside down, cause we just traded up for one of the best tackles in the draft! Kansas State’s Dalton Risner!
You want versatility? Risner can play every position on the line. He can slot in for Brooks until he heals up, backup Kelce, rotate with Seumalo at LG, and then take over the left or right tackle position when Peters hangs it up. Best part? He gets to learn from Jason Peters for an entire season and is an immediate plug and play. The Eagles o-line dominance continues into the future. He’s given up only 4 pressures on 276 pass blocking snaps. PFF gives him an overall grade of 2nd amongst all tackles in the draft with his crazy 98.9 pass blocking efficiency score. If there’s an OT in the draft who can protect Carson Wentz, it’s Dalton Risner.
NFL Player Comparison: Cody Whitehair
Round 2: Pick 57 – DT Dexter Lawrence (Clemson)
It’s unclear where Clemson’s Dexter Lawrence is going in the draft. He’s been mocked as high as top 15, and as low as the top of the 3rd with his failed drug test a couple of months ago. There also is the thinking that NFL teams don’t value run stuffing DT’s as much as they used to. In our simulation, the Eagles get a steal with all of the other teams making a run at other positions after DL dominates the first round. The Eagles are pretty set in the short term with their stellar pickup of DT Malik Jackson in the offseason to replace Timmy Jernigan and play alongside The Beast, Fletcher Cox.
But, the war is won in the trenches. The Eagles couldn’t do hardly anything on offense when Brandon Brooks went down in the playoffs. But, the defense was BROKEN when Cox was on the sidelines. The Eagles defense is dependent and built solely around the defensive line. If the line can’t get home, it doesn’t matter how good your secondary is. This move allows the defensive line to be even more ferocious and builds for the future with Fletcher Cox getting older at 28 years old. Lawrence is known for being more of an elite run-stuffing defensive tackle rather than a pass rushing one. But, when you’re in a division with Saqoun Barkley, Derrius Guice, and Estinkial Elliott, that line has to be able to erase them as much as possible. The rich get richer.
NFL Player Comparison: Haloti Ngata
Round 3: Pick 92 – DE Anthony Nelson (Iowa)
This.game.is.won.in.the.trenches. We recoup the 3rd round pick via our trade with the Chiefs. It also included a $100 gift card to Q39 in Kansas City, OMG that was amazing BESTBBQINMYLIFE… Anyways, with the Eagles 3rd round, THE RICH KEEP GETTING RICHER, we take Iowa’s DE Anthony Nelson! Last year, out of all notable defensive linemen across all of college football, do you know who had the highest percentage of pass rushes won? Well, if you guessed Nick Bosa, you would be correct. There’s a reason he may be #1 overall. He won 28% of all pass rushes last season. But, do you know who was #2 right behind him? Anthony Nelson (22.9% success rate). This beats out guys like Chase Winovich (19.6%), Rashan Gary (16.8%), Clelin Ferrell (13.%) and Ed Oliver (7.7%). He can stand to add some bulk in the offseason to prepare for the bigger and more skilled technicians of the NFL offensive lines and his burst can use some work. His ability to make moves on NFL talent is questionable, as he didn’t play against a lot of top-level right tackles, thus his slip into the 3rd round. But with his motor, big bag of rush moves off the edge, and his crazy tilt and jaw-dropping reps where he flattens and gets the corner, Nelson would make an excellent addition to the Eagles defensive line rotation as he develops.
NFL Player Comparison: Carl Nassib
SOUND THE ALARM, IT’S A TRAAAAAAADE!!
Round 4: Pick 105 – RB Darrell Henderson (Memphis)
The Eagles have been putting assistant head coach and beloved running backs coach, Duce Staley, to the test this offseason. He’s been allllllll over working out and meeting with almost every single running back in this draft in a seemingly never-ending marathon up until draft day. The Eagles have had a history of getting sniped in the 4th round especially on running back. So, I’ve got a theory that the Eagles trade up to the top of the 4th round. The 4th round is when 90% of the running backs are gonna start getting drafted in this class. Eagles trade up to the top of the 4th so Duce gets the running back he wants. Yes, I know we traded for Jordan Howard. But, the Eagles operate as a committee. They had a dominant rushing attack which was one of the most important roles in their Super Bowl run & win (255 total yards combined for Ajayi, Blount, & Clement in the Super Bowl). Jordan Howard comes in as the power back as a combination of the role Ajayi & Blount served, Clement still serves as the pass catching third down guy. So, where does Henderson come in?
He’s the home run hitter. There is no college RB in this draft that’s more explosive than Darrell Henderson. He had 19 scrimmage plays go for more than 30 yards last year. Did you know that was more than Saquon Barkley’s last year at Penn State? He runs a 4.49. 9 YPC, 51.4 percent rushing “Success Rate.” He’s a receiving back as well. His big knock is that he’s a little undersized (but not Pumphrey undersized) at 5’8” 208 lbs and his pass protection needs a lot of developing.
Darrell Henderson goes for the jugular with his threat of being able to take it to the house, every play. Jordan Howard beats them up, Darrell Henderson finishes them.
NFL Player Comparison: Tevin Coleman (Ironically Duce’s #1 rated free agent RB this past offseason)
Just. watch.
Round 6: Pick 197 – DE Maxx Crosby (Eastern Michigan)
Now I just look like a copy cat with Jimmy Kempski beating me to the punch with his mock draft grabbing Maxx Crosby this morning. WELL, I PICKED HIM LAST NIGHT! WITH THE LAST PICK OF THE DRAFT (cuz trades). THE EAGLES DRAFT DE MAXX CROSBY. EASTERN MICHIGAN.
Maxx Crosby is a bit of a project. He put on a show at the combine. 4.13 Twenty Yard Shuffle (2nd Fastest), 6.89 3 Cone Drill (2nd Fastest), 90% SPARQ rating. He needs to add muscle, but in the meantime he would be excellent to develop in our rotation. Dude is a playmaker. Just needs time.
EonKayoh on /NFL_Draft put together an analytical look at all of the pass rushers in this year’s draft that participated in the Combine. His results were interesting.
These are the guys who should be successful in the NFL regardless of scheme. Just put them on the edge and let them hunt.
- Josh Allen, Kentucky: 22.13 y.o., 118″ broad, +34.95 BS. MLSR: +18.43
- Maxx Crosby, Eastern Michigan: 22.03 y.o., 122″ broad, +96.72 BS. MLSR: +14.31
- Anthony Nelson, Iowa: 22.49 y.o., 118″ broad, +126.05 BS. MLSR: +10.05
- Brian Burns, Florida State: 21.36 y.o., 129″ broad, +65.78 BS. MLSR: +7.17
Last year, the “Tier 1 Everything” guys were Marcus Davenport, Harold Landry, Josh Sweat, and Arden Key. Davenport & Landry both had higher MLSRs than anybody in this year’s group, but Allen & Crosby both have better scores than Josh Sweat, and Burns has a better score than Key. The 2017 “Tier 1 Everything” group was much bigger, and pretty much all of them out-scored everyone in this and last year’s classes, Derek Barnett notwithstanding.
Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Malik Jackson, Vinny Curry, Dexter Lawrence, Anthony Nelson, Maxx Crosby, and Josh Sweat. You guys okay with that? (Assuming Long does indeed retire).
I KNOW I KNOW, WE DIDN’T DRAFT SAFETY OR LINEBACKER. Well, because we don’t need to. The injuries we faced last year turned out to be a blessing in the long run, as we now have a very large and talented secondary pool, especially with the Ronald Darby resigning. It’s reasonable to expect Darby resuming the CB1 role on the outside with Jalen Mills as CB2, most likely rotating with Rasul Douglas who had a solid year last year. S/CB Avonte Maddox turned out to be a beast at the end of the year and ended up #1 in PFF’s Snaps Per Reception Allowed stat (better than Levi Wallace, Antonio Cromartie, Tre-Davious White, and Aqib Talib), 4th in Lowest Passer Rating Allowed, 2nd in Yards Allowed Per Coverage Snap, and 1st in Coverage Snaps Per Reception Allowed. Dude is a beast.
Cre’von LeBlanc ended as PFF’s highest-graded cornerback this past postseason. And Sidney Jones continues to be a high reward project (if he can stay on the field). McLeod and Jenkins should be back next year to continue their dominance.
There is concern over Jenkin’s age (31) with being the heart and soul of that defense and literally playing almost every position except for the line. But the safety market is saturated. If we needed a safety bad, this was the free agency to grab one with guys like Earl freakin’ Thomas, Eric Weddle, Honey Badger, and Eric Berry. Literally the who’s who of safeties. Eagles passed and got a solid depth safety in former Vikings Andrew Sendejo WHO HAS AN 83 RATING ON MADDEN, THANK YOU. Mills could thrive as a safety with his speed deficiencies (but LOCK DOWN redzone coverage). Maddox is likely to get snaps back there.
LB wise? We did lose Jordan Hicks, yes. But, do you know who played 42% of the snaps as nickel linebacker last season, the defense we primarily play in? Malcolm Jenkins. Jordan Hicks, our starting MLB, was usually on the sideline. If not Jenkins, it was OLB Nigel Bradham. Do you know who started at MLB during our Super Bowl run for pretty much the entire season? Dannell Ellerbe, Najee Goode, Nathan Gerry, Kamu Grugier-Hill.
What am I getting at? Eagles don’t value MLB. We rotate some competent bodies back there and it keeps the machine working. Eagles resigned LB Paul Worrilow and signed upside Steelers LB LJ Fort (who did a nice job holding down the uh…fort with Shazier out).
The Eagles already have linebackers and safeties figured out.
Anyways, this is my very first NFL article to be published on the internet! Hope everyone enjoyed it! If you ain’t tradin’, you ain’t tryin’ and FLY EAGLES FLY!
We used this draft simulator to make our picks.
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