What better way to start NFL draft week than with a new mock?
And not just any bill, but Peter King’s annual and only projection based on what the longtime NFL insider hears.
This time last year, King let the Eagles pass DeVonta Smith to take Jaycee Horn for 12th place. In hindsight, that selection may have been based on knowing Philly’s preference. Jimmy Kempski has said that the Eagles would have taken Horn or Patrick Surtain II over Smith if they were still on the board.
And so one can only wonder if King might know a thing or two about the Eagles’ intentions this year. In this sense, Let’s take a look at his choices … starting with 15th place in the overall ranking.
15 Philly Eagles: Jordan Davis, defensive tackle, Georgia
Flip a coin here. Davis or Trent McDuffie. (And won’t be laughing at WIP at my expense if the choice is neither.) But I’ll go with Davis because of his insane athleticism at 335, his ability to affect the game anywhere on defense, and so on prospect, that he can replace Fletcher Cox (32 in December) as the most blockable man on Philadelphia’s defensive front.
The best I heard about Davis after his 4.78-second sprint at the combine (at 341 pounds) was from a coach who thought Davis could use nose on first down and three technique (the interior rush player ) play on the second and third down. This is not usual. He didn’t have a great collegiate performance — 19.5 tackles behind the line in 47 games in Georgia — and that would worry me a lot. But someone will take him in the middle of the round because he has so much potential.
We made them comprehensive case for the Eagles Drafting Davis last week. The short argument is that the birds shouldn’t overthink it. If they have the opportunity to design the most athletic defensive tackle prospect ever … who just happened to win an award for college football’s top defenseman last year…on the national championship team…they probably should. Davis has the potential to be a needle mover for an Eagles team soaring in the middle of the NFL landscape.
King then drops the Eagles slightly from their 18th pick.
*22. Philadelphia Eagles: Devin Lloyd, linebacker, Utah
*Projected trade: Eagles trade 18th pick for 22nd pick and a late third-round pick, 92nd overall, to the Packers.
throw darts Howie Roseman could be bargaining down here again. The receiver and corner markets, both of which he needs to hit before the end of day two, don’t match what’s left on the board in this mock. Lloyd had experience doing it all in 32 starts over three Utah seasons. His 43 career tackles for losses show he’s a spoilsport in the running game, too.
Another point about Lloyd, wherever he goes: NFL Network will have an emotional feature story Thursday night about the two Utah players lost to gun violence in 2021. I’m told Lloyd’s words in the piece will be emotional and heavy – he was the Utah captain who had a huge burden on his shoulders to help his teammates endure the double ordeal.
I can get behind the Eagles trading down from 18th place. It feels like they are in a no man’s land at this point where there is no view to be had.
I can’t get past the Eagles drafting a linebacker in the first round. It just won’t be believable until we see it.
Many Eagles fans would love to see the team draft Lloyd. But a notable Eagles fan wouldn’t be happy about the move. Former Bleeding Green Nation writer and current The Ringer contributor Benjamin Solak joined The SB Nation NFL Show last week to call him the most overrated prospect of the first round.
“It’s cool to look like Fred Warner and to have played in a similar area of the country as Fred Warner did in college. But… and it’s big, it’s good cover, it’s long. Many of Fred Warner’s highlights go well with Devin Lloyd’s highlights.
But there are two things that are very important.
Number one, Devin Lloyd doesn’t like to attack. Linebackers need to be cool when tackling. For example, Darius Leonard is a tall, skinny linebacker who is obsessed with tackling. Loves to punch, loves to force fumbles, amazing peanut punch. If you play linebacker at 235 [pounds], you have to like to tackle. .You must really love to play between the trees. […] Lloyd doesn’t like it that much.
[…]
Number two is that coaches believe you what players can and can’t do by using them. And Lloyd’s good at reporting. But Utah pushed him well over the edge. And Lloyd is like a fine edge rusher, but it wasn’t like a Micah Parsons situation where we have to get this guy to rush the passer. It’s like, if this guy is so good at reporting, why not ask him to do it? The old adage goes that if they blitz a guy, they don’t trust him for coverage. That’s what they do with Lloyd.
Solak added that there’s better value at the linebacker than using a first-round pick on Lloyd, and named a number of Day 2 prospects that intrigue him.
Of course that’s just his opinion, man. Maybe the Eagles really like Lloyd. And maybe it would be worth the investment.
In any case, it’s interesting to see what King gets the Eagles to do as we’re just days away from the 2022 NFL Draft. Take it for what it’s worth, which is likely somewhere between more than “nothing at all” and less than “incredibly useful.”
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Other observations from the mock:
- No first-round wide receiver for the Eagles. That’s partly because in the first 11 picks, four went off the board: Drake London to the Falcons at 8th, Garrett Wilson to the Texans at 9th (via a predicted trade-up), Jameson Williams to the Jets at 8th 10 , and Chris Olave to the Commanders at number 11. King then let Treylon Burks go at number 16, right after the Eagles’ pick of Davis.
- King drops Kayvon Thibodeaux to 13th. I would think the Eagles could try to move up at this point provided they aren’t put off by his potential red flags.
- Again, I could definitely see the Eagles trying to come back from 18th place. It’s about finding a partner. But that might not be difficult when there’s another QB on the board and someone looking to jump ahead of the Steelers into 20th place. Or when Pittsburgh wants to prevent a team from rising to No. 19 and instead getting its man at No. 19. 18
- Notably, King causes the Eagles to pass Jermaine Johnson twice as he falls down to 23rd place. I have a hard time believing that Philly would pick Lloyd over Johnson in part just because they value both of those positions.
- The Cowboys pick up Tyler Linderbaum at #24. Not great.
- The Giants get Charles Cross and Kyle Hamilton. Would be nice prey for her.
- King lets Ojabo off the board to the Bucs in 27th place. He said: “I don’t know if he will be selected in the first round but I do know that four teams are intensely interested in him.”
- King only has two quarterbacks off the board in the first round: Kenny Pickett for the Steelers at 20th and Matt Corral for the Falcons (via Trade Up) at 32nd. No first-round Malik Willis comes as a surprise.