The NFL Draft is in the books, which means it's time to unnecessarily grade the picks before the players have even suited up. I, like you, probably find this part of draft coverage a little annoying. But I do think there's value in grading how well a team filled their needs and if there were any perceived reaches or steals.
https://youtu.be/xWCGojuT23E
Round 1, pick 22: Andre Dillard, OT, Washington State
This wasn't the 'sexy' pick that fans were pining for, but it may have been the smartest. The Eagles traded up three spots with the Baltimore Ravens to find the future heir to the Thone at Left Tackle.
Andre Dillard is by far the most efficient pass-protecting tackle in this year's class, playing in more pass-pro snaps than any other tackle and giving up just one sack all season. At 6'5, 315 lbs, he fits the prototypical mold and was universally a top-10 graded player...but many assumed he'd be off the board at this point.
The Eagles have one more year of Vaitai and a huge question mark in Jordan Mailata. Dillard sets the path for all three players and finally gives the Eagles some stability behind the two franchise bookends for the next five years, not to mention the potential to come in and make an impact right away.
Grade: B+
Round 2, pick 53: Miles Sanders, RB, Penn State
I was a huge fan of taking a running back at 53, but with so many talents on the board, Sanders wasn't the back I would've taken. His ball-security issues and lack of pass-pro efficiency are still worrying. In fact, in a recent study where I ranked running backs based on qualities the Eagles would look for, here's how Sanders fared on a score out of 80:
Speed: 8Versatility: 6Getting to the corner: 7Body control: 7Effort: 7Power: 5Patience: 7Pass pro: 6Red flags: 0
TOTAL: 53
HOWEVER. And there's a big however. If Duce Staley can clean up the pass-pro errors and ball-security concerns, I feel like the Eagles would have a back that would maybe, just maybe provide more bang for your buck than Darrell Henderson or any of the other backs available at that time.
Sanders broke out of the gate with haste once Saquon Barkley had departed for the NFL and showed Penn State fans that there was indeed life after the generational talent. Sanders possesses a very 'Shady McCoy' type-skillset which will be perfect for this offense and if the Birds can iron out the creases, he probably has one of the highest upsides in this scheme of any back in the draft.
Grade: B
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Round 2, pick 57: J.J Arcega-Whiteside, WR, Stanford
I LOVE this pick. Arcega-Whiteside was a small draft crush of mine, I just did not think he would be on the board by the time the Eagles were on the clock at 57. And given the birds' recent run on meeting with 'big-slot' guys, the pick seemed unlikely.
Arcega-Whiteside is a big body at 6’2, 226 comparable to none other than Alshon Jeffery. He has great hands, technical route running and is a strong blocker in the run game. There were concerns over his speed but, his pro-day 40 time of 4.49 was impressive. Arcega-Whiteside could serve as a strong red-zone threat and a mismatch machine who could eventually mold into Alshon Jeffery’s successor. It’s ironic then, that he’s the wideout that the Stanford product modeled his game after.
The Eagles have one of the most lethal redzone offenses in the NFL, if not the most. The ceiling for Arcega-Whiteside is almost as high as his catch-radius and I fell like this would be the perfect scheme to move him around and really harness that potential.
Grade: B+
Round 4, pick 135: Shareef Miller, DE, Penn State
At 6’5″ and 260 lbs, Miller has the size that defenses covet in their edge-rushers and during his time at Penn State, Miller grew into one of the team’s biggest leaders. The attention given to him last year following a strong breakout enabled Yetur Gross-Matos to explode onto the scene, but that didn’t stop him from having success of his own. 15 tackles for a loss and 7.5 sacks headlined another strong season.
The Eagles needed some extra defensive end depth and with Chris Long telling the Eagles 'to plan as if he won't be there', the team did just that. Miller is fairly one-dimensional as of right now but if he's able to learn from the vets and Chris Wilson, there's no reason he can't add some pass-rushing moves to his game to accompany a vicious first step. He won't be a three-down guy for a while, but this keeps the conveyor belt moving and injects some explosiveness into what is now a deep rotation.
Pick B-
Round 5, pick 167: Clayton Thorson, QB, Northwestern
This was the only pick I scrunched my face at. Mainly because Easton Stick was selected just one pick beforehand despite the aggressive trade up. Thorson has the size and athletic traits that Pederson covets in his quarterbacks at 6’4, 222 lbs, but he doesn't have the accuracy.
He averaged 6.8 yards per pass and has thrown 27 picks in his last 27 games. But the Eagles are willing to look past that to nurture a natural talent.
If we look at how Pederson got the most out of Nick Foles and the coaching tree was able to take Nate Sudfeld and groom him up to be a QB2, there's little reason to doubt this pick...but with names like Rypien and Stick within reaching distance, the value could've maybe been higher.
Grade: C-
Overall:
I think the Eagles ticked the majority of boxes. The two glaring weaknesses remain as Safety and linebacker, but I feel as though the team will move Maddox or Douglas up top and the signing of Sendejo at least buys the team a season of reliable, veteran production before needing to act.
The fact the team are inundated with corners too would hint that maybe they feel comfortable keeping more DB's on the field as the Chargers did to stifle Baltimore. Bradham, Fort and Worrilow provide enough punch, while Grugier-Hill and Gerry fit a very interesting niche. Maybe the need isn't as big as we're making out?
Overall, the Eagles were aggressive in going to get 'their guys'. High-character players who provide incremental value to the team and hypothetically could all contribute in year one...with the exception of Thorson...who brings this grade down one tier.
Final Grade: B-
