Eagles to Stick With Familiar Blueprint and Attack the Line of Scrimmage in Draft

The Eagles have long espoused building their rosters from the inside out and focusing on their offensive and defensive lines, and there is every reason for that to be the case when the NFL draft arrives this month.

The breakdown of available talent towards the back end of the first round – in a year shorter on corners and wide receivers than many past, and also skimpy on high-end defensive tackles, should leave Philadelphia with several intriguing offensive linemen and pass rushers to sort through, which is very much to their liking.

“You know Howie (Roseman, Eagles GM), he understands how to put your team together,” said one longtime NFL personnel executive. 

“It all starts up front. He’s gotten a little old and banged up on the OL, and he is always looking for pass rushers even when he had them. He could use a few now.”

The Eagles rode a ferocious and deep pass rush to their last Super Bowl title, with Roseman focusing on young and explosive front-seven talent in the draft, especially players who performed together in Georgia’s dominant defense and already has innate chemistry.  

That, coupled with longtime stalwarts on the offensive line dealing with age and injury concerns, like Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson.

Old Habits Die Hard

Roseman has showed a willingness to trust his evaluations for players who come with some risk, Dickerson’s medical red flags coming out of Alabama, for instance, and if Alabama offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor is still available when the Eagles select at 23rd overall, that feels to some of rivals like precisely the kind of value selection he would make. 

They have leaned heavily into SEC products with their high picks and Proctor could play inside or outside on the offensive line, filling a short-term need at guard and also being the man to replace Johnson a year from now.

The Eagles are +105 (DraftKings) to take an offensive lineman with their first pick -even if they were to trade out of the first round that position group would very likely be in play for them in the second round given their needs. And they are +300 to take a defensive lineman with their first pick. That covers a lot of individual positions and quite likely provides value, too.