After addressing WR in free agency by signing Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, the time has come for fans and media alike to sit back and reconsider their draft strategies of 2 weeks ago. Corey Davis and Mike Williams were the popular names to target at 14, and now, the popular belief is that the Eagles should focus on CB with their first pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
I think that's the wrong way to approach the draft. People always ask me: "What position do you want the Eagles to draft with their 1st round pick?" I always respond the same way: "You don't draft positions, you draft players." No team should ever focus in on one position when entering a draft. This opens up the possibility of reaching for inferior talents at positions of need, and thus, ending up with draft busts like Marcus Smith. In 2014, the Eagles went into the draft with the feeling that they needed to get out of the weekend with a top level pass rusher in the top of the draft. They panicked when there was a run of pass rushers flying off the board, and they traded down and wound up taking Marcus Smith while passing on superior players in the process. This is a good way to dilute your overall talent pool and wind up having a roster with a limited number of impact players. The goal of an NFL general manager is to build the best overall team, and not patch holes as they pop up like a game of Whac-A-Mole.
With prospect Sidney Jones reportedly rupturing his achilles tendon, the amount of top 15 CB talents available when the Eagles pick will be minus one. The chances that Marshon Lattimore and Marlon Humphrey are available at #14 are slim, and if you are dead-set on drafting a CB, then at 14 you would be reaching for lesser talents like Teez Tabor or Tre’Davious White. At 14, the Eagles should take the best player on their board who is not a QB. If it's another WR, then take another WR. You never know what the future will hold in the NFL with injuries and roster turnover. What isn't a need now, may very well be in a few months, or within a year. In the NFL, you need to draft not just for 2017, but for 2018, 2019, and 2020. Projecting long-term is important, and being shortsighted can come back to haunt you. I personally think Alshon Jeffery will play extremely well, and earn a rich long-term deal with the Eagles, but if things don't turn out well, drafting a stud WR like Western Michigan's Corey Davis would not only give Carson Wentz another young weapon to develop with, but would give perfect insurance in the event that one of your top 3 WRs part ways after the 2017 season. Howie Roseman has shown an extreme willingness to protect his franchise QB investment in March, and I have no doubts he will want all the security around Wentz he can give him, to ensure he's surrounded with adequate weapons for years to come.
Another option would be trading down, which I am vehemently against in most situations. If the Eagles are sitting at pick 14 and have 5-10 players with mid-1st round grades still available, then sure, trade down. They would still be getting a player they have graded in the same tier. However, in most instances, especially when you pick in the top half of the 1st round, trading down usually involves taking a lesser tier later on, but making up for it with an additional draft pick acquired in the trade. To me, this is not a good trade-off. I always prefer quality over quantity. The main motivation to trade down and secure additional draft picks is to patch as many holes as possible as quickly as you can, and as I stated earlier, I think this is the wrong way to build. Mark me down as someone who is against sacrificing the opportunity to add a superior talent to your football team and winding up with a lesser one, merely for the addition of another draft pick. If anything, the Eagles should consider trading up. If they identify a player who they think will make a significant impact on their team, be it now or over the next several years, then go up and get the guy if the price isn't astronomical.
The thought of passing on Corey Davis, OJ Howard, Reuben Foster, or another top talent and trading down several spots to land an inferior Teez Tabor makes me shudder as an Eagles fan. If you want to build a team that can compete with the likes of the Patriots, Steelers, Packers, Cowboys, Giants, Falcons, and Seahawks for the next several years, short-term patchwork moves are not going to get it done. Collect the most talented players you can, and if the grading is very close, then and only then, give the nod to the position of need.
Maybe the best case scenario is for the Eagles to just sit tight at 14 and take the best player. If you are patient, quite often good players can fall to you. It happens every year to somebody. It seems to happen to Ozzie Newsome of the Baltimore Ravens in some round every single year, and he takes advantage. Ozzie Newsome, the same mentor who personnel chief Joe Douglas studied under for years. Learn from your mentor, Joe.
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