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The first Sunday without any NFL football has come and gone. This means there are only 73 days until the 2016 NFL Draft is set to take place on April 28. We're going to kill some time with our regular Mock Draft Monday series from now until then.
Last week, SB Nation's Dan Kadar had the Eagles taking a quarterback in the first round at pick at No. 13. This week he has them taking a quarterback again. It's actually the same player.
13. Philadelphia Eagles: Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis - Count me among the Sam Bradford doubters. Even though he's coming off the best season of his NFL career, he's been too unreliable to give more than a "show me" short contract to this offseason. Instead, the Eagles would be smart in hitting the reset button and build around Lynch, a talented quarterback prospect with good size and athleticism.
Lynch is the third quarterback to come off the board in this mock. Kadar has Jared Goff going to the Cleveland Browns at No. 2 while the Los Angeles Rams trade up from No. 15 to get Carson Wentz at No. 6. Part of the reason why the Rams are able to trade up is because they own Philadelphia's second round pick from the Sam Bradford trade. Thanks a lot, Chip.
The Eagles have been connected to Lynch a lot recently. He's easily the early favorite at this point. With Bradford's future uncertain and Doug Pederson's interest in drafting a young quarterback, it's safe to say the Eagles will select at quarterback at some point in this year's draft. It's just a matter of when.
The 22-year-old Lynch measures in at 6-6, 225 pounds. He threw for 6,809 yards (8.0 yards per attempt), 50 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions in his final two years at Memphis. He also ran for 560 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Here's more on Lynch via NFL.com's scouting report. Peep that NFL player comparison!
NFL Comparison: Marcus Mariota
Bottom Line: While the hype around "dual threat" quarterbacks has subsided, Lynch possesses the size and athleticism to make NFL teams take a second look. Unlike other size/speed quarterbacks like Vince Young and Colin Kaepernick, Lynch prefers to extend passing plays with his feet rather than bolting from the pocket, but he is still likely to make plenty of plays with his feet over the long haul. Lynch shows the ability to read defenses and make smart decisions, but not yet at an NFL starting level. While he has the physical tools to start right away, a team who is willing to allow him to sit and study his craft for a year could reap maximum rewards in the future.
OMG MARIOTA!
https://t.co/8YsjYi3ITQ pic.twitter.com/ZcLOv5mtef
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) February 12, 2016
For more on Lynch, also read BGN's scouting report on him:
The thing I love about Paxton Lynch is how calm, cool and collected he seems. Does not matter the stage, he rises to the occasion whereas other top quarterback prospects this year have wilted against better teams. If a receiver drops a pass, he will come back right to him. If he takes a big hit in the pocket, he will spring right back up. If he makes a mistake passing, he does not let it snowball. Short memories are incredibly important for quarterbacks.
And check out these links as well:
Two positive examples of Paxton Lynch's game https://t.co/oRJ9FoNiiS Two to work on https://t.co/HqX1H1VEqf pic.twitter.com/3p3bbESQ2K
— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) February 6, 2016
So what do you think of this pick?