Name one player you really want the Eagles to take in the 2017 NFL Draft

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Bleeding Green Nation mailbag! I'll be taking your Philadelphia Eagles questions and answering them here in this post. As always, thanks to everyone who sent in a question. We already answered some of your questions during the BGN Facebook Live session I hosted. (Shameless plug: please like on the BGN Facebook page and the BGN Radio Facebook page.) Watch the Q&A below:

Now it's time for some of the questions I didn’t get a chance to answer (contact me: @BrandonGowton). Let's get started.

@mfegs2 asks: Who is your (and rest of BGN crew’s) favorite player for the Eagles in this draft? A player that you absolutely want to have?

BLG: Dalvin Cook
John Barchard: O.J. Howard
James Seltzer: Leonard Fournette
Ben Natan: Samaje Perine
Matt Dering: Evan Engram
Patrick Wall: Reuben Foster
Dan Klausner: Tarik Cohen
BGN alumnus Jimmy Kempski: Solomon Thomas

I can’t speak for everyone else, so allow me to only explain my pick. I really want the Eagles to get a legitimate three down running back. I’d written time and time again that getting such a player is critical for Carson Wentz’s development. With that in mind, I really like Dalvin Cook’s tape. He’s a very fun player to watch. Now, with that said, I wouldn’t take him at No. 14. There are too many red flags there with the character concerns, fumbling issues, etc. But I think it’d be really fun to have him on the Eagles.

This wasn’t an easy pick for me. I was tempted to say John Ross. It’s just that his injury history scares me. I also like Christian McCaffrey a lot. I kind of want to be ironic and say Charles Harris because I think the more people hate on him the more I like him. Marshon Lattimore would probably be the pick if I didn’t think it was very unrealistic.

Let’s turn this question over to you, the readers. I’m curious to hear your picks. Who is the one player you really want the Eagles to draft? It doesn’t have to be a first round guy. There could be a Day 2 or Day 3 pick you really want Philadelphia to get. Let’s hear what’s on your mind.

@GLCrandall asks: Do the Eagles finally have a good dynamic with Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas between Howie's money savvy and Joe's talent evaluation?

Great question. It’s honestly too early to say, though there’s certainly reason for optimism. The Timmy Jernigan trade, for example, seemed like a great example of the “unbelievable collaboration” (Jeffrey Lurie’s words) between Roseman and Douglas. From an outsider’s perspective, it really seems like the two guys are on the same page.

But their biggest test is yet to come. It’ll be interesting to see how the two guys work through the 2017 NFL Draft. Roseman looks to be active and aggressive in making trades. The sense is that Douglas generally favors a more patient approach. We’ll see how the dynamic works out. Douglas is responsible for setting the board, but it’s ultimately Roseman who has final say on the picks.

We won’t know for sure if this relationship is really working out for the Eagles until we see how these draft picks turn out.

@BigBoiDrew asks: Did you or anyone you know win the draft lottery to be inside the draft theatre? — @smithnfl asks: I won seats at the 2017 NFL Draft! You going to be there? Which playmaker are we hoping for?

Well this second question answers the first one. And to answer the first: no, I won’t be in the draft threatre itself, but as you know by now BGN Radio WILL be broadcasting live from the 2017 NFL Draft itself. Here’s a look at our location in Draft Town, which is free to the public.

Don’t forget, there are several opportunities to hang out with BGN Radio in Philadelphia this week. [Click here for full details.] A brief summary below:

Wednesday, Apr. 26: Pre-draft party at Delilah’s from 9:00 - 10:00 PM. Make sure to RSVP in order to avoid paying the cover charge. Email info@bgnradio.com with the subject heading "BGNR Guest List" and your name in order to get free admission.

Thursday Apr. 27 thru Saturday Apr. 29: BGN Radio is broadcasting LIVE from the NFL Draft. Hang out at the NFL Draft Bud Light Tavern near our broadcast location.

Saturday, Apr. 29: After the draft is over, head on over to Adobe Cafe in South Philly. The BGN Radio post-draft party starts at 8:00 PM and rages on all night long.

Hope to see you at any/all of these events!

@NoVA_Wolverine asks: Since the rumor is lots of teams will want to trade back this draft, is this a good year for Eagles to push to move up in several rounds?

I think the Eagles will definitely try to move up from pick No. 99 in the third round. There’s a big gap from their second round selection at No. 43 until then. I think the Eagles would love to trade Jason Kelce or Mychal Kendricks (or Jordan Matthews?) along with pick No. 99 in order to move up into the late 60’s / early 70’s or so. And I’m definitely OK with trading up depending who’s on the board.

As far as trading down goes, I really don’t want the Eagles to do that in the first round. I explained why recently.

Another reason why I hate the idea of trading down is because it lacks conviction. Admittedly, this might be a very rudimentary way of thinking about it, but I want the Eagles to draft a guy they love at No. 14. Or even trade up a few picks if they have to. I want them to feel strongly about “their” guy. Not just trade back because they ran out of options they really loved, as was the case in 2014.

@ThePhiltz asks: Of the players projected to be drafted 11-24 in the first round, what ones do you feel are going to be flops?

Whoever the Eagles pick. So, Charles Harris. Just kidding. Maybe. Uh, for real though, probably one of the quarterbacks.

@CLafferty214 asks: What Eagle would be the best guest to have at your wedding?

Jon Dorenbos. He’d give a great best man speech (he’s a motivational speaker, mind you) and he’d keep everyone entertained with his magic tricks.

@TriumpMcCloud asks: Carson Wentz: great quarterback or the greatest quarterback?

Carson has some distance to go before he considered to be either of those two things. It certainly seems like he’s a guy worth betting on, though. The kid works extremely hard, says all the right things, seems to have a great demeanor, and is very physically gifted. A ton of NFL people rave about his intelligence.

Personally, I really feel like Carson has that “it” factor. That’s typically something I might make fun of if someone else said it, but it’s true. Carson isn’t without flaws but he did some really special things at times last year. I think back to that crazy play against the Giants.

This is just one play but his pocket presence was unreal (in a good way) by the end of the season. He had an uncanny knack for avoiding sacks.

Avoiding pressure clearly isn’t the only factor into becoming a successful quarterback. But my point is that he showed a lot of improvement in that regard over the course of the season. There’s certainly a lot of room for growth in his game. Remember, the Eagles were going to sit him for the majority of last year for a reason.

I’m certainly not saying Wentz is about criticism, but I do think those holding off to see how he progresses in Year 2 will be well rewarded.

(I like how I took a silly question and turned it all serious.)