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One of my favorite activities leading up to the NFL Draft each year is tracking who the Philadelphia Eagles are showing interest in. This exercise typically gives us a decent idea of who the Eagles might actually draft!
Take last year’s tracker, for example. Four of the 12 players who drew the most interest ended up in Philly: Jalen Reagor (top photo in the article!), Davion Taylor, K’Von Wallace, and Raequan Williams (UDFA signing).
So, might we be able to have similar success this year?! Well, probably not, unfortunately. Due to COVID restrictions and such, the tracker is more limited than ever before in BGN history. But the activity must go on! We made the most of the information we did have.
The following table lists every prospect eligible for this year’s draft that the Eagles are known to have shown some kind of interest in. If you think I’m missing some information, let me know in the comments and include your source.
2021 NFL Draft Eagles Draft Interest Tracker
| Player | Position | School | ASG | Virtual | PD | Other | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | School | ASG | Virtual | PD | Other | TOTAL |
| Jamie Newman | QB | Georgia | X | 1 | |||
| Jonathon Cooper | DE | Ohio State | X | 1 | |||
| Asante Samuel Jr. | CB | Florida State | X | 1 | |||
| Shane Simpson | RB | Virginia | X | 1 | |||
| Jon Rhattigan | LB | Army | X | 1 | |||
| Trill Williams | S | Syracuse | X | 1 | |||
| Tay Gowan | CB | UCF | X | 1 | |||
| Darius Stills | DT | West Virginia | X | 1 | |||
| Landon Dickerson | C | Alabama | X | 1 | |||
| Marlon Tuipulotu | DT | USC | X | 1 | |||
| Jaycee Horn | CB | South Carolina | X | 1 | |||
| Caleb Farley | CB | Virginia Tech | DM | 1 | |||
| Christian Darrisaw | OT | Virginia Tech | X | 1 | |||
| Ian Book | QB | Notre Dame | X | 1 | |||
| Javonte Williams | RB | UNC | JS | 1 | |||
| Michael Carter | RB | UNC | JS | 1 | |||
| Dyami Brown | WR | UNC | AM | 1 | |||
| Dazz Newsome | WR | UNC | AM | 1 | |||
| Kadarius Toney | WR | Florida | X | 1 | |||
| Terrace Marshall | WR | LSU | X | X | 2 | ||
| Brandon Kennnedy | C | Tennessee | X | 1 | |||
| Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah | LB | Notre Dame | X | 1 | |||
| K.J. Costello | QB | Mississippi State | X | 1 | |||
| Sam Cooper | OG | Merrimack | X | 1 | |||
| Payton Turner | DE | Houston | X | 1 | |||
| Lawrence White IV | S | Iowa State | X | 1 | |||
| Larnel Coleman | OT | Massachusetts | X | 1 | |||
| Jordyn Peters | S | Auburn | X | 1 | |||
| Charles Snowden | LB | West Virginia | X | 1 | |||
| Zach Davidson | TE | Central Missouri | X | 1 | |||
| Israel Tucker | RB | Louisana Tech | X | 1 | |||
| Quinn Meinerz | C | Wisconsin-Whitewater | X | 1 | |||
| Alim McNeill | DT | NC State | X | 1 | |||
| Trevor Lawrence | QB | Clemson | X | 1 | |||
| Trey Lance | QB | North Dakota State | SS/BJ | 1 | |||
| Zach Wilson | QB | BYU | SS/BJ | 1 |
Player who has drawn the most interest
WR Terrace Marshall (2)
Interest by position
6 QB
4 WR
4 RB
4 CB
3 S
3 DT
3 C
3 LB
2 OT
1 OG
1 DE
1 TE
All-Star Game (ASG)
These are the players the Eagles talked to at the most prominent college all-star games, such as the Senior Bowl.
Virtual
In the age of social distancing, video conferencing (Zoom, FaceTime) has replaced some of the normal pre-draft interview methods.
Pro Day (PD)
The pandemic shut down last year’s pro day circuit but schools were able to host them this year.
INITIALS KEY:
SS = Shane Steichen, Eagles offensive coordinator
BJ = Brian Johnson, Eagles quarterbacks coach
JS = Jemal Singleton, Eagles assistant head coach/running backs coach
AM = Aaron Moorehead, Eagles wide receivers coach
DM = D.K. McDonald, Eagles assistant defensive backs coach
Other
Interest that doesn’t fit into one of the aforementioned categories. Includes vague descriptions like “drawing interest” or rumored connections from media reports.
Visits - None this year
Teams are normally allowed 30 pre-draft visits but not this year due to the pandemic. Shame for our purposes because usually the Eagles draft multiple players they hosted.
Combine - None this year
There was no in-person NFL Combine this year.
NOTES AND ANALYSIS
- Terrace Marshall Jr. is the only prospect to check more than one box in our tracker. Kyle Brandt previously said that Marshall has “been talking to the Eagles a lot” leading up to this year’s draft. Could be a target for Philly if they look to trade up from No. 37 or if he somehow falls there.
- Speaking on former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz’s podcast, Quinn Meinerz said the Eagles are showing more interest in him than any other team. (Hat tip to The Athletic’s Zach Berman.) Meinerz is incredibly athletic and could be an eventual Jason Kelce replacement.
- The pro days attended by Steichen and Johnson were mostly before the Eagles traded down from No. 6 to No. 12.
- Cool to see the Eagles showing interest in Asante Samuel’s son, Asante Samuel Jr. Really wouldn’t mind getting him at No. 37 after getting DeVonta Smith at No. 12.
- A little interesting to see the Eagles send their running backs coach to UNC’s pro day to watch their backs. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to see Philly add a running back as soon as Day 2.
RESOURCES
In addition to tracking a lot of this information myself, I wanted to give a shoutout to the following resources I use to cross-reference my information:
Music City Miracle’s Justin Melo (@JustinM_NFL) — He reported a vast majority of the FaceTime meetings. Dude crushed it for the second year in a row.