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Eagles News: Philadelphia among teams with most to gain from the 2023 NFL Draft

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 4/11/23.

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Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

2023 NFL Draft: Which team has the most to gain? - NFL.com
PICK: Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia was tantalizingly close to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy last season. To reach the Super Bowl again and beat whichever juggernaut comes out of the AFC, the Eagles must revitalize both lines, find playmakers at the skill positions and add depth at linebacker and in the secondary. They’ve traded away multiple Day 3 picks, however, so I expect them to move down once or twice during the first round to reaccumulate the needed draft capital.

NFL general manager superlatives, trends: Most successful at trade-ups, best Day 3 drafters and more - PFF
Most successful on trade-ups: Seattle Seahawks: 6 “wins” to 2 “losses”, Los Angeles Rams: 6 “wins” to 3 “losses”, Philadelphia Eagles: 6 “wins” to 4 “losses”. Three teams that rank in the top six in total trade downs since 2011 are the three most successful teams when they trade up. All of them like to utilize some of the extra ammo they’ve accumulated to strike when they really like a player. One recent example is the Philadelphia Eagles trading down from No. 6 to No. 12 overall in 2021 with the Miami Dolphins, acquiring a 2022 first-round pick in the process. Philadelphia then traded up to No. 10 and selected wide receiver DeVonta Smith.

5 things to know about new Eagles quarterback Marcus Mariota - BGN
Mariota clearly brings experience to the table. Including two playoff games, he’s logged 76 career starts. There’s reason to believe he won’t look totally lost should he have to play in relief of Hurts. Especially since the Eagles employ multiple familiar assistants who ostensibly understand how to utilize him best. Mariota is coming off his best season as a volume runner and his efficiency metrics were good as well. He ranked only behind Justin Fields, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen in yards after contact per attempt. Only four quarterbacks forced more missed tackles than Mariota did. The good news is the Eagles won’t have to scrap QB runs from their playbook now if Hurts isn’t available. The bad news is they likely will have to go away from their deep passing attack. Mariota had the second-worst passer rating (37.0) of any quarterback on throws of 20-plus yards last year.

2023 Eagles Mock – 2.0 - Iggles Blitz
The Eagles love versatile, athletic, skilled blockers. Peter Skoronski checks all those boxes. He is the best O-lineman in the draft. He lacks ideal size at 6-4 and with only 32 1/4 inch arms, but he can be a good starting OT in the NFL. I think Skoronski could play all five positions. Skoronski would add depth at OT and OG as a rookie. He could take over at RG in 2024 (assuming Cam Jurgens moves to C). Skoronski could then take over for Lane Johnson at RT after that. There is great value in taking an OL early. Very few teams have enough good O-linemen. And if you have injuries hit up front, it can ruin a season. The Rams had OL issues last year and went from Super Bowl champs to 5-12. They were dead last in offensive yards. When you have a chance to get someone who can be a plus starter at OT or OG, do it.

Eagles mailbag: What if Jalen Carter falls into Eagles’ range? - NBCSP
arter is arguably the best overall player in this draft. While the Eagles owe it to themselves to really check into his character and maturity, I’m not overly worried about the pro day. Because the tape is certainly there. When the Eagles drafted Jordan Davis last year, the first guy to pop on that tape was Carter, who wasn’t even in last year’s draft. He’s a tremendous player at a position the Eagles value as much as any. If the Eagles are willing to draft him based on their evaluation of his character, then he’d be worth the No. 10 pick and more. He’s the type of player who would be worth a trade-up like the Eagles made to land Davis last year or to land DeVonta Smith the year before. If Carter starts slipping into the 7-8 range, the Eagles should try to trade up and take him. Adding Carter to an interior defensive line that already includes Fletcher Cox, Davis and Milton Williams would be great in 2023. But it would also give the Eagles an impressive group of Davis, Williams and Carter looking into the future.

How will Howie Roseman maximize the Eagles’ assets? - PE.com
2. Is the offensive line complete and ready to dominate again? Retaining Jason Kelce was huge, and the All-Pro center is back to play at an extremely high level again. Lane Johnson is happy and healthy after playing through that adductor injury in the postseason. The question is at right guard, where Isaac Seumalo departed in free agency to sign with Pittsburgh. There are players the Eagles know can play at multiple places along the line of scrimmage – veteran Jack Driscoll has experience at right guard, as does Sua Opeta. Second-year man Cam Jurgens started in the preseason last summer at center and then cross-trained at guard during the season, so he will try to earn some playing time as well.

Revisiting the 2013 NFL Draft - Over The Cap
The Eagles and Packers are still in a race for top draft with the Eagles ranking being powered by Lane Johnson and the Packers by David Bakhtiari. The Eagles were the only team with two top 10 players as tight end Zach Ertz also made the top 10 in career earnings outside of his rookie contract. The other teams that had a solid draft were the Ravens, Lions, Saints, and Texans.

Inside Shane Steichen’s Plans to Build a Winning Culture With the Colts - SI
Two years ago, people on the outside poked fun at the Eagles’ playing rock-paper-scissors with draft prospects, while Sirianni was actually doing that sort of thing at every level of his organization. He staged a game called Who Am I? with players in the spring. He set up an MTV Cribs–themed competition as part of his first offseason program in Philly. It’s fair to say, now at least, that it worked. It’s also fair to say you may see similar ideas from Steichen, ones designed to build a rapport between the coaches and players in Indianapolis. “The connection part of it is going to be huge,” he says. “I think when you’re connected to someone, you’re committed to the process. And not only that, you’re probably going to go a little harder for that person when you know them a little better. That’s just human nature to me. If you don’t know someone, you’re probably not going to go as hard as you would for your brother or your sister or your best friend. So you have the intention of creating those relationships, however we do it, connecting outside of the building, inside the building, competing in everything we do

NFL mock draft 2023: Updated first round projection after free agency frenzy - SB Nation
10. Philadelphia Eagles: Nolan Smith, EDGE, Georgia. The rise of both Tyree Wilson and Lukas van Ness, among other EDGE prospects, seemed to push Nolan Smith down draft boards during the fall and into the winter. But since his performance at the Combine in Indianapolis, Smith seems to be gaining some momentum as we approach the draft. To the point that he is not only taking Top-30 visits with teams, but teams well inside the first round such as the New England Patriots. And the Philadelphia Eagles. Smith might be a bit of a tweener, but one of the comparisons you see for him is Haason Reddick. It might make sense for Howie Roseman to have two such players on the edge next season.

3 draft options the Cowboys might want to avoid with the 26th overall pick - Blogging The Boys
RB Bijan Robinson, TEXAS. This one is weird because Robinson is one of the top talents in this draft class. The chances of him even making it to 26 seems rather slim, so it’s odd to get upset about a player who’s probably too good to still be available when the Cowboys are on the clock. And if he’s there, it would seem like an obvious choice, especially when the team just released Ezekiel Elliott and only has Tony Pollard for one more season as he’s playing under the franchise tag. The argument against Robinson isn’t so much due to the player himself as it is the idea that the team could find quality running backs later in the draft without having to use their top draft resource on one. We all want the team to get the most they can out of a draft, and that concept seems to dissipate if the Cowboys kicked things off with a running back at 26.

Making the case: Is there value for the Giants at center in Round 1? - Big Blue View
My takeaway from all of this is that in the right circumstance the Giants could take a center. That would certainly be understandable. If they do that, however, it feels like a ‘need’ pick and not a ‘value’ one. In all honestly, I think the preference would be for best value in Round 1 and not simply biggest perceived need. Could the best play for the offensive line be to draft a guard like O’Cyrus Torrence and allow Ben Bredeson to play center? Or, someone like Avila or Cody Mauch in Round 2 — again allowing Bredeson to slide to the center spot? Picking a center in Round 1 — whoever their favorite might be — could work out just fine. With the exception of Price, all of the centers listed above have played well for the teams that drafted them. It just feels like the best value play, especially considering the lack of consensus that any of these players is actually a Round 1 talent, might be to find a center on Day 2 or early on Day 3.

BackCAST 2023: Is Zach Charbonnet Overrated? - Football Outsiders
BackCAST and conventional wisdom agree: Bijan Robinson is the best running back prospect in this draft class. Bijan Robinson ran a 4.46s 40-yard dash at 215 pounds. That is a very good size-speed combination—much, much better than the average prospect. Robinson also had an increasingly heavy workload, handling 23%, 43%, and 60% of the Longhorns’ rushing attempts in his three-year college career. Robinson averaged 6.33 yards per carry, which is again very good. Accordingly, Robinson has a well-rounded and solid projection. However, he is not a Saquon Barkley- or Jonathan Taylor-level prospect. As a pure runner, Robinson’s numbers are solid, but he does not excel in any particular metric. His size-speed ratio is good, but not quite as good as the top running back prospects in the last few drafts. His workload was good, but again, not particularly notable in the context of past top prospects. His yards per carry average is also good, but it is not even the highest in this class. The numbers do suggest that Robinson could excel as a receiver. Robinson finished his three-year college career with 60 catches for 805 yards and eight touchdowns. Accordingly, he could be particularly attractive for a pass-happy team looking for a three-down back. As the value of running backs has dropped in recent years, there is a real question about how much draft capital a player like Robinson is worth. A pick in the top 10 might be too rich for a player like Robinson, but if a team could somehow grab him near the end of the first round, it might end up very happy.

Monday Football Monday #132: Winners/Losers of Odell Beckham Jr. joining Baltimore Ravens - The SB Nation NFL Show
RJ Ochoa and Jeremy Reisman share their initial thoughts on Odell Beckham Jr. joining the Baltimore Ravens and run through winners and losers.

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