3 bold NFL Draft predictions for the Eagles

Before we get to the Bold portion of this post, let’s all get on the same page with some of the basics of the NFL Draft this weekend. The Eagles currently have six selections, including two in the first round on Thursday night. Here they are for your reference:

1st round, No. 10 overall – From the New Orleans Saints in a 2022 offseason trade
1st round, No. 30 – Own Pick
2nd round, No. 62 overall – Own Pick
3rd round, No. 94 overall – Own Pick
7th round, No. 219 overall – From the Minnesota Vikings through the Houston Texans in the Jalen Reagor trade
7th round, No. 248 overall – Own Pick

There is a large portion of the draft where the Eagles have zero picks, with most of Day 3 consisting of Philly sitting around waiting for the seventh round. With that being said...

BOLD PREDICTION NO. 1

Howie Roseman will make a minimum of three trades during the draft. The Birds are projected to have as many as 12 (!!!) picks in next year’s draft, after all of the compensatory picks are sorted out, so that gives Roseman some ammo for moves this year.

The “bonus” picks that could be attractive to trade partners are the Saints’ second round pick, a compensatory third rounder for losing Javon Hargrave, and the Vikings’ fifth rounder (that can become a fourth rounder if Jalen Reagor meets certain statistical thresho hahahahahaha, that’ll never happen, it’ll be a fifth rounder).

There are a number of talented players I’d love the Eagles to target in the fourth and fifth rounds of this year’s draft and if a player that Roseman likes starts to fall there is zero doubt in my mind he’ll be aggressive in moving back into the draft to get him. On the other side of the coin, I could also see Roseman trading down from the tenth pick and picking up another second rounder, a fourth rounder, and a pick next year (or whatever).

BOLD PREDICTION NO. 2

In three of the last six drafts, and the last two in a row, the Eagles have selected a player from the SEC with their first pick. They’ve picked seven SEC players over the last three drafts, the most out of any conference in the country. This year? I don’t think they’ll take a single player from the SEC.

The top of many draft boards includes a number of players from Alabama and Georgia, but I think by the time the Birds pick at No. 10 they’ll be eyeing a player from the Big Ten. Northwestern OL Peter Skoronski, Iowa EDGE Lukas Van Ness, Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr., and Ohio State OT Paris Johnson Jr. should all be there and I like those four players a lot. When you consider that they could use a little refresh in the trenches, the Eagles taking one of those dudes makes a lot of sense.

BOLD PREDICTION NO. 3

The Eagles will draft South Dakota State TE Tucker Kraft in the second round. They just are, ok?

BONUS BOLD PREDICTION NO. 4

You will all be sick of hearing about the Aaron Rodgers trade within the first 30 minutes of ESPN’s coverage even though the Jets and Packers don’t pick until the middle of the first round.