Eagles would be wise to avoid corner in first round
The Philadelphia Eagles need to add a corner, but shouldn’t try to fill that hole in early in the NFL Draft.
If you were to spend any amount of time reading about the Philadelphia Eagles’ biggest draft needs, you’d come away knowing one thing above all else: This team needs cornerbacks.
And it’s true. Leodis McKelvin and Nolan Carroll started 12 and 16 games for the birds respectively last season. Neither were particularly good. And now they’re both gone. What’s left? A 2016 seventh-rounder, Jalen Mills, who showed some promise last year. A free agent, Patrick Robinson, who started six games for the Colts last year and 49 total in a seven-year career. Behind them? Let’s say it doesn’t get better.
This draft has a historically deep cornerbackl class and the Eagles are a team desperately in need of a corner. It should be a no-brainer, then, right? Eagles take a corner with the 14th pick.
No. And here’s why.
The class is deep, but lacking in standout talent. Ohio State’s Marshon Lattimore is the one corner in the class worth anything close to a top-10 pick. And if he’s on the board at 14 you should all disregard this article and sit back to watch the Eagles pick him. But if he’s gone (as will most certainly be the case) they should wait.
After Lattimore comes a long list of corners wildly different in measurables and scheme-fits but widely considered to be similar in quality. Depending on your needs and wants as an organization you might have the following players rated in a different order, but the list looks something like this:
Marlon Humphrey, TreDavious White, Gareon Conley, Kevin King, Chidobe Awuzie, Adoree’ Jackson, Cordea Tankersley, Jalen Myrick, Quincy Wilson, Ahekello Witherspoon, Jourdan Lewis, and Fabian Moreau (despite a pectoral injury suffered during is UCLA Pro Day).
A dozen corners. A dozen corners that various experts believe could come off the board in the top 100 picks of the Draft. The fact that the Eagles, who also pick 43rd and 99th, would likely be able to nab two from this group make reaching for one with the 14th pick a low-value proposition.
As badly as Philly needs a corner, it’s far from the only position group that needs improvement. An edge rusher like Tennessee’s Derek Barnett, if he makes it to the 14th pick, would represent huge value compared to the guys who’ll be left on the board at that position in the second and third rounds. NJ.com’s Matt Lombardo recently mocked Barnett to the Eagles.
And what about Carson Wentz? The kid still needs help. And providing it should be the Eagles chief concern. In a draft with three wide receivers who stand out from the rest of the pack… that position, despite the free agency additions of Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, represent great value in the first round. John Ross, Corey Davis, and Mike Williams will be long gone before the Eagles pick again at 43. As will any other receiver with their physical talent/NFL potential.
After corner, the Eagles most glaring need is probably in the backfield with Wentz. With Ryan Mathews likely gone and with Darren Sproles nearly 34… the running back position needs help. Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook, and Christian McCaffrey are all worthy first round picks at a position where first round picks don’t come along often of late. Running back differs from wide receiver and edge rusher in the 2017 draft, however, in that the position is deep and the team could find value in mid-late rounds.
Needs are an important factor in the NFL Draft. But smart teams don’t reach to fill them. It comes down to value.
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The Eagles need to weigh the value of grabbing a top-tier talent at pick 14 and still walking away with a couple of quality corner prospects against the value of reaching for their favorite among a group of similarly talented corners while missing out on a player that could radically improve their team.
I think if Joe Douglas and Howie Roseman weigh the options… the choice is clear. Draft talent in the first round. Draft corners, often, after that.