3 mistakes Eagles made in NFL Draft this year

2. Waiting to address the defense

Arguably the most frustrating part of taking Landon Dickerson in the second round is knowing the Eagles addressed the interior offensive line before a much more clear need like cornerback or linebacker.

Perhaps things might have turned out differently at linebacker if Jeremiah Owuzu-Koramoah, Nick Bolton and Pete Werner hadn’t just been picked up ahead of the Eagles’ pick in the second round. However, there were still solid linebackers like Baron Browning, Jabril Cox and Chazz Surratt available.

At cornerback, the really elite options had gone, but Ifeatu Meifornwu from Syracuse, Aaron Robinson from UCF, Benjamin St-Juste from Minnesota and Paulson Adebo from Stanford were hanging around.

Philadelphia might have felt like they were reaching on some of those guys. Trading back, in that case, would have made a ton of sense in that case.

The Eagles also declined to use their third-round pick to pick up a linebacker or cornerback. Instead, they went defensive line with Milton Williams, who may have been underrated, but won’t fix any of the major problems on the defense at this stage.

Things may ultimately work out for the best with Dickerson and Wilson in the fold. However, immediate help on defense could have made a huge difference to the team in 2021. Each of the linebackers and cornerbacks the Eagles passed on could be looked at with huge regret if they go on to stellar NFL careers.