How’re you feeling about this picks?
There are 73 days until the 2019 NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 25. We’re going to kill some time until then with our weekly Mock Draft Monday series. You can also check out BGN’s latest mock draft roundup.
For the fourth week in a row, SB Nation’s Dan Kadar has the Eagles taking an offensive tackle in the first round.
25. Philadelphia Eagles: Greg Little, OT, Ole Miss — I nearly made a trade for the Eagles to go up a few picks to draft Dillard. It would be an easy move for Philadelphia since the team has two second-round picks. Instead, I kept the Eagles at No. 25 to take Little. He’s a little raw still, but his athleticism and size make him a natural at left tackle.
It’s worth noting that options such as Christian Wilkins, Jeffery Simmons, Montez Sweat, Jachai Polite, and Josh Jacobs were off the board at No. 25. Kadar did (correctly) have the Eagles passing over Dexter Lawrence.
I wrote my take on taking an offensive tackle back when Kadar mocked Little to the Eagles last month:
In general, I’m all for the Eagles investing in the trenches on either side of the ball. We all know it’s those units that have largely contributed to Philly’s success over the past two seasons.
It’ll be pretty interesting to see what the Eagles do at left tackle. There’s thought that Peters might retire but I’m not so sure he will. And I just can’t believe the Eagles will merely cut a guy who once said he is “best friends” with team owner Jeffrey Lurie.
Peters is set to be the 17th highest paid offensive tackle in 2019. That’s not crazily out of whack relative to his performance. Peters ranked 35th out of 85 offensive tackles graded by Pro Football Focus in 2018. He’s clearly not the player he once was but he’s still much better than the alternative, which involves starting Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who ranked 78th.
Perhaps the Eagles feel differently, but the feeling here is that Vaitai isn’t as much of a “left tackle of the future” as he is an ideal swing tackle behind the two starters. Vaitai has obviously proven to be serviceable at times while filling in for Peters but I’m not crazy about the idea of settling at the spot that’ll be protecting Carson Wentz’s blindside.
As for Jordan Mailata, I don’t think the Eagles should really count on him as a sure thing. We’d all love for Mailata to turn into a stud left tackle, and maybe he can, but banking on that to happen seems misguided. The Eagles should prepare for the possibility that the Australian sensation doesn’t work out. He’s a total wild card.
And so I don’t think it’d be the worst idea for the Eagles to draft a potential long-term replacement for Peters in the first round. Standing at 6-5, 325 pounds, Little is certainly no small man for Jeff Stoutland to develop.
The thing about the Little pick is that I’m not so sure it’s the best value. The Draft Network has Little ranked from as high as the fifth best offensive tackle prospect to as low as the tenth best offensive tackle prospect.
What do you think of this week’s mock?
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