Philadelphia Eagles: 4 Prospects to Target with the 15th Overall Pick

Looking ahead to the NFL draft this early in January is an uncomfortable position for Philadelphia Eagles fans.

Prior to this season, the Eagles had made the playoffs in nine of the last 11 seasons, including every year since 2007. This phenomenon has admittedly made the fans a little spoiled by success, but the 2011 season was an exercise in humility.

After watching this team flail to a 4-8 start, success will never again be taken for granted.

If the team plays the way it did over the last four weeks of the season, it could probably make the playoffs without adding a single new player in the draft. That's how much talent is on the roster.

But, with a rare Top 15 first-round selection, and a plethora of picks in the top three rounds, the Eagles have a chance to fill some glaring holes in their roster.

Let's take a look at a few prospects that they should be targeting in the first round.

ILB Luke Kuechly, Boston College

Although the "hot prospect" list is fickle, Luke Kuechly has been the pioneer name making the rounds in Eagles circles since the playoffs became an impossibility.

Andy Reid and Co. have long been reluctant to address the linebacking core with a top draft pick. Although it would seemingly break their draft rules, Kuechly is a rare linebacking prospect, whose record-breaking college production cannot be ignored.

He finished an All-American 2011 campaign with 191 tackles and 3 interceptions, while acting as the unquestioned leader of Boston College's defense.

Casey Matthews—as predicted—looked lost in his rookie season, and he looks like he might not be more than a "package linebacker" down the road. Jamar Chaney is serviceable in the middle, but he has the potential to be a superstar on the outside.

Throw in the breakout rookie campaign of the undersized Brian Rolle, and we appear to be one inside linebacker away from fielding a unit that we can build around.

Adding a big, talented, character guy like Kuechly might be too alluring for Andy Reid to pass up.

OG David DeCastro, Stanford

David DeCastro had the honor of working with projected top pick Andrew Luck, and projected top-10 pick Jonathan Martin at Stanford for the past three years, forming one of college's most impressive pro-style offenses.

A three-year starter on Stanford's offensive line, DeCastro possesses the ideal size-strength-intangible combination to be a rock on somebody's offensive line. He plays with a blue-collared edge that Andy Reid is sure to fall in love with on tape.

Despite weighing in at 313 pounds, he's also shown the agility and speed necessary for playing n Howard Mudd's blocking scheme.

What this pick really comes down to, however, is what the team plans on doing with Todd Herremans. The veteran guard was blindsided with a move to Michael Vick's....well, blind side, at the end of the preseason, and he turned in an impressive season at right tackle.

With the improvement of Danny Watkins, and the consistency of Center Jason Kelce, it appears that Evan Mathis is the only player on this offensive line who isn't a part of the team's long-term plans.

Plugging DeCastro in at LG would allow Herremans to stay on Michael Vick's blind side, and it would give the Eagles a very talented, young interior of the offensive line.

ILB Vontaze Burfict, Arizona State

I dare say that this might be a BURFICT fit in the Eagles' defense.

Burfict is infamous in college football circles, and it has to do with more than just providing college football with the best picture of the year.

A rare combination of size, speed, athleticism, production and intensity, Burfict is 2012's winner of the "Dez Bryant Award": Uber-talented physical specimen, who may drop due to character concerns.

Burfict has a well-deserved reputation as a loose cannon, and he has had to be disciplined for multiple on-field shenanigans throughout his rocky tenure at Arizona State. Most notable was his late head butt of Oregon State's David Katz in 2010.

Burfict is needed in the middle of the Eagles' defense for all the same reasons described for Luke Kuechly. That being said, Burfict is one of those hit-or-miss prospects, who seems just as likely to be an All-Pro in three years as he does to be out of the league.

The Eagles need a defensive spark, and this might be just the right time for the team to roll the dice on a huge upside guy like Vontaze.

WR Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina

Look no further than Julio Jones and A.J. Green for proof that wide receivers who can dominate in the SEC can also dominate in the NFL.

A lot of this pick hinges on what the Eagles plan on doing with DeSean Jackson, but let's assume, just for a second, that they decide to let him walk. I've long subscribed to Michael Lombardi's theory that wide receivers are like a basketball team. That is, you can't just have five of the same player; you need different types of receivers to fill the different roles.

Alshon Jeffery is the type of receiver that the Eagles have never had in the Andy Reid era. I hate to emulate the New York Giants, but as it stands today, they might have the most dangerous receiving corps in the league.

With this pick, the Eagles could line up Maclin as their version of Victor Cruz (he's ready to be a No. 1 receiver), Alshon Jeffery as Hakeem Nicks and Jason Avant as Mario Manningham. Throw in the superiority of Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy over Eli Manning and Ahmad Bradshaw, and the Eagles would still have the undisputed top offense in the division.

Jeffery might be the Eagles' long awaited solution to their red-zone problems, and thus, deserves consideration with the 15th pick.