Best Draft-Day Contingency Plans for Philadelphia Eagles
Chip Kelly's first season with the Philadelphia Eagles really couldn't have gone any smoother, as the first-year head coach won 10 games and led the Eagles to a surprising NFC East division title. He also turned Nick Foles into the one of the most efficient passers in the National Football League.
But Kelly's 2014 season was a colossal disappointment. Although the Eagles still won 10 games, they collapsed in December, losing three straight games after a 9-3 start. They were eliminated from the postseason before Week 17, something no other 9-3 team has had happen before.
With free agency about to start and the NFL draft less than two months away, the Eagles clearly need an upgrade at two, maybe three positions in the secondary. They could also use an upgrade at both inside and outside linebacker. On the offensive side of the ball, the Eagles need another running back if LeSean McCoy is not brought back, and another wide receiver if Jeremy Maclin is not re-signed. Oh, and an upgrade at quarterback would be nice too.
The following five slides will highlight five different players the Eagles will likely pursue on draft day, as well as their contingency plans if they cannot obtain their top pick. Let's hope these contingency plans work out better than what happened to the Eagles in the first round in 2014, when the Eagles missed out on their six targeted players and reached for pass-rusher Marcus Smith.
Brett Hundley Instead of Marcus Mariota
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The NFL draft is less than two months away but all anybody can talk about is the prospect of Chip Kelly landing his former college quarterback Marcus Mariota in a blockbuster deal. That's because Foles' 2014 season, in which he threw for just 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, carries as much, if not more, weight than his miraculous 27-to-2 season in 2013.
Add in Foles' obvious regression in mechanics and inability to stay healthy and it's clear why Kelly feels the Eagles need an upgrade at quarterback.
He wants Marcus Mariota, per NFL.com. There's no doubt in my mind. His former college quarterback won the Heisman Trophy in 2014 and is the consensus second-best quarterback prospect in this year's draft. He's an obvious first-round pick, likely to be off the board between picks two to six.
If the Eagles want to move up for Mariota, they're going to need to give up a boatload of picks, likely similar to what the Washington Redskins gave up to move up for Robert Griffin III three seasons ago. Here's my projection for what the Eagles would need to surrender.
But if they can't or won't move up to acquire Mariota, they still should draft a quarterback. Foles is a free agent after the 2015 season, 2014 backup Mark Sanchez is currently a free agent and 2013 fourth-rounder Matt Barkley has been extremely ineffective in limited playing time.
UCLA's Brett Hundley fits the mold of a Kelly-type quarterback. A borderline first-round talent, the Eagles could sit Hundley on the bench for a year while giving Foles one more chance to prove whether he's the long-term answer at the game's most important position.
Hundley has good size and great speed. He's familiar with playing in an all-shotgun offense. CBSSports compares him to Randall Cunningham, arguably one of the best combinations of passing and running the game has ever seen. However, for Hundley to develop into as much of a weapon as Cunningham, he needs to greatly improve his ability to read defenses.
That's why he's a first or second-round talent instead of a surefire top-ten pick like Mariota.
Sean Hickey over Jake Fisher
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With the release of right guard Todd Herremans, the Eagles showed that they're looking to get younger on their offensive line. Herremans, 32, suffered through the worst season of his career, also missing the final eight games of the year with a torn biceps.
I looked at Herremans' likely replacements in this piece. It could be a player already on the team like Allen Barbre, Matt Tobin or Andrew Gardner, or it could be a prized free agent like Mike Iupati or Orlando Franklin.
But if the Eagles look to improve through the draft, and they should, Oregon's Jake Fisher is a player who makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons.
Obviously, Kelly is extremely familiar with him, having coached him at Oregon. Fisher, a borderline first-round talent, can play either tackle or guard, like Herremans. He could start his career at right guard but he's a possible replacement for Lane Johnson at right tackle after Johnson moves to left tackle to replace Jason Peters.
But if the Eagles don't grab Fisher in the draft, they could look to a mid-round option to replace Herremans. After all, guard is the most replaceable position on the offensive line. The Eagles have four studs on their line, with Jason Peters, Evan Mathis, Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson.
An ideal rookie option is Sean Hickey, a likely fourth or fifth-round pick out of Syracuse. He's a versatile tackle/guard combo who could compete for a starting job at right guard during the 2015 preseason.
Stephone Anthony over Eric Kendricks
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The Eagles need to move on from veteran inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans. Forget about his ability as the quarterback of the defense and in the locker room. He's just not a great player anymore. He's a soon-to-be 31-year-old player with declining speed, a torn Achilles for the second time in the last five seasons and a high cap hit ($6.9 million, per Spotrac) in 2015. With virtually no penalty for the Eagles to release Ryans, there's just no point in keeping him for a fourth season in Philadelphia.
The Eagles have an opportunity to reunite the Kendricks brothers, as UCLA linebacker Eric is a potential first-round pick with a skill set similar to his brother Mychal. The possibility of uniting the Kendricks brothers has to be appealing and hopefully it'd work better than the Detmer or Andrews boys.
But if the Eagles are unable to draft Kendricks 2.0 in the draft, they could look to a poor man's version in Stephone Anthony. A potential third or fourth-round pick out of Clemson, Anthony has good size and can handle his own as both a run-stopper and in coverage. He's a tackling machine, like Ryans was during his prime, and if drafted, he'd easily be able to beat out a player like Najee Goode or potentially even newly-signed Brad Jones, who was confirmed as a signee on Monday by NFL.com, for a starting spot at inside linebacker.
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Eric Rowe over Trae Waynes
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The Eagles had perhaps the worst set of starting cornerbacks in the NFL during 2015, as Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher combined to allow more than 1,800 yards and 14 touchdown passes, per Pro Football Focus. Fletcher was the worst of the two and as a free agent, there's almost no chance he'll be brought back.
But Williams may end up finishing out his three-year deal, signed before the 2013 season, in Philly. He's scheduled to earn $8.16 million so it makes sense to ask the 30-year-old corner to restructure his deal. However, as much as Williams struggled, especially in the second half of the season, good cornerback play is hard to find and the Eagles might need to use Williams as their No. 2 corner.
Even if the Eagles do end up signing the top free-agent corner in Seattle's Byron Maxwell, it would be foolish to pass up an opportunity in the draft. Perhaps the top corner available is Michigan State's Trae Waynes, who ran a 4.32 in the 40-yard dash. Waynes will likely be drafted before the Eagles pick 20th so he's a player the team may need to trade up a few picks to acquire.
If the Eagles miss out on Waynes, they could look at Eric Rowe from Michigan. Rowe possesses the ability to play both corner and safety, similar to 2014 fourth-round pick Jaylen Watkins. With a coach who loves versatility, Rowe could end up seeing playing time as a rookie at either or both positions.
Durell Eskridge over Landon Collins
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In 2014, Malcolm Jenkins turned in the best season by an Eagles safety since Quintin Mikell in 2010. Signed instead of Jairus Byrd or T.J. Ward, Jenkins proved to be one of the steals of free agency.
But on the other side of the field, counterpart Nate Allen failed to impress despite playing under the same defensive coordinator for the second year in a row for the first time in his career. Although Allen managed to collect seven turnovers, the lasting memory of his 2014 season will be a blown coverage assignment against the Arizona Cardinals that resulted in a game-winning 75-yard touchdown reception by rookie John Brown.
With Allen a free agent, the Eagles need a replacement at safety. Alabama's Landon Collins is literally the only player worthy of a selection in the first two rounds of the draft, but if Collins is off the board or isn't the ideal pick for the Eagles at 20th overall, the Eagles can't ignore the position.
Syracuse's Durell Eskridge, a projected fourth-round pick by CBSSports, turned in a pretty impressive showing at the combine. He played through a fractured wrist and torn ligament in his finger during the 2013 season, and he has displayed impressive power as a tackler. He can also play either free or strong safety.
Eskridge would be yet another mid-round safety by the Eagles, and there have been far too many misses in recent years. But, like most years, safety is a major need for the Eagles. Perhaps Eskridge would have what it takes to give the Eagles at least an average talent next to Jenkins.
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