The 2021 NFL Draft is just a few short weeks away. From April 29-May 1, we will meet the new members of the Philadelphia Eagles. Every year for every franchise, the draft is super important. It truly is the start of the next season and it is also an opportunity to look to the future of your franchise. For the Eagles, this draft is more important than any other draft.
This draft will tell us if this rebuild will be a few seasons or if it will last into the next generation. This draft is deeper than any draft in recent memory. There are players who are projected on day 2 or 3 that easily can be starters week 1. The Eagles will be starting a lot of rookies week 1, and for this year they will be solid players. To make the situation better, all the areas the Eagles are truly weak at (CB, LB, WR), there are players who will go day 3 who will be better than day 1 players from previous years.
When a team starts a rebuild, they usually will need to get a small core of players to build around. The Eagles have a QB and RB to build the offense around. Jalen Hurts is a young QB with a lot of promise, while Miles Sanders is already one of the best RB's in the NFL. These are two players the Eagles can build around. On defense, Darius Slay is one of the best CB's in the NFL and Fletcher Cox is still one of the best DT's in the game. With 11 selections in this years draft, the Eagles have an excellent opportunity to build around Hurts/Sanders on offense and Slay/Cox on defense.
The other half of the Eagles are aging veterans that still have a little gas left in the tank. Jason Kelce will probably last one more year and then retire. Eagles should draft his replacement now, and have them learn under one of the best to ever play the center position. When these older players retire, we do not need to hope their replacements are available. We will already have a player ready to step in and play. Landon Dickerson from Alabama? His draft stock fell after he tore his ACL in the SEC Championship. He may sit for a year, but he can easily be the next great offensive lineman in Eagles history.
Howie Roseman has never drafted well since taking over for Chip Kelly. There is also no hiding that his time could be coming to an end soon if this rebuild takes longer than expected. One thing Howie has never had was draft capital and this year we have 11 selections. If he truly wants to make sure this rebuild is short, he will use the capital to get the players that will help this team. If there is a player they are really high on and he is falling, then Howie better be on the phone and using his capital to select them! He should not play the "well I hope he falls to us game."
I am super excited for this years draft. I feel whoever the Eagles draft in the first round will be an absolute stud who will step in week 1 and perform. I hope this rebuild is short. If Howie Roseman wants to keep his job, then he better hit a grand slam with this draft. For the sanity of Eagles fans everywhere, I hope Howie has a good draft simply for the idea that I am not sure if I can handle another bad draft!