January 29, 2017
Last offseason, the consensus option was that defensive tackle was the strongest position in the 2016 NFL Draft, in terms of quality depth.
At the time, with starters Fletcher Cox and Bennie Logan already in place, the Eagles didn't have much of an immediate need for a defensive tackle, but if one that they liked fell farther than expected due to that position's impressive depth, they might have taken one.
The draft didn't unfold that way. Defensive tackles went off the board fast and furiously, as a whopping 19 of them were drafted in the first four rounds. By comparison, in the previous 15 drafts, an average of 11.3 defensive tackles were taken in the first four rounds.
"Last year we sat there and we said, 'Defensive tackles in this draft are unreal,'" said Roseman at the Senior Bowl last Wednesday. "You can get an opportunity where you'll be there in the fourth or fifth round and there's going to be a second or third round guy. And what happened is they all went.
"We had looked at it before, and in years where there's positions of strength where you think you can get guys later, what typically happens is there's a run on those guys, and (teams) want to get their own guy, so you just have to be careful that you're not sitting there and going, 'Hey this is great draft at position x, and we'll be sitting there in the sixth round and we'll get a great guy.' I think that's why just sticking to your board and not getting too cute and making sure you get the right players for the Philadelphia Eagles is so important."
In the 2017 NFL Draft, "position x" is cornerback, as it is considered to be extremely deep and talented. Unlike last year with defensive tackle, cornerback most definitely IS a significant need area for the Eagles.
If the Eagles are on the clock at pick number 14/15, and the best player on their board happens to be a corner, they should just take him, rather than hoping that one with comparable skill will still be there in round 2 or 3.
And if a player with comparable skill is still sitting there in the second round after taking one in first round, maybe you just take another one.
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