A little less than a month ago, Peter King of Sports Illustrated spoke with "a few football people" at the owners' meetings who said that there were eight to ten really good prospects.
You want to pick in the top nine. Here’s what a few football people at the league meetings are thinking about the breakdown of this draft: Nine prime picks, then eight or 10 really good prospects, then maybe 30 or so of the same player. The top nine: quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, defensive tackle Leonard Williams, wideouts Kevin White and Amari Cooper, pass-rushers Dante Fowler and Vic Beasley, offensive tackle Brandon Scherff and cornerback Trae Waynes. After that, beauty starts to be in the eye of the beholder. I had one GM tell me: “The 17th pick on our board might be the 53rd pick on another team’s board—and that could be a team we really respect.”
- MORE ON THE EAGLES
- Marynowitz lays out the Eagles' three-part evaluation process for draft prospects
- The positions of strength in the 2015 NFL draft align with the Eagles' biggest needs
- Who is the greatest living Eagle?
I wonder if one of the "football people" King spoke with was Ed Marynowitz, who echoed that same sentiment to Eagles reporters this morning.
"There's really eight to ten players, I believe that are really true difference maker types," said Marynowitz.
"After that, I think that it just depends on your system and scheme, and what you're looking for."
Marynowitz's quotes sounds an awful lot like the sentiment expressed in King's article. Whether Marynowitz was someone who talked to King or not, he still has the same number of prospects that "football guys" noted were "good prospects" to King. We may know who's at the top of the Eagles' board.
Marynowitz was asked specifically if Marcus Mariota is one of his 8-10 difference makers. "Depending on who you ask, Marcus is a really good player. He's been a very productive college football player. We've done our evaluation work on him. Obviously I'm not going to get into the specifics of where we have him, or exactly what his strengths and weaknesses are, but he's a player we're aware of."
Breaking: The Eagles are aware Marcus Mariota is a living, breathing human being.
It's OK, Ed. We know where you guys have him rated.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski