April 01, 2020
The Philadelphia Eagles, as you all saw, did not add to their wide receiving corps during free agency, and barring a trade for a veteran receiver, will have to rely solely on the 2020 NFL Draft to address their most glaring offseason need.
And so, with the Birds potentially painting themselves into a corner, it's perhaps worth taking a look at the 20 draft slots before the Eagles' pick at No. 21 overall, and determining which teams could deplete the pool of receivers. Let's go chart form (depth charts via Ourlads.com):
Pick | Team | WR1 | WR2 | WR3 | Likelihood? |
1 | Bengals | A.J. Green | John Ross | Tyler Boyd | Low |
2 | Washington | Terry McLaurin | Kelvin Harmon | Trey Quinn | Low (They need WRs, but won't take one at No. 2 overall.) |
3 | Lions | Kenny Golloday | Marvin Jones | Danny Amendola | Low |
4 | Giants | Darius Slayton | Sterling Shepard | Golden Tate | Low |
5 | Dolphins | DeVante Parker | Allen Hurns | Albert Wilson | Low (They need WRs, but won't take one at No. 5 overall.) |
6 | Chargers | Keenan Allen | Mike WIlliams | Andre Patton | Low (They need a third receiver, but No. 6 overall is too high for that.) |
7 | Panthers | D.J. Moore | Robby Anderson | Curtis Samuel | Low |
8 | Cardinals | DeAndre Hopkins | Larry Fitzgerald | Christian Kirk | Low |
9 | Jaguars | D.J. Chark | Marqise Lee | Dede Westbrook | Low-to-moderate (They have way bigger needs, but who knows with this weird team.) |
10 | Browns | Odell Beckham | Jarvis Landry | Taywan Taylor | Low |
11 | Jets | Jamison Crowder | Breshad Perriman | Quincy Enunwa | Low (They need receivers, but they need OL help way more, and it's a good OL draft.) |
12 | Raiders | Tyrell Williams | Nelson Agholor | Hunter Renfrow | High (Hey look, there's a team with worse receivers than the Eagles'.) |
13 | 49ers | Deebo Samuel | Marquise Goodwin | Kendrick Bourne | Moderate-to-high (They've drafted 5 WRs in the last 3 years, so it's possible they count on someone other than Samuel to emerge, but there remains a big need here.) |
14 | Buccaneers | Mike Evans | Chris Godwin | Justin Watson | Moderate (They could use a third receiver, but OL is a bigger need.) |
15 | Broncos | Courtland Sutton | Tim Patrick | DaeSean Hamilton | High (They have a good young WR in Courtland Sutton, and then nothing.) |
16 | Falcons | Julio Jones | Calvin Ridley | LaQuon Treadwell | Low-to-moderate (Jones and Ridley are a great one-two punch, but I wouldn't sleep on Atlanta if they think the value is there.) |
17 | Cowboys | Amari Cooper | Michael Gallup | Devin Smith(?) | Moderate (Cooper and Gallup are a good one-two combo, but they don't have a No. 3, at all. If one of the "Big 3" receivers falls, can they pass them up? |
18 | Dolphins | DeVante Parker | Allen Hurns | Albert Wilson | Moderate (They won't take one at No. 5 overall, but they're reasonable candidates to take one at 18.) |
19 | Raiders | Tyrell Williams | Nelson Agholor | Hunter Renfrow | High (If the Raiders just make both of their picks at No. 12 and No. 19 overall, it would be shocking if they didn't take at least one WR. I wouldn't rule out a double-dip.) |
20 | Jaguars | D.J. Chark | Marqise Lee | Dede Westbrook | Moderate (As noted above, they have a need at WR, but there are so many other glaring needs up and down their roster as well. They're more like to take one at No. 20 overall than at No. 9 overall.) |
And then the Eagles have to also worry about teams behind them trading up ahead of them. Let's just finish out the first round:
Pick | Team | WR1 | WR2 | WR3 | Trade up concern? |
22 | Vikings | Adam Thielen | Olabisi Johnson | Tajee Sharpe | High (After trading Stefon Diggs, the Vikings have a clear need at WR.) |
23 | Patri*ts | Julian Edelman | N'Keal Harry | Mohamed Sanu | Low (If they traded up, I imagine it would be for a QB. |
24 | Saints | Michael Thomas | Emmanuel Sanders | Tre'Quan Smith | Low (They only have 5 picks.) |
25 | Vikings | Adam Thielen | Olabisi Johnson | Tajee Sharpe | Low (If they trade up, it'll be more likely be from their 22nd overall pick, obviously.) |
26 | Dolphins | DeVante Parker | Allen Hurns | Albert Wilson | Low (They already have two picks in the top 20.) |
27 | Seahawks | Tyler Lockett | DK Metcalf | David Moore | Low |
28 | Ravens | Marquise Brown | Miles Boykin | Willie Snead | Moderate (They need WR help, and they have two 2's, two 3's, and two 4's.) |
29 | Titans | A.J. Brown | Corey Davis | Adam Humphries | Low |
30 | Packers | Davante Adams | Marquez Valdes-Scantling | Jake Kumerow | Low-to-moderate (WR needs, but no extra ammo to move up.) |
31 | 49ers | Deebo Samuel | Marquise Goodwin | Kendrick Bourne | Low (More likely to just take one at No. 13 overall.) |
32 | Chiefs | Tyreek Hill | Sammy Watkins | Mecole Hardman | Low |
Analysis: In our view, there's little hope for one of the top three receivers – Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs, as well as Oklahoma's CeeDee Lamb – falling all the way to pick No. 21. If the Eagles want to make a move for one of those guys, it will probably require too far a leap, and as a result will be too cost-prohibitive, especially with the Eagles already trading away their higher third-round pick for Darius Slay.
The Raiders are the Eagles' worst enemy in this draft, while the 49ers and Broncos have glaring wide receiver needs as well. All three of those teams have draft positioning that lines up with where the best receivers should be expected to go off the board.
Beyond the Raiders, 49ers, and Broncos, there are plenty of other teams who could also opt to go wide receiver early, so it's not as if a guy, like, saaayyy, Justin Jefferson is a sure bet to be available at pick No. 21 either. As such, it is all the more risky for the Eagles to solely rely on the draft to solve their inarguable issues at wide receiver.
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