Eagles At No. 8 — A New Set Of Options

The Eagles-Dolphins trade is back on, and that’s big news for Philly — especially as it applies to this April’s draft.

Signs point to the two teams swapping first round picks — moving the Eagles from 13 to No. 8. That kind of jump is a big deal when talking about the top half of the first round. A whole new world of possibilities are in play.

What type of names are we talking about? Let’s take a look.

For starters, here are the top 12 ranked players in the draft according to Scouts, Inc.

1.Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State
2.Laremy Tunsil, OT, Mississippi
3.DeForest Buckner, DE, Oregon
4.Jalen Ramsey, CB, Florida State
5.Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State
6.Ronnie Stanley, OT, Notre Dame
7.Vernon Hargreaves, CB Florida
8.Myles Jack, OLB, UCLA
9.Carson Wentz, QB, North Dakota State
10.Jared Goff, QB Cal
11.A’Shawn Robinson, DT, Alabama
12.Jack Conklin, OT, Michigan St.

You’ll notice that Jack — an elite, versatile prospect who missed much of 2015 with a torn meniscus — is in that No. 8 slot. Here’s NFL.com’s draft profile on the 6-1, 245-pound UCLA product:

SOURCES TELL US

“I wouldn’t get cute with him. I would stick him at WILL and just let him be a free running chaser. He has the speed to get to everything and his cover talent will set him apart.” — NFC executive

NFL COMPARISON

NaVorro Bowman

BOTTOM LINE

Upper echelon explosiveness with the desire, speed and aggression to find his way into play after play. While UCLA asked Jack to do a little bit of everything, an NFL team is more likely to simplify his tasks and set him into attack mode to maximize his outstanding physical traits. If he bounces back from the knee injury, Jack could become a high-­end talent early on in his career.

And his spider chart, courtesy of MockDraftable:

In his latest mock draft, Mel Kiper has Jack going to the Dolphins at 8. Same with Todd McShay. Others see him getting snatched up earlier. Chris Burke of SI.com has the Cowboys grabbing Jack at 4 and puts cornerback Vernon Hargreaves (5-11, 198) in the No. 8 slot.

Hargreaves went to Florida (which can’t hurt his standing with Howie Roseman), where he earned All-SEC honors in each of his three seasons with the Gators. The degree to which corner is a pressing need depends in part on how free agency plays out, but having a high-end cornerback prospect in the pipeline certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing. Charles Davis and Lance Zierlein of NFL.com see Hargreaves going No. 8 (though this is all when Miami occupied the spot, it should be noted) while colleagues Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks go with Kevin Dodd (DE, Clemson) and Eli Apple (CB, Ohio State), respectively.

Walter Football projects Ohio State running back standout Ezekiel Elliot to go eighth.

The Eagles have more of a need at running back after dealing DeMarco Murray to the Titans, though drafting a back that high is a bit of a bold move in the modern-day NFL.

Then there’s the quarterback position. At 13, it appeared the Eagles were out of range for the consensus top-2 QBs in this draft — Carson Wentz and Jared Goff — and would probably be looking at the likes of Paxton Lynch if they wanted a signal-caller in the first round. The dynamic has since shifted.

A common thought is that Wentz will end up getting picked second by Hue Jackson and the Browns. Certainly, it would be no surprise if one of the QBs went quickly. Opinions differ on where that second quarterback might go — some say to the Cowboys at No. 4, others to San Francisco at 7, etc.. That’s all to be determined. What we can say is this: the Eagles are now within striking distance should quarterback be the target.

The deal that will send Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso to the Dolphins and bring the No. 8 pick to Philly should be official shortly after 4 p.m. By pulling off one hard-to-believe trade, Roseman has made the next couple months a heck of a lot more interesting.