Ah, The story of the two Jalen’s…Most fans are not thrilled with the Eagles first and second-round draft picks and while I believe that they made the right move in the first round I obviously understand the fan’s frustration with the Eagles pick at no. 53 overall. I am stating the obvious…It’s a head-scratcher and not even the young QB himself know what his role will be in year one with the Birds.
I think that Jalen Reagor was indeed the right pick in round one. Yes, Justin Jefferson was there but he remains me far too much of Jordan Matthews, and Raegor fills a much harder to find a need in elite speed, home run ability, and a complete route-running tree. His Pro Comps are Desean Jackson and Tyreek Hill. Many fans are starting to realize that slowly but surely. Will Jalen Hurts become Taysom Hill on steroids or hold a clipboard as a rookie?
It’s not entirely the pick that upsets many but the teams lack of commitment to his role as a rookie on a team that already has a young and elite starting franchise QB1 in Carson Wentz…Who just this past season put a team of practice squad players…most of whom won’t be back in midnight green the next time The Eagles take the field…on his back to win the NFC East and get into the NFL Playoffs for the third year in a row. Time will tell.
Then we get to day 2 of the draft with the majority of Eagles fans praying the team selects a LB and they do! Sadly it’s not the LB in Davion Taylor that everyone wanted. I’m very happy with the pick as I think he’ll be disruptive as a rookie, but some experts and fans think that he’ll take a year to start. I personally don’t. I looked at his tape and was amazed at his athleticism and speed. He ran a 4.39 40!!! That’s elite WR speed for a LB!! Even if Davion does have a little bit of a learning curve I think that Jim Swartz would be wise to get him on the field as often as humanly possible.
There’s one thing about this draft that us Eagles fans and writers came away very happy with and that is the teams day 3 picks and for very good reason. The term steal was used on over half the players the Eagles selected in rounds 4-7. Now Let’s get to why The Eagles had the best Day 3 of any team in the NFL in the 2020 NFL Draft. Yes better than that the hated Cows.
The Consensus Steals
WR Quez Watkins, OT Prince Tega Wanogho, FS/SS/CB/LB/Edge K’Von Wallace, and OT Jack Driscoll. I have said it before and I will say it again K’von Wallace who most projected as an early second pick and was in the NFL Drafts hype video is absolutely the biggest steal of the 2020 NFL Draft!! What was he doing there? There’s no reason he should have been available this late in the draft..not one reason at all! The Eagles lucked out big time here. He will put pressure on Jalen Mills, Avonte Maddox, and whoever the Eagles have as there third LB at the moment.
He will see the field a lot as a rookie and I will be shocked if he hasn’t beaten Mills at FS by at least the midpoint of the season as FS/SS as where he projects to start in his NFL career. That said he can play anywhere except at DT. People talk about how he’ll fill the void left by Malcolm Jenkins, but I think he’ll be better. I think he will develop into a Brian Dawkins type player
for the Eagles and sooner rather than later. If OT Prince Tega Wanogho can stay healthy he’s a day one talent that slid to round three and immediately becomes the team’s best option at backup OT or swing Tackle in certain packages and should start down the line.
OT Jack Driscoll could easily start in his second season with the team and will see the field as a rookie. WR Quez Watkins ran the second-fastest 40-yard dash of any WR at the NFL Combine yet somehow fell to round 6th of the draft. In most classes, he could have been a late second-round pick. He’s likely better than WR John Hightower who the team took in the 5th round as they both possess elite speed, however, Watkins has a more complete game.
He could easily see the field as a rookie and should develop into not only a starter but a star in the NFL by his second or third season with the team. In injuries hit the team as they have in the past two seasons perhaps my vision for Watkins’s career will take place during his rookie season.
The Potential Steals
WR John Hightower, DE Casey Toohill, and LB Shaun Bradley. I’m the highest on DE Casey Toohill who I think is going to surprise a lot of people and beat out the likes of DE Dashon Hall and Shareef Miller for a spot on the roster rather than the practice squad as a rookie. He’s a faster Chris Long who should have been
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drafted higher than at pick 233. He had 8 sacks his senior season in college, and after adding some weight should be an even better pro than he was a college player.
I think he will be the team’s 5h DE as a rookie while putting pressure on Josh Sweat to perform at a high level. He will rotate as a rookie and he will make some plays. That’s a great 7th round pick!!! Even if the team does resign DE Vinny Curry, or if they do bring in another DE I still see Casey Toohill making the team and making some big plays as a rookie. That’s how good I think this kid is. He has shown how productive he can be at Stanford. Shaun Hill has the talent but contrary to popular belief the team is loaded at LB.
I’m much higher on LBs, Nathan Gerry, and T.J. Edwards than most are, (Gerry quietly had a great season last year.), and the team only starts two LBs while they rotate a third in for about 33 percent of the teams snaps on defense. It’s the team’s elite DL that stops the run not it’s LBs. That being said he could push free-agent acquisition, LB Jatavis Brown, off the roster and take that spot on at outside LB…he certainly has the talent, and was ultra-productive at Temple so only time will tell if he makes the team as a rookie or winds up on the practice squad. WR John Hightower has elite speed and can take the top off the defense. In today’s pass-happy NFL maybe that’s enough to land him a roster spot, but WR Quez Watkins is even faster and has a more complete game.
With Alshon Jeffery likely to begin the season on the pup list a spot could still be open for Hightower at the beginning of the season. If JJAW continues to disappoint there will be. This may be the year, especially after the Eagles acquired the talented but oft-injured veteran WR Marquise Goodwin from the 49ers for peanuts that the Eagles keep 7 WRs on the roster which obviously also helps WR John Hightowers chances of making a name for himself with the Eagles. Goodwin certainly seems to finally be healthy as he was set to try out for the Olympics before Covid-19 broke out.
The Three players that have me completely sold that they’re day 3 steals without any questions:Â K’von Wallace, Quez Watkins, and Prince Tega Wanagho. All three players should see the field as rookies and two of the three, in my opinion, will be huge contributors to the Eagles winning games on NFL Sunday. People talk about how huge acquiring star shut down CB Darius Slay aka Big Play Slay was during the offseason. The question fans and media alike still have is who will cover a team’s second-best WR.
I think that the ultra-talented K’von Wallace will. We can complain all we like about the bird’s second-round choice until (If we are) proven wrong, but all Philadelphia Eagles fans should be very excited about the team’s first-round selection (in my opinion) and the team’s major haul on day 3 of the draft in both the short term and long term for the Eagles. Brandon Lee Gowten merely sees The Philadelphia Eagles as a playoff team that just barely wins the division this year. I have us as major contenders after the NFL draft.
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