INDIANAPOLIS — If you’ve been keeping an eye on mock drafts over the last couple months, you’ll notice a similarity when it comes to the Eagles. Most mock drafts have them taking a receiver at No. 21.
With the Eagles’ obvious need and with the depth at the position in this year’s draft class, that certainly makes a lot of sense. And there’s even one prospect who was called a “home run” by NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah.
While it’s certainly not guaranteed that the Eagles use their first-round pick on a receiver, it seems very possible. And if they do, that means their other biggest need, cornerback, would have to wait until Day 2.
According to Jeremiah, that’s not a problem.
“It's a good group,” he said. “If you want to take a corner in the second round, that's the list of names you would be choosing from. And I think there's a lot of good players in that group.”
On a lengthy pre-combine conference call last week, Jeremiah was asked for some Day 2 (Rounds 2 and 3) options for the Eagles and came up with a list pretty quickly:
A.J. Terrell, Clemson
NFL
In three seasons at Clemson, Terrell (6-1, 190) had six interceptions, 101 tackles and 13 passes defensed. Terrell struggled some in the National Championship Game but he comes from a big-time school with a reputation of churning out pro players.
“When you start getting to Day 2, look, you've got a guy like A.J. Terrell from Clemson, who's real tall, lean, real fluid,” Jeremiah said. “He's somebody that plays a variety of techniques there. A really good blitzer coming off the boundary too, which would be fun for Jim Schwartz to play with a little bit. But he can be a little sticky when he has to work back downhill. But he's a tall, long, athletic corner. I think he's a late 1, early 2, could end up slipping a little bit in the second round, see what happens.”
Damon Arnette, Ohio State
Arnette (6-0, 195) stuck around for his senior season and had another solid season. He finished his college career with five picks and returned one 96 yards for a touchdown in 2019. He also broke up 22 passes and started for a school known for producing defensive backs.
“Damon Arnette, I love Damon Arnette,” Jeremiah said. “He's twitched up from Ohio State. He can find and play the ball. He's a little bit tight, but you can play him in press. He's somebody, I think, is going to go in the second round.”
Jeff Gladney, TCU
Gladney (6-0, 183) just finished up his senior year at TCU and finished his career with five picks and 37 pass breakups.
“Jeff Gladney from TCU, kind of he's got some similarities to a Denzel Ward,” Jeremiah said. “Just undersized, real feisty. He plays off. He's real fluid, very aware. I've watched the Iowa State game, one of the games I flipped on with him, it was a war watching him go up against that wide receiver. He's another one in that range.”
Comparing Gladney to Ward is high praise. Ward, of course, was the fourth overall pick out of Ohio State back in 2018 and made the Pro Bowl as a rookie.
Noah Igbinoghene, Auburn
In his three years at Auburn, Igbinoghene (5-11, 200) had just one interception and that’s something Jeremiah brought up immediately.
“The one that I think is going to go in the second round that's fascinating to me is the corner from Auburn, Igbinoghene,” Jeremiah said. “He’s one that's really explosive. A former wide receiver. He was a track guy. They moved him to corner. Really, really ultra twitched up. But he struggles to play the football. And that to me is my concern. He doesn't have any interceptions. He's always in phase, in the right position. And especially in the LSU and Alabama games, he just struggled to find and play the ball. So I think he'll get drafted in the second round based off traits, but there's still some development to take place there.”
So we’ll see how Igbinoghene handles the drills at the combine. There seems to be a high-risk, high-reward factor with him. Would it be worth it for the Eagles? A couple years ago, they took a risk (a different risk obviously) when they drafted Sidney Jones in the second round and that hasn’t worked out.
Trevon Diggs, Alabama
In his career at Alabama, Diggs (6-2, 207) had four interceptions and returned one for a touchdown as a senior. Diggs has a bigger body type, which typically isn’t the most important thing to Schwartz.
“And another name I would just throw in the mix would be Diggs,” Jeremiah said. “We'll see what happens with Diggs from Alabama who has got some Aqib Talib-type skills. But the question is just pure deep speed. But real fluid. Obviously Stefon's brother there, the wide receiver with the Vikings. Former wide receiver, kickoff returner. Really skilled athlete. The question is just how is his deep speed and he's just OK as a tackler.”
Jeremiah raises a couple big questions. Long speed is important, especially to an Eagles team that is on record saying they want to get faster. And tackling for cornerbacks in this defense is also important. That’s not to say they will cross Diggs off their list, but the Eagles would probably want to get answers to those questions this week in Indianapolis.
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