Eagles
The draft is upon us and the Eagles are in an interesting spot for the 2026/2027 season. They have a lot of players either leaving, retiring, or having trade rumors. These players include AJ Brown, Nakobe Dean, Lane Johnson, Reed Blankenship, Landon Dickerson, Dallas Goedert, and Brandon Graham just to name a few. I’ll go through a couple of positions I think the Eagles should invest in.
Offensive line: I’m a big fan of winning the trenches. Historically it’s worked too. 2017, 2024, WWI, and WWII are some of my favorite examples. Two of the best Eagle’s trench players (Lane Johnson and Landon Dickerson) both had retirement scares this offseason. That’s why I think the first priority for the offseason and draft should be to sure up the offensive line.
At the end of the day a good offense can control the game. Sure if you pair it with a terrible defense it won’t matter, looking at you Bengals. The Eagles’ defense was not their concern. While it’s likely the Eagles defense is going to regress, it should still be pretty good.
Ideally they draft somebody to step into a role on the line. Not only does this show that the new coordinators want to win in the trenches but a new guy would get to learn from a Lane Johnson-type.
Defensive Line: Continuing the trend of building in the trenches. It’s important not to build a Maginot Line, historically it has not worked. You need to cover your edges. Brandon graham has an unknown retirement status as of now, hence why you build for the future. I do think if push comes to shove BG will stay with play another year. Either way you start to find his replacement.
If I had to describe the Eagles’ edge rushers, I’d say fine. The same kinda fine you’d describe Jalen Hurts this year. Depending on who you ask, you’ll get the full spectrum of answers though. Jalean Phillips was one of the best mid season pick ups of late. The bad news is that he’s a free agent and after a great season he wants to get deservedly paid. Other players like Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith were kind of just there. Not bad but not nearly as dominant as the 2024 line that made a Super Bowl win look easy.
Here I think you look for some good players in the trade or free agency markets. Trey Hendrickson was announced as leaving the Bengals. Maxx Crosby also has been a trade candidate with Philadelphia as a rumored destination. Crosby ultimately comes down to price but Howie has shown he can get creative on draft day securing great players on bad teams like he did with AJ Brown.
Tight End: Rumors are swirling that Dallas Goedert will not be returning to the Eagles next season. Not great considering last year was Goedert’s best year. Here’s a few superlatives he accomplished relative to his career: Touchdowns, receptions, and games started. All coupled with dominant blocking in the run game.
There’s already some players linked to Eagles should Goedert move on. There’s Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon Tight End, that put up some impressive tape at the combine. Fastest 40 for a TE, second best vertical jump, third longest broad jump. Oh yeah he also put up more bench presses, 26, than five time All-Pro Offensive Tackle Trent Williams, 23. Hopefully it’s easy as drafting the strong fast guy from a premier college program.
The other player the Eagles have shown interest in is David Njoku. While this doesn’t set off a lot of fireworks, that’s actually a good thing given Njoku’s past. But in all seriousness, he would be a solid veteran for the team. He’s always flown under the radar being in Cleveland so doesn’t have gaudy stats. He’s also only 29 so a year younger than Goedert. Plus I think the Eagles could stand to have two new Tight Ends given Calcaterra’s lack of production and growth since drafting.
Are there other positions the Eagles should look at? Of course but, I think those three positions can put the Eagles back on track. I’ll always advocate for the Eagles to build in the trenches or trench adjacent. Thanks for reading and Go Birds!
Hello, I’m a greater Philadelphia native writing mostly about the Eagles and the rest of the NFL. Articles aren’t … More about Kyle Lavin
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