Three 'trade-up' draft options for the Philadelphia Eagles
The 2024 NFL Draft is barely a month away, or as Eagles general manager Howie Roseman likes to call it, “Moving Day.”
With the exception of 2015 when former head coach Chip Kelly took charge of the team’s draft, Roseman has made eight trades involving first-round picks, landing players like DeVonta Smith (2021) and Fletcher Cox (2012) by moving up the board.
Here are three prospects worth trading up for in next month’s draft.
1. TE Brock Bowers | Georgia | Former Eagles tight end Zach Ertz was coming off his first of two Pro Bowl seasons when the team drafted Stanford tight end Dallas Goedert 35th-overall in the 2013 draft.
Goedert hasn’t made a Pro Bowl and has missed eight games over the past two years. With two years left on his contract and an “out clause” after next season, the Eagles could have eyes on Bowers.
Bowers had 175 catches for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns in three years as a Bulldog with five rushing scores. He’s drawn comparisons to the 49ers’ George Kittle and could become just the fifth tight end since 2000 to be drafted in the top-10. That could be too rich for Roseman’s blood but if Bowers drops, he makes sense in the early to mid-teens.
2. CB Quinyon Mitchell | Toledo | In five years as a Rocket, Mitchell had 123 tackles (93 solo), 45 passes defended and six interceptions, five of which came in 2022 earning him First-Team All-MAC honors.
After a strong Senior Bowl showing in early February, ESPN’s Matt Miller had Mitchell going to Philadelphia 22nd-overall in the upcoming draft. But after outperforming all cornerbacks at the NFL Scouting Combine, Mitchell’s stock has risen.
Mitchell is now the draft’s top cornerback according to ESPN’s Mel Kiper, who named him the 13th-best prospect overall.
The six-foot, 195-pound cornerback has been linked to the Falcons and Broncos in recent mock drafts. With no second-round pick this year, a rebuilding team like Denver could be an option at No. 12.
3. EDGE Dallas Turner | Alabama | Kiper is equally high on Turner, a 6-foot-3, 247-pound physical specimen with a quick first step and elite closing speed. The NFL draft guru ranks him first at his position and the ninth-best prospect overall.
Turner had 120 tackles and 22.5 sacks in three seasons with the Crimson Tide while earning consensus All-America and SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2023. Turner put on a show at the combine, running 4.46 in the 40-yard dash with the top-overall score among edge-rushers.
He’s also been linked to the Falcons and Broncos but if either pass on the versatile pass rusher, Turner would look pretty good in a rotation with Nolan Smith, Bryce Huff and possibly Haason Reddick if he’s not traded.
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