The Philadelphia Eagles Offseason To-Do List
2022 Dream Draft Pick: Kyle Hamilton
The Philadelphia Eagles have three 1st round picks in the NFL draft at 15th, 16th, and 19th and while Eagles fans are likely to go away happy with whom ever their team picks, the dream pick they want is Kyle Hamilton out of Notre Dame. Hamilton is the unicorn of this NFL draft with size, athleticism, and football IQ very rarely seen in one NFL prospect and with the Eagles rebuilding the defense primarily at the top of 2022 draft, their isn't a better defensive player than Hamilton. I doubt he falls to them at the 15th pick but crazier things have happened in the NFL draft.
The To-Do List
With Brooks and likely Kelce gone, What now?
The Philadelphia Eagles vaunted interior line with Jason Kelce and Brandon Brooks is coming to an end with Brandon Brooks retiring and Jason Kelce mulling retirement at this moment and the questions that Philadelphia must answer today is if they want to fix this issue this year in free agency or through the draft because with a young quarterback in Jalen Hurts who has a propensity to run for yardage over passing it, getting him quality offensive lineman should be a priority in 2022. Luckily for Philadelphia they have the draft resources in three first round picks and enough cap space to make a move to fix at least one of those positions.
- Free Agency
- Brandon Scherff- Brandon Scherff is likely to get resigned by the Commanders but if Scherff leaves to test free agency, Philadelphia should make a serious run at him as he's coming off of another pro bowl season for Washington. He's an elite guard in the NFL and would be the most likely signing to ensure smooth sailing for Philadelphia and the Eagles excellent run game can continue in the NFL.
- Andrew Norwell- The left guard for the Jacksonville could be on his way out as his contract become larger and play doesn't match the pay in the eyes of Shad Khan. Norwell is still a good guard in the NFL but he's nowhere near his 2017 All-Pro season. He could rejuvenate his career in Philadelphia as he wouldn't have to carry the load in the interior in the same way he had to for Jacksonville and with the Eagles talented offensive tackles allowing Norwell to block in one on one situations. He's at the very least can be a band-aid on the line and would certainly maintain the Eagles prowess as a run-based team.
- Laurent Duvernay-Tardif- Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was a decent guard for a Super Bowl winning and consistently contending Kansas City Chiefs and as their cap room diminishes so will their players and Duvernay-Tardif might not be a pro bowl player but he's been apart of a championship football team and he's been pretty good up until this season and Philadelphia might want to consider signing him just based off of his championship experience which is a rarity nowadays.
- NFL Draft
- Kenyon Green-Green is a phenomenal tackle/guard prospect who dominated at Texas A&M and while rookie offensive lineman are usually hit or miss because of the overwhelming physicality of the NFL, Greens nasty blocking style, powerful build, and exceptional technique in both pass protection and run blocking do give his chances of success a major boost and with Philly's draft capital in the middle of the first round.
- Tyler Linderbaum-Linderbaum, my opinion, is the best center prospect to come out of college this century and although it could be a slim chance he falls to the Eagles at #15, center prospects usually fall in the draft and Philadelphia could easily offer up pick to move up and grab him if they get intel that a team is dead set on drafting him just like they did in 2021 with Devonta Smith.
- Zion Johnson-Zion Johnson has been rocketing up draft boards and after a phenomenal senior bowl performance both in-game and in workouts and Philly won't have to worry about trading up for him as he'll likely be their in the middle of the first round. Johnson's a phenomenal athlete whose work ethic is quite evident as he started from the bottom and has worked his way into one of the best guards in the draft. He'd be at the very least a plug-n-play guard in the NFL and could develop into a great player on the offensive line.
Should the Eagles go after Chris Godwin?
The Philadelphia Eagles grabbed a good receiver in Devonta Smith in the 2021 NFL Draft but he appeared to be the only receiver of any value, outside of tight Dallas Goedert, and Philly may want to consider getting into free agency when it comes to addressing the position and a player that could potentially change life in Philadelphia is Chris Godwin whose exiting Tampa Bay with an injured ACL and could come to Philadelphia cheap than expected. Godwin is a phenomenal NFL receiver whose production in Tampa was excellent despite being in a crowded receiver group and Jalen Hurts needs a receiver that can get open anywhere on the field and can be lined up to create mismatches in the defense. Godwin will of course have to heal up to get ready and could be available mid-season for them but half a season of him is better than a full season of Jalen Reagor or Quez Watkins currently and Jalen Hurts can only go as far as his pass catchers can take him. The Eagles need to see what they have in Hurts as he comes closer to contract time and Chris Godwin is a great way for the team to to determine if they can build around him or if they have to ship him out because although he brought them to the playoffs and is one of the better running quarterbacks in the NFL, running quarterbacks don't have a high success rate in today's NFL.
The Eagles need to give this defense a major boost in next years draft
The Philadelphia defense is getting up there in age with key defenders in Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, and Darius Slay and finding players to take over these position will be a must in the next couple years and their no better place to replace them than through the NFL draft and with Philadelphia's treasure trove of NFL draft picks in Day 1, this issue can be solved this year for the Eagles. There are tremendous defensive prospects in the NFL draft and with the likelihood of teams above them drafting quarterbacks and offensive lineman early, the Eagles have an absolute shot at getting some of the best defensive players in this draft. With Jordan Davis and DeMarvin Leal at the defensive line position potentially falling as well as Ahmad Gardner, Andrew Booth Jr., and/or Kyler Gordon being available within their picks the Eagles have a great chance to immediately improve the defense. Philly is a defensive football team historically and the success of the team has come from that side of the football. Anyone of the aforementioned prospects would give the Eagles a huge upgrade at those position groups and could bring in a new foundation of success for the team.