D
Philadelphia Eagles
Grand theft in the Round 6 slot: the Eagles steal Simpson and grade out a D.
by Dutchman ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 20 picks
· 5 steals
· 0 reaches
You can lose a draft before you make a pick. The Eagles did it at the trade table, overpaying to chase players the board did not price nearly as high. Hard to defend, and the D reflects that.
The Eagles indulged a want in Liufau while a need in interior defensive lineman stayed open. That is a cornerback worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly.
A whole weekend of picks and interior defensive lineman is somehow still a want. Cornerback is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and interior defensive lineman is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Cooper DeJean in No. 22. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Chris Braswell at pick No. 55 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Kingsley Suamataia in slot 60. It fills a real need, too.
Nothing to complain about; Jeremiah Trotter Jr. went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
A straight-up fair deal on Jalen McMillan at the 83rd pick, value and slot in agreement. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Roman Wilson in pick 84 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Cooper Beebe slid further than he should have, and pick No. 86 is lovely value for the offensive lineman. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A market-rate edge rusher, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Gabriel Murphy. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A surprising call. With interior defensive lineman still to address, they spent No. 88 on Marist Liufau, a linebacker they were not short of.
They let Bucky Irving come to them and pounced at Round 4, Pick 4. The roster fit checks out.
A quiet steal in the Round 4 slot: DJ James for less than the market said. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Darius Robinson in the 128th pick is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A tidy little value on James Williams in the 137th overall pick, a step better than break-even. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
No drama and no debate, Jaheim Bell went about where he belonged in slot 138. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They paid sticker price for Jaylen Wright in the 157th overall pick, and that is fine. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
No edge and no loss on Andrew Raym in pick 191; it is a wash and a sensible one. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Taking Jaylin Simpson in pick No. 193 is close to grand larceny; a cornerback that good had no business lasting this long. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
By-the-book stuff, Phil Jurkovec at the Round 7 slot squarely in line with his ranking. A need, and now a little less of one.
They took Kedon Slovis at par in the 243rd pick, which is nothing to complain about. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Donovan Jennings in No. 249 is fair value, right on his grade. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.