Ezekiel Elliott Is The Only Offensive Player The Eagles Should Target

The Eagles would be crazy not to take Ezekiel Elliott.

Speculation has run rampant focusing on who the Philadelphia Eagles will select with the eighth pick of the NFL draft. Many, including myself, have clamored for a franchise quarterback regardless of the cost it takes to secure one. Barring a drastic slide from Jared Goff however, the Eagles should be focusing their draft on only one offensive player. That player is Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott.

The backlash surely is coming with the opinion that a running back should be a top ten selection. Running backs in the first round don’t have a successful resume with the team that drafted them. The last team to win a Super Bowl with a first-round running back they drafted was the Indianapolis Colts with Joseph Addai.

Drafting a player in the top ten of the draft requires success. The Eagles need to nail this pick. They also need take a player that excels at his current position and can play at that position starting day one of training camp. This look at Ezekiel Elliott from a year ago highlighted some of his skills in comparison to defending Offensive Rookie of the Year Todd Gurley.

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NFL network analyst Daniel Jeremiah (whom the Eagles interviewed for a player personnel role)  stated that Elliott “can do everything.”

Jeremiah might have issued the understatement of the year with that opinion. Ezekiel Elliott not only performed extremely well at the NFL scouting combine, but he might have cemented his placement in the top half of the draft at Ohio State’s pro day. The underlying question with the Eagles is whether their offensive line is good enough to warrant drafting a running back that early.

I am not oblivious to the Eagles’ needs along the offensive line. Jason Peters is 34 years old. Is there truly an offensive lineman that is worthy of a top-ten pick outside Ole Miss tackle Laremy Tunsil? There has been a clamoring for Notre Dame tackle Ronnie Stanley. What if Stanley cannot make the transition to guard his first season however? The consensus has long been that right tackle Lane Johnson would make the switch to left tackle once Peters’ time was up with the team.

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Unless general manager Howie Roseman is planning on trading or releasing Peters this offseason, Stanley is going to have to make a transition that is not easy, contrary to popular belief. The speed of the game is faster on the inside and a player is dealing with heavier (and more importantly stronger) defensive linemen.

Another issue, in the event Peters was on the roster in 2016, would be that once Peters left, would Stanley have to transition to the right side of the line? Perhaps I am in the minority, but I just don’t want to invest in a player that won’t be at his natural position.

Elliott would start his first day with the Eagles. He would be learning Doug Pederson’s offensive scheme the same as Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, or Kenjon Barner (remember him?). Elliott excels in all phases of the game, including running, catching and pass protection. Pro Football Focus stated that in the 103 snaps Elliott protected the passer in 2015, the Buckeyes’ quarterback was not sacked, hit, or hurried once. Elliott defied Urban Meyer’s history of undersized running backs and rotational backfields. He’s a rare breed of game changing offensive players.

The Eagles still have a lot of work to do on the roster. In a draft rich with defensive talent, the options along the offensive side of the ball are few and far between where the Eagles are drafting. Should the Eagles avoid drafting a defensive game changer like UCLA linebacker Myles Jack or Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves, they have little reason to ignore a “best player available” strategy. Ezekiel Elliott has a legitimate argument as the best player available, regardless of position, particularly with the eighth pick.