Philadelphia Eagles 7-Round Mock Draft: Trade for Mariota?
Oklahoma Sooners DE Geneo Grissom (85) sacks Alabama Crimson Tide QB AJ McCarron (10) during the second quarter of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
GENEO GRISSOM – Oklahoma
Sixth Round, pick no.196
The Eagles need depth at outside linebacker, as their only options there behind starters Connor Barwin and Brandon Graham are Marcus Smith II, Bryan Braman and Travis Long.
Geno Grissom is like Marcus Smith II, in a sense. He is more of a project than a day-one starter. And while most will get disappointed from this remark, you need to remember that teams rarely find starters in the sixth round.
However, Grissom has some advantages over Marcus Smith II which make me think he is more pro ready than Smith was when he came out of the draft. Grissom has already a good amount of muscle and while not faster, he is more tenacious and explosive than Smith. He looks the part of a traditional pass rusher and can be lined up as a down lineman or a standing linebacker.
Grissom also has a knack for knocking down passes, which is something very useful in the NFL. The areas he has to work is his play recognition, his tackling and his positioning in coverage, even though it would be a bad idea to use him as a coverage linebacker.
Grissom’s spider graph from Mockdraftable.com:
At last, in the seventh round pick, the Philadelphia Eagles select…
USC Trojans TE Randall Telfer (82) against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
RANDALL TELFER – USC
Seventh Round, Pick no.237
The Eagles finish their draft with a selection of a tight end. Randall Telfer from South California is more of an extra blocker at the line of scrimmage than he is a threat in the passing game, but he is versatile enough to do both.
The Eagles have worked out Telfer during the offseason. It’s anyone’s guess whether they really liked him or they were just kicking tires to see what Telfer brings to the table.
If selected, Telfer is more likely to serve as a special-teams member and a blocker on occasion than he is to have a role in the offense. As a receiver, however, Telfer offers something the Eagles seem to like a lot: he will be a big guy in the middle, bigger than most linebacker and safeties. And as we’ve heard many times already, big people beat up little people.
Here is the unimpressive spider graph of Telfer, who didn’t participate in combine drills due to injury:
And that was my Philadelphia Eagles 7-round mock draft for 2015. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think in the comments section.