Philadelphia Eagles: Nelson Agholor Was The Safest Pick

By Jonathan Page | May 1, 2015

Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Eagles and Chip Kelly made the safest pick they could make last night when they selected wide receiver Nelson Agholor and I think they made the best choice. I predicted in my mock draft a couple of weeks ago that the Eagles would take Agholor to replace Jeremy Maclin and it is nice to finally be able to predict what Chip would do for once.

I think Agholor was the safest pick because he has a very high floor and fits the scheme perfectly.

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Chip could have drafted Breshad Perriman over him, Perriman is a freak athlete but his tape isn’t great and he struggles with drops. The Eagles could not afford another bust after last years first round pick and that’s why Agholor is such a great pick to me. I can’t see how Agholor could possibly be a bust here whereas someone like Perriman has a higher chance of being a bust. Agholor has almost identical measurables to Jeremy Maclin and will be able to start day one in our scheme.

Chip could have taken a risk on other players with more athletic potential than Agholor too. He could have taken Byron Jones and hope that he develops into a stud because of his athletic potential. Whilst I like Jones, right now he is not a first round player on tape. Jake Fisher is another athletic freak with very high upside but his tape doesn’t yet match his athletic ability. Agholor is different because his tape is worthy of the 20th overall pick.

I was worried about Chip taking full control of personnel because I thought he might value athletes over good football players. I don’t just want a team of great athletes with high upside. Ideally in the first round, you want to take a smart intelligent football player who dominated in college but also has good athleticism. Nelson Agholor is exactly that.

Also, I was worried that Chip would give up way too much for Marcus Mariota but it appears that the Titans wanted him all along. Chip has shown he has restraint and will not ‘mortgage the future’ for any one player which I am happy about. Even if that one player did play for his beloved Oregon Ducks.

I had Nelson Agholor as the 19th player on my overall board and the 4th best wide receiver. I really think he develops into a stud here, I think he might even be the Eagles number one receiver next year because I think he’s a better overall player than Jordan Matthews.

Lastly, some quick thoughts on tonight: I expect it is unlikely to happen but I would love it if Jalen Collins fell to the Eagles because of his off the field problems and the Eagles took a risk on him. They really should look to trade up for TJ Clemmings or Jake Fisher if they continue to fall. They could also look at Ali Marpet or Eric Rowe in the second round. I wrote about Eric Rowe, Adrian Amos and Ali Marpet last week here.

Next: The Eagles Select Nelson Agholor?

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