Eagles Draft Board: SMU WR Courtland Sutton drawing strong interest
With the 32nd pick of 2018 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select… Courtland Sutton?
The days are counting down, and the Philadelphia Eagles are getting their draft boards ready. The 2018 NFL Draft will be here sooner than we know it. As television screens and newsfeeds get flooded with mock drafts, the Eagles front office are doing their annual act of hosting the next potential set of rookies. On Tuesday afternoon, they will host one of the best wide receivers coming into the NFL this season. SMU’s 6’3″ wide receiver, Courtland Sutton.
Sutton has just finished up his fourth and final season at SMU with an impressive 68 catches for 1,085 yards and 12 touchdowns. Although he initially came into the NCAA as a high-profile Safety, he quickly became one of the more intriguing prospects at receiver as time went on.
Initially, Sutton was viewed as a day two prospect for the 2018 NFL Draft. As time went on though, he started to gain some keen interest from teams in need of his services. Now the Eagles may not be desperate for a wide receiver, but that doesn’t mean that they would shy away from Sutton at pick number 32.
The best player available approach will be the key to the Eagles success in the first round. When quarterbacks are getting selected at a rapid-fire pace in the first round, more and more unique talents will drop beyond their value. If Sutton happens to fall to the bottom of the first-round, the Eagles would be wise to pick him up. Take a look at some of Sutton’s attributes.
Strengths
- Has excellent hands and the ability to catch in traffic
- Wide catch radius
- Big bodied target who has ideal size and strength
- Solid blocker
Weaknesses
- Lacks home-run speed
- Struggled against better opponents
- Has work to do on route running.
The Eagles aren’t desperate for a wide receiver by any means. With Alshon Jeffery on board for another four years, the offense has its true number one receiver. But with Nelson Agholor potentially out in a year, and Mike Wallace sitting on a one-year deal, the unit can thin out quicker than we know it after 2018
Sutton won’t be an immediate star, but more like a project for Mike Groh and Gunter Brewer. It wouldn’t be out of the question for a player like Jeffery to serve as a mentor for Sutton, though. Some Eagles fans may want to pass on Sutton’s services based on expectations for Mack Hollins, but sometimes there is talent that is too good pass up on.
The Eagles could not only find their future number one in Sutton, but they could find yet, another immediate contributor to their excellent red zone offense for 2018. The more young weapons for Carson Wentz means, the more dangerous their dominant offense becomes for years to come.
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