Philadelphia Eagles: Sports Illustrated selects Byron Murphy in latest mock draft

Recently, Sports Illustrated put together another NFL Mock Draft where they have the Philadelphia Eagles grabbing Byron Murphy.

What’s the hottest trend of the 2019 NFL offseason? Is it having Kyler Murray taken with the number one overall pick? Perhaps its the New York Giants passing up on Dwayne Haskins. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s the questionable trend of draft analysts sending a cornerback to the Philadelphia Eagles with the 25th overall pick of the draft.

By now, we should all be used to it, as it doesn’t seem to be a trend that will slow down. While it makes very little sense that the Eagles take a cornerback that high, we still have to consider all options since Howie Roseman, and Joe Douglas doesn’t seem to care about drafting immediate needs. If a cornerback is the highest-rated player on their board, they will take them.

However, if that were to happen, we may be able to find a trade later on down the line, which sends one of the Eagles’ young cornerbacks elsewhere. But that’s a different story for a different day. Right now, we’re focusing on Sports Illustrated’s recent mock draft, which was released on Wednesday. This time, they stuck to the weird theme of mocking a cornerback to the Birds. So with the 25th overall pick of the draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select… Byron Murphy.

Could Byron Murphy to the Birds happen?

"“Post-Jordan Howard trade, I still think cornerback makes the most sense here. Murphy was fun to watch in the Rose Bowl game against an elite college QB and wide receiver talent.”"

Byron Murphy could be a good fit in the Eagles’ defense for better or for worse. He’s a smart cornerback with an intelligent football IQ. However, his size and recovery speed could resemble most of the cornerbacks that the Eagles already have. Not to mention, he has a small sample size as he’s only appeared in 20 games at the college level.

There’s no question that Murphy should be worth a first-round look. In fact, Pro Football Focus suggested he should be a top-ten pick. So if the Eagles see it the same way, getting him at 25 is a steal. Once again though, there’s still a giant question mark surrounding the idea of picking a cornerback in the first round when the Eagles have tons of young talent on board already. If there are players from another position available at that spot even remotely close to Murphy’s value, then the Eagles will probably elect to avoid the Washington corner.