Philadelphia Eagles take interior lineman in early 2021 NFL Mock Draft

In this NFL mock, one expert thinks the Philadelphia Eagles go with a lineman.

It isn’t the sexiest of options, but it’s always a solid one. In NFL football, year after year, wins and losses are most often based on who wins in the trenches. The Philadelphia Eagles and all of the other 31 pro franchises spend unlimited amounts of resources on paying quarterbacks. Then, they go and find guys to protect those quarterbacks and guys who play on the other side of the ball.

Longterm dominance in pro football can only be established one way, by building for the future. Philly has one of the best offensive lines in the game, but there’s an issue. Isaac Seumalo is still young. He turns 27 years young on October 29th, but Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson, and Jason Peters are all aging. Guys like Matt Pryor have received honorable mention as very talented reserve players, but depth is a concern for this Eagles team, especially at the interior.

They drafted both of the Auburn Tigers’ starting tackles from the 2019 season during the most recent draft, but they need some fresh bodies to play at the interior of the offensive front. Perhaps that’s what the guys over at WalterFootball.com are thinking.

One of the better internet databases for football-related info has their ideas on what the Philadelphia Eagles might do in the 2021 selection meeting.

If you’re unaware, WalterFootball.com has been one of the more trusted sources for football content for some time, and they already have an NFL Mock Draft that they cooked up. Following their most recent update (October 30th), they have the Eagles selecting 18th, which also means that they believe, despite the new 14-team format, the “Birds” will barely miss the postseason in 2020. That’s another story for another day though.

Here’s what they have Philly doing. The “Birds” address the center position by taking what might be Jason Kelce’s replacement, Trey Hill of the Georgia Bulldogs. They have them taking defensive tackle Mustafa Johnson out of Colorado in the second round at the 50th-overall selection. Here’s a quote.

"The Eagles were linked to Cesar Ruiz. They need a guard now, and they’ll need to replace Jason Kelce when he retires. Trey Hill put himself on the first-round map when he handled Derrick Brown impressively in 2019."

Once upon a time, when Andy Reid paced the sidelines, there was always one thing that you could count on more often than not. Outside of the selection of the occasional selection of someone who played another position, Lito Sheppard in 2002 and Jeremy Maclin in 2009 for instance, “Big Red” was usually taking an offensive lineman or a defensive lineman in Round 1 of the draft.

It paid off a couple of times (Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox), but more often than not, he whiffed (Jerome McDougle, Shawn Andrews, and Danny Watkins). There was nothing wrong with its plan. The error came in its execution.

Many moons later, “Big Red” has traded his usual all-black gameday attire in Philly for those blood-red ensembles that he wears in Kansas City with the Chiefs. The NFL game remains the same. “Win in the trenches”. Might Philly go with an interior lineman in Round 1 come 2021? Only time will tell, but here’s what can be said with certainty. Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, and Jason Peters aren’t going to play forever.