Philadelphia Eagles 2021 SEC-only, 3-round NFL Mock Draft

Cade Mays isn’t a sexy pick, but he definitely satisfies a need for the Philadelphia Eagles.

As Tennesse Volunteers fans pray for the good old days, SEC fans who are over 40 with children of their own are keeping themselves busy with another task. They’re trying to find new and creative ways to educate any child that they have under the age of 18 that, once upon a time, ‘The Vols’ were actually a program that mattered. Getting their children to believe them won’t be easy.

It may be a few more years before Tennessee overtakes Georgia or Florida in the SEC East (if they are even capable of doing so then), but finding a way to compete with those schools for recruits is going to have to be how they get that done. A few transfers wouldn’t hurt either, transfers like guard and tackle hybrid Cade Mays. You know those Eagles coaches love versatile linemen.

Once upon a time, it seemed as though he was the logical choice to replace Andrew Thomas at left tackle once Thomas left UGA for the greener pastures of the NFL. Mays had other plans though. He decided to transfer to Tennessee.

Taking offensive linemen in the draft is never sexy, but it’s important. Mays lands with Philly in our Eagles-only SEC-only mock because, as you can see with picks one and two, the ITI staff expects the ‘Birds’ to address other needs earlier. With that being said, one of Mays’ teammates, Trey Smith figures to be off of draft boards by the time we get to the 2020 draft’s third round (he may get snatched in Round 2), and a third-round selection is too early to call some of the SEC’s second-tier linebackers.

Dylan Moses and Damon Clark should be long gone by Round 3, and if Philly did go with a linebacker from the SEC after those guys are off of the table, Chazz Surratt of the ACC’s North Carolina Tar Heels and Paddy Fisher of the Big Ten’s Northwestern Wildcats are better options than say Georgia’s Monty Rice, who really feels like a Day 3 guy.