Philadelphia Eagles draft watch: An exclusive chat with Naquan Jones

The strength of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ roster over the past few years has been its defensive line. Led by Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham, the Birds, more often than not have had an embarrassment of riches on the front line of their defense.

Even with that being said, it’s always a good idea to look into young prospects that could be great replacements if there are any emergencies and who could one day develop into leading men. The Eagles’ front office has to become better at identifying talent.

Here’s a Spartan hat could boost the Philadelphia Eagles defensive line.

Welcome Michigan State University defensive tackle Naquan Jones to the conversation. He’s a six-foot-four, 340-pound mountain of a man that has the violent hands to dominate offensive linemen and the football intelligence that could truly help Philly’s defense.

Built to destroy the middle of any offensive front, Jones is versatile enough to be a constant headache to offensive coaches. In a word, Jones is a ‘nightmare’ with a big smile. He also has a nasty punch at the point of contact, but what might be the most impressive aspect of Jones’ game is how quickly he reads, diagnoses, and reacts to what an offense is trying to do.

Here are a couple of quotes that will spark Philadelphia Eagles fan’s interests.

We at ITI reached out to the Michigan State prospect to ask him what he feels he brings to an NFL team, but before we did that, we spoke briefly with NFL Network analyst (and former Eagle) Brian Baldinger to get his take. He stated the following.

“(Naquan Jones) has all the size and power to be a solid interior defensive lineman for a long time at the NFL level. He has a natural NFL defensive line frame”. Naquan Jones took a few minutes to speak with ITI’s Jon-michael Salter about how he feels he could help an NFL team like the Eagles:

"I feel like I would bring great energy, but not only as a player, as a person as well. Coming out of college as an underrated player is just going to fuel my fire even more and have me coming in with a big chip on my shoulder. Coming into a new program means a fresh start, and a chance to rebuild my reputation to prove myself every day. No one can label me from my past, and I intend on coming on to rewrite my story. I will also bring a great sense of humor and a hard-working young man (to work)."

The Philadelphia Eagles need to add new talent to their defensive line’s depth chart, players who can be just as good if not better than the guys that they’re asked to fill in for. Adding Naquan Jones would be a great first step in reloading this talented but aging front line. If the Eagles’ front office has the opportunity to add Jones in the middle rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft, they should think about jumping at the chance.