Trusted NFL source believes Philadelphia Eagles trade up at draft time

If you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan, you’re probably noticing that you keep getting into the same debates over and over again. Often, you hear people talk about what’s taking so long to get Carson Wentz off of this team or whether the Birds should address their offense or their defense with the sixth-overall selection in 2021’s NFL Draft. If that’s the case, you’ve, no doubt, heard about the theories of trading back.

This Eagles team has so many holes that they could literally select a prospect at any position and find something they need, so that’s led some to believe that sliding back a few picks to acquire more draft capital is a wise business strategy.

Still, even with that being said, the overall opinions of quite a few Birds fans mirror one another. Some say to take a wideout at six. Others say take the best player available. Others still subscribe to the theory of selecting the best cornerback on the board, Patrick Surtain perhaps? Very rarely have you heard that Philly needs to trade up, that is until now.

The stat gurus believe they know the answer to the Philadelphia Eagles’ ills.

Love them or hate them, you can’t stop paying attention to what they do over at Pro Football Focus, can you? Tell the truth. We’re numbers obsessed, and those positional rankings will get you every time. Recently, Austin Gayle cooked up a mock draft, and in it, the Philadelphia Eagles trade up from six to three to allow themselves the opportunity to take Justin Fields of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

What’s that? You’re shocked? Well, jump in line. Here’s what Mr. gayle had to say on the subject:

"With Carson Wentz likely on his way out of Philadelphia, the Eagles need to get aggressive at upgrading at the quarterback position in April’s draft. Rookie Jalen Hurts showed flashes of competence as the team’s starter, but he still finished the last four weeks of the season as one of the lowest-graded quarterbacks… Fields has his own fair share of concerns as a prospect, but he’s still the number three overall player on PFF’s board and the first-ranked college quarterback in terms of PFF passing grade over the past two seasons (2019-20)."

While Gayle makes a pretty compelling argument, most media members who cover this team are probably going to have to respectfully disagree.

At some point, Philly has to coach up the guys they already have. They can’t keep taking quarterbacks, especially if they aren’t going to give them any help to ensure they’ll grow as passers. How about an offensive lineman, a wideout, or a compliment piece for Miles Sanders for crying out loud? At what point does this team answer those questions.

Carson Wentz was abhorrent in 2020, and he’s been a toddler for quite some time. Still, if Philly doesn’t round this roster out with some talent, especially on offense, Jalen Hurts won’t be any more successful in 2021.

The long and the short of everything is this. The only quarterback worth trading up for is Trevor Lawrence. We don’t know if Justin Fields is better than Jalen Hurts, and again, if the thought process involves taking the quarterback, the better idea might be to just stick with Hurts and make him a better player. Philly might miss out on some decent talent at six, but ask most of the other experts, and they’ll tell you. The better play for the Philadelphia Eagles is to trade back, not up.