Philadelphia Eagles draft watch: Top 5 offensive tackles not named Sewell
Here are the Philadelphia Eagles’ three best choices if they don’t land Sewell.
We can probably argue about where they should land on a power ranking of NFL Draft prospects that play offensive tackle, but these guys have to have graded slightly ahead of anyone not named Penei Sewell if you’ve been paying attention.
3. Christian Darrisaw, Virginia Tech Hokies
There aren’t that many football fans that will tell you that they tune in to a game to see what offensive linemen are doing unless of course you’re that guy’s relatives, but Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw is fun to watch.
He’s six-foot-five. He tips the scales at 314 pounds, and though we have no way to prove this, if we could clock his 40-yard dash time, our guess is he’d be in that 5.2-second to 5.4-second range. He’s that athletic.
Some say he lacks a killer instinct or a mean streak you’d like to see in an NFL offensive lineman, but he’s a two-year starter at his position that won First-team All-ACC honors in 2020. That has to count for something.
2. Rashawn Slater, Northwestern Wildcats
Here’s where things get interesting. Rashawn Slater played tackle at the collegiate level and is still listed as a tackle on quite a few draft boards, but he isn’t very long at six-foot-three. With that being said, some are debating if he’s actually an NFL tackle at all. Maybe he’s an interior offensive lineman?
If you say that however, you have to point out that he’s 305 pounds. This isn’t a very big guy, so you have to wonder if he can keep edge rushers off of your quarterback on the outside or create serious holes in the running game while playing next to the center. Defensive tackles are beefy in the NFL if you haven’t noticed.
Here’s an interesting thought. Maybe he can play a little center? He and Jason Kelce are the same height, and he outweighs Philly’s legend by a little over 20 pounds. Kelce is pondering retirement. Keep an eye on Slater, but regardless of where you fall on this, you have to admit, he’s just as gifted as most of the other tackles on this list.