Philadelphia Eagles, three-round mock draft: Keeping it simple again

It’s time the Philadelphia Eagles take the linebacker position seriously.

Philly grabs one of their linebackers of the future out of the Big Ten in Round 3. This is a position that the Birds will need to build up in the draft as they did years ago with the selections of Jordan Hicks and Mychal Kendricks.

Pete Werner is one of the most disciplined and patient players at the linebacker position. Playing linebacker isn’t always about getting downhill as quickly as possible as Philly’s second level demonstrated in 2020.

The Birds’ linebackers certainly had their issues with playing overaggressively and taking the bait from opposing offenses on play-action, jet sweeps, end-arounds, and zone-reads all season long.

Werner is a first-team All-Big Ten linebacker is coming off of three straight seasons in which he racked up 50 total tackles or more. Werner finished his college career with 185 tackles, 111 solo tackles, 16 tackles for loss, four sacks, and four forced fumbles.

He can also make an impact in coverage (13 career passes defended). His physicality and football IQ make him difficult to pass up at this spot. Werner would join a young linebacker core and likely be one of the off-ball linebackers in Jonathan Gannon’s defense. The thought of Alex Singleton and Werner playing alongside each other is one that has us excited for the draft.