Philadelphia Eagles, seven-round mock draft: Picking 12th

The Philadelphia Eagles land a much-needed edge rusher.

Edge rusher might not be at the forefront of Eagles fans’ minds, but it should be. The future is uncertain. Brandon Graham recently received an extension, but he is not going to be here forever or produce at the same level forever.

The only young edge rushers on the team are Derek Barnett and Josh Sweat who are both in the last years of their deals. That could change, but this is the reality of the situation right now. Joe Ostman and Matt Leo are far from ideal fourth and fifth edge rushers. Genard Avery doesn’t factor into the equation since he is transitioning back to linebacker this offseason.

Carlos Basham is the perfect fit for this Eagles team that needs a 4-3 defensive end. Similar to Brandon Graham, he wins with his power at 275-pounds.

He plays much faster than his size. Size isn’t everything. Basham’s hand placement allows him to get leverage and power his way through offensive lineman. Like Graham, he’s also just a fierce competition on the gridiron. He finished his collegiate career with 173 tackles, 35.5 tackles for loss, seven forced fumbles, eight passes defended, and three fumbles recovered. Similar to Zaven Collins, Basham is clutch. He’s a potential starter down the road.

Basham could start as a rotational end and play a similar role to that of Chris Long. The latter was an experienced defensive end, so there will obviously be more of a learning curve for Basham as he learns how to counter moves from opposing offensive lineman. There’s also the possibility that Basham will add a wrinkle in defending versus the running game that we didn’t see as often from Long.