One more Philadelphia Eagles seven-round NFL mock draft

The Philadelphia Eagles surprise everyone with the selection of a linebacker.

Jim Schwartz may not have put a ton of stock in the linebacker position, but he’s gone. The 70th-overall selection is none other than Monty Rice, formerly of the Georgia Bulldogs. This pick is both bitter and sweet however.

That bitter taste on your buds comes from the fact that this selection came down to three guys, and both play on the defensive side of the ball. Taking Rice means that the Birds pass on two very capable safeties, Talanoa Hufanga out of the USC Trojans program and Ifeatu Melifonwu out of Syracuse.

The former racked up 62 tackles, three sacks, four interceptions, and two forced fumbles in six games during the 2020 college football season. That’s right, six games. The latter is one of the best midround prospects playing the safety position.

Rice is solid too though, and there isn’t a Birds fan on Planet Earth that won’t fall in love with his ability to both play the run and cover in the passing game (a rarity these days).

So, to recap, here’s what happens. Philly, a team that will already have Rodney McLeod, K’Von Wallace, Andrew Adams, Marcus Epps, and Anthony Harris in camp as their safeties, pass on Hufanga and Melifonwu in Round 3. They add Rice to a unit that should give us a lot of Alex Singleton, T.J. Edwards, and newly-added Eric Wilson on the roster. It should also be fun to watch Rice compete with Shaun Bradley and Davion Taylor for a spot in camp.