Final Philadelphia Eagles 3-round mock draft: What will Howie do?

Philadelphia Eagles get the cornerback they need.

After missing out on a cornerback in round one, the Birds strike gold with Georgia cornerback Eric Stokes still on the board. It’s possible Stokes gets taken shortly before the Eagles are up but it’s also not out of the realm of possibility that he is available here. This would be a dream scenario for Philly fans.

Coming out of Kirby Smart’s defense, Stokes is athletically gifted. He can absolutely fly and has the hops to contest wideouts at the catch point.

In 2020, not only did Stokes pick off four passes but he also returned two of them for touchdowns. From a football IQ perspective, Stokes could stand to improve in coverage. Under new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, those issues could certainly be cleaned up though.

As Drae Harris from The Draft Network notes, Stokes is effective in both press-man and zone. Gannon figures to bring over some press-man looks from Mike Zimmer’s defense as well as Cover 2 looks from the Matt Eberflus’ defense. Philly can slide Stokes in on the opposite side of Darius Slay and groom him to be the number one corner down the road.