Eagles take yet another 1st-round receiver in recent 2022 NFL mock

Making mistakes is okay, even in football. The failure to learn from mistakes made is inexcusable. You can see how the Philadelphia Eagles tie in here right?

Who knows why it keeps happening. Maybe it’s as simple as a mismanagement of the salary cap which keeps Philly from being aggressive in free agency when great players are available. Maybe the team just needs to evaluate talent and draft better. After all, if they stopped missing on draft picks, they wouldn’t have to compensate by overspending on free agents.

Whatever the reason, there are ongoing issues in the City of Brotherly Love that seem to surface every offseason.

Regardless of what they do, every time another February rolls around and the Super Bowl ends, the Eagles are always in need of a starting-level cornerback, EDGE help. depth at the second level of the defense, and yes, another wide receiver.

Wait. Hold on a second. The Eagles wouldn’t draft another wide receiver in the coming draft, would they? The answer might surprise you.

Pro Football Focus sends Drake London to the Eagles in a recent mock draft.

The 2022 NFL Scouting Combine will be here before you know it, and that means we’ll be inundated with mock drafts. Sure, one can make the argument that mock season never ended (they always have a way of popping up), but recently, Pro Football Focus dropped a good one.

We’ve all gone back and forth about what the Philadelphia Eagles might do with the three selections they have in the first round of the next NFL Draft (insert Carson Wentz shout-out here).

It seems unfathomable that the Birds would spend another first-round selection on a wide receiver, but it can’t be ruled out, especially if they adopt the ‘take the best player available approach’.

Since 2017, the Eagles have drafted seven wide receivers. One is a game-changer, DeVonta Smith.

Two aren’t even on the roster anymore (Mack Hollins and Shelton Gibson). One can’t get on the field (John Hightower). Two guys that Philadelphia desperately needed to pan out haven’t, JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Jalen Reagor.

Each of Howie Roseman’s snafus has put the Birds in a precarious position. With 11 picks, they’ll need to invest some of that draft capital into the receiving corps. The question is how long will they wait before they pull the trigger?

This franchise doesn’t seem to be in love with Greg Ward, and even though Quez Watkins is worth hanging on to, questions have to be asked about whether or not JJAW falls in that same category.

Perhaps that’s why Eric Eager, the author of that PFF draft, has Philadelphia taking a wideout, Drake London of the USC Trojans, with the third of those three first-round picks? Here’s what he offered as his reasoning:

"I’m not a huge fan of drafting guys who are labeled “contested-target guys,” but I think London has been unfairly labeled as this. Since 2019, he’s been in the 30th percentile among college wide receivers who made it to the NFL in terms of separation rate against single coverage, but he’s in the 86th percentile in PFF grade on single coverage.  So, while he’s not above average in terms of gaining separation, he does win against single coverage, which is valuable for an offense that already has separators in DeVonta Smith and (in theory) Jalen Reagor."

Whether you agree or not, his reasoning makes sense. Here’s something else to consider though. Is London even a first-rounder? Many would probably rank Treylon Burks (Arkansas Razorbacks), Garrett Wilson (Ohio State Buckeyes), Jameson Williams (Alabama Crimson Tide), Chris Olave (Ohio State Buckeyes), and Jahan Dotson (Penn State Nittany Lions) higher, right?

We have a long way to go before determining if that last statement is correct. Eagar also has the Eagles taking EDGE standout David Ojabo of the Michigan Wolverines at 14 and cornerback Trent McDuffie (Washington Huskies) at 19.

Naturally, draft positioning will change some, but in the meantime, this gives us something to talk about until Week 17 of the NFL season is done playing itself out.