Philadelphia Eagles could find another EDGE star in Florida State standout

There’s a bit of a buzz surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles. Sure, they got spanked in the Wild Card Round, but there’s another side to that coin. They were never supposed to make the postseason anyway remember?

The Birds enter an offseason following a season that produced more wins than many of us expected, and in a league that prides itself on parity, you have to feel great in knowing Philly will have tons of draft capital and money to spend in the coming offseason.

With three first-round picks, this team is in a prime position to upgrade itself substantially. Unfortunately, vice president/general manager Howie Roseman still has the final say-so on who’s selected, but oh well. You can’t have everything, right?

The Philadelphia Eagles could strike gold by adding another FSU EDGE star.

Whenever teams reach Round 3 or later, things are seen as a crapshoot. If you can find a player that has the ability of a starter, that’s excellent, but let’s face it. Once you reach the middle of the seven-round selection meeting, teams are hoping to get lucky, and the Philadelphia Eagles got lucky in 2018.

Josh Sweat was the 130th-overall selection during Round 4 of that year’s NFL Draft, and we can officially state that decision has worked out to their benefit. The Eagles believe in Sweat as they should, and that’s been evidenced by the three-year, $40 million extension that he signed on September 18th.

He’s produced 17.5 sacks over the past three seasons while serving primarily as a reserve piece in Philly’s EDGE rotation, but now with an aging Brandon Graham (if he’s retained) and the possibility of Philly moving on from both Derek Barnett and Ryan Kerrigan in the offseason, his duties will increase.

Tarron Jackson is here, but the Birds still need help at the EDGE position. If they’re looking to add some, they could strike gold by adding one of the top prospects from the same program that produced Sweat, the Florida State Seminoles.

Write Jermaine Johnson II‘s name down if you haven’t already. He’s six-foot-five. He tips the scales at 260 pounds, and following two seasons with the mighty Georgia Bulldogs, he transferred the FSU where he racked up 70 total tackles (including 17.5 for a loss) to go along with 11.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. He could be a riser in the 2022 NFL Draft, and NJ.com’s Mike Rosenstein mentioned him as his choice for the Eagles with the 19th-overall selection recently.

Now, here’s the thing. Some will state that taking Johnson in the first round is a reach. Some will see him as one of the five best EDGE stars of the next draft class, but when it’s all said and done, here’s what must be considered.

There are a lot of talented defensive ends in the coming selection meeting, but they could go quickly, and for an Eagles team that won’t select before the 15th-overall selection, you shouldn’t be surprised if Jermaine Johnson is the best EDGE prospect available when we reach the back half of the first round.

That won’t be a loss for the Philadelphia Eagles. The last time they plucked someone from FSU’s pool, things worked out very well, and Johnson can be even better than Josh Sweat was.