Inside the Iggles
FanSided

Eagles seven-round NFL mock draft comparison fueled by online simulators

By Geoffrey Knox

Calijah Kancey, Philadelphia Eagles (Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Calijah Kancey, Philadelphia Eagles (Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NFL Draft approaches, and the Philadelphia Eagles are busy with Pro Days, free-agency, and Top-30 pre-draft visits. It’s enough to make the head spin. Frankly, we don’t know how they do it, and that’s fine because our job is much easier.

Our job is to cheer (or jeer). Our job is to offer opinions. We hammer out mock drafts to make guesses about what we think should be done. Then, the Eagles hang out for the real selection meeting, and  we play the roles of arm-chair general managers.

See? How can life be any easier?

So, as we wait, we’ll crank out mocks from now until the end of April. This time around, we added a twist. We hung out and cranked out a few simulations.

Using the assistance of a couple of NFL mock simulators, we cooked up four different draft-day scenarios.

We ran two mock drafts on two different simulators, the ones belonging to Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Network. Here are the first nine picks of each of those simulations.

Pro Football Focus

  1. Carolina Panthers – Bryce Young, QB, Alabama
  2. Houston Texans – C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State
  3. Arizona Cardinals – Will Anderson, EDGE. Bama
  4. Indianapolis Colts – Will Levis, QB, Kentucky
  5. Seattle Seahawks – Tyree Wilson, EDGE, Texas Tech
  6. Detroit Lions – Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon
  7. Las Vegas Raiders – Peter Skoronski, OT, Northwestern
  8. Atlanta Falcons – Myles Murphy, EDGE, Clemson
  9. Chicago Bears – Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State

Analysis: The Panthers go with Bryce Young at number one, and the Texans respond in kind by adding C.J. Stroud one pick later at the second-overall selection. Jonthan Gannon decides to keep Will Anderson, and though Peter Skoronski feels like a Howie Roseman-esque pick, the Seahawks, desperately

Pro Football Network

  1. Carolina Panthers – C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State
  2. Houston Texans – Bryce Young, QB, Bama
  3. Arizona Cardinals – Will Anderson, EDGE, Bama
  4. Indianapolis Colts – Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia
  5. Seattle Seahawks – Tyree Wilson, EDGE, Texas Tech
  6. Detroit Lions – Myles Murphy, EDGE, Clemson
  7. Las Vegas Raiders – Paris Johnson, OT, Ohio State
  8. Atlanta Falcons – Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois
  9. Chicago Bears -Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas

Analysis: This one flips the first two picks. The now-defensive-minded Cardinals again land Anderson, and though most of us don’t want to take a running back at ten. The Bears give Justin Fields some offensive help and remove all temptation at the ninth-overall selection.

Truthfully, we’re relatively happy with how the Eagles’ mock drafts on Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Network turned out.

Here goes nothing. While both simulations made the picks, the user is asked to make the team’s selection. We tried to combine team needs and best-player-available theories. Here’s what we came up with.

Pro Football Focus

Who knew? PFF thought of everything? Were we the last arrivals to this sim party?

  • Round 1 – Pick 10: Calijah Kancey, DT, Pittsburgh  (ADP – 7.8)
  • Round 1 – Pick 30: Will McDonald IV, EDGE, Iowa State (ADP – 26)
  • Round 2 – Pick 62: Garrett Williams, CB, Syracuse (ADP – 51.1)
  • Round 3 – Pick 94: Jammie Robinson, safety, Florida State (ADP – 85)
  • Round 7 – Pick 219: Eric Gray, running back, Oklahoma (ADP – 198.7)
  • Round 7 – Pick 248: Spencer Anderson, guard, Maryland (ADP 241.2)

Analysis: Daiyan Henley is the owner of a name that we don’t see every day. PFF ranks him as the 37th player on their draft board, but he has an average draft position of 51.1. Technically, that makes him a ‘steal’. If he walked in and became a nice companion piece for Nakobe Dean, no one would complain.

PFF gave us a B for our draft grade. They didn’t like our idea to take Kancey at ten, but we’re having dreams of landing our Aaron Donald, so who cares?

Pro Football Network

Here’s how the sim wound up on Pro Football Network.

  • Round 1 – Pick 10: Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon
  • Round 1 – Pick 30: B.J. Ojulari, EDGE, LSU
  • Round 2 – Pick 62: Gervon Dexter, DT, Florida
  • Round 3 – Pick 94: Zach Evans, RB, Ole Miss
  • Round 7 – Pick 219: Jalen Redmond, DT, Oklahoma
  • Round 7 – Pick 248: Tashawn Mannin, guard, Kentucky

Analysis: Well, the Eagles filed that motion to allow players the right to wear the Number 0 jersey, and as fate would have it, Christian Gonzalez fell to them at ten. How poetic?

The B.J. Ojulari pick might be a head-scratcher now. Don’t worry, it won’t be in September.

We had so much fun that we ran two more simulations one hour later. Here’s how those Eagles mock drafts turned out.

Hey, what can we say? We’re hooked. We ran two more sims after breaking for lunch. Here’s what we came up with the second time around.

Pro Football Focus:

What can I say? I’m a nerd. Now, that I have my mojo going, I had to run another sim.

  • Round 1 – Pick 10: Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois
  • Round 1 – Pick 30: Felix Anudike-Uzomah, EDGE, Kansas State
  • Round 2 – Pick 62: Andre Carter II, EDGE, Army
  • Round 3 – Pick 94: Moro Ojomo, DT, Texas
  • Round 7 – Pick 219: Caleb Chandler, guard, Louisville
  • Round 7 – Pick 248: Mohamoud Diabate, linebacker, Utah

Analysis: There are things we like and dislike about both PFF sims. Here, we like finding an eventual replacement for Darius Slay and/or Bradberry, and while some may not like nabbing back-to-back EDGE stars, landing to top-ten prospects at the position makes our hearts beat a little faster.

PFF gave us a B again. They don’t like Moro Ojomo. They think we took Anudike-Ozhumah too high.

Pro Football Network

After one more ride on the PFN ferry, here’s what the 2023 Eagles draft class looked like.

  • Round 1 – Pick 10: Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia
  • Round 1 – Pick 30: Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama
  • Round 2 – Pick 62: Calijah Kancey, DT, Pittsburgh
  • Round 3 – Pick 94: Warren McClendon, OT, Georgia
  • Round 7 – Pick 219: YaYa Diaby, EDGE, Louisville
  • Round 7 – Pick 248: Ja’Von Hicks, safety, Tennessee

Analysis: This time, Jalen Carter fell right in our laps. You’re going to have some happy Eagles fans on draft night if that were to happen.

Most of you are probably going to scoff at taking a running back in Round 1, but with the extra first-rounder and all of that draft capital in 2022, this one feels like getting a bonus or some holiday pay.

What the heck? You only live once!

Calijah Kancey slid to the end of Round 2 in this one, which seems unlikely. Still, we won’t argue with getting him there or with getting Matthew Bergeron out of Syracuse at 94. After all, Lane Johnson isn’t going to play forever.

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