Final Eagles 7-round 2023 NFL mock draft: Philly adds day-one contributors

The Eagles add a depth option at quarterback and wide receiver.

The Philadelphia Eagles just made Jalen Hurts the highest-paid player in NFL history in terms of average annual salary when they inked their quarterback to a five-year $255 million extension. Marcus Mariota is firmly entrenched as his backup. Here’s someone that would make a nice understudy, former UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

His style of play is similar play to Hurts’ and Mariota’s. He could become the eventual backup to Hurts in 2024 if Marcus finds a new home following his one-year deal.

The Eagles hosted Thompson-Robinson for a pre-draft visit, and there is reportedly interest in selecting the former UCLA Bruin if he is still available late in the Draft. During his career at UCLA, he appeared in 50 games and threw 88 touchdown passes. He also added 28 rushing touchdowns and over 12,000 combined passing and rushing yards.

With time to develop in the system that saw Jalen Hurts develop from the fifth quarterback drafted in 2020 to an MVP contender this past season, Thompson-Robinson could wind up being a fine NFL backup.

With a six-foot-four frame, 32 1/2-inch arms, and the fourth fastest 40-yard dash in 2023 among wide receivers (4.37 seconds), Arkansas wide receiver Matt Landers is a player who comes with great upside physically. He led Arkansas in receiving yards this past season; however, he isn’t ranked high on anyone’s draft board.

Landers will be 24 years old before training camp begins after spending six seasons at the NCAA level while playing for three different programs. He earned All-State honors as a prep star in Florida. He was a junior at the time. He spent four years at Georgia but failed to climb the depth chart. Some say there were issues with a lack of effort.

Landers then used his remaining eligibility after being redshirted as a freshman and missing time due to the COVID-19 pandemic to spend the 2021 college football season at Toledo and the 2022 season back in the SEC at Arkansas.

Since leaving Georgia, Landers has been able to turn his career around. He collected over 1,400 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in his two seasons since leaving Athens. Quarterbacks targeting him enjoyed a 142.2 rating during his lone season at Arkansas and 123.6 over his full collegiate career.

Still relatively young, Landers has the potential to see a handful of snaps as a rookie if he can learn in an NFL environment. The risk that comes with drafting him doesn’t outweigh the potential reward of finding a nice depth piece in the seventh round at the wide receiver position.