Worst-case scenarios for the Eagles first selection in the 2023 NFL Draft

2. The first scenario occurs, and the Eagles can’t trade out of the tenth-overall selection.

All week, we have tossed the idea back and forth about the Eagles potentially trading back with one of their first-round selections. The hope is by doing so they’d acquire more draft capital.

All things considered, if the aforementioned players have all walked the stage and hugged Commissioner Roger Goodell, we’d place our money on guys like Nolan Smith and Lukas Van Ness being among Philly’s favorites when they’re on the clock. There’s just one thing that probably ought to be mentioned.

Some feel they aren’t worthy of a top-ten selection.

We know the former Bulldog (Smith) and former Hawkeye (Van Ness) have been linked to the Birds as a possibility before. We also know the Eagles like them, so what happens when these types of situations occur?

We have gotten to know Howie Roseman throughout the years, and one can never rule out the possibility of some draft-night surprises.  Making a Round 1 trade falls in that category, but if Philly doesn’t grade some of these guys highly, the chances are other teams agree.

That would mean the Birds, suddenly looking to sell, would find themselves with limited ‘buyers’. Then, the tenth selection transforms from ‘blessing’ to ‘burden’. We have seen it happen before, and friends, it isn’t a pretty sight.

Maybe we’re overthinking. We’ve argued over how many of the prospects ought to be graded. ‘Value’ is a huge speaking point in every draft. No one wants to take the ‘safe pick’ or the ‘boom or bust’ prospect too early, and depending on how Thursday night unfolds, the BIrds could be left with some options at ten that they’d rather take at 15.

That’s where ‘reaching’ comes into play, and teams never want to be in that situation. For now, we’ll cross our fingers and hope there’s a run on a particular position, quarterback for instance, and someone that we’re expecting to go much earlier falls into the Eagles’ lap at ten, and then, we can brag about ‘steals’.