Philly Front Office

I didn’t think to do this until around the 8th pick so we are going to do some catching up first:

32. Chiefs – Josh Simmons: I’m an idiot, I’ve been calling him Justin all night. This was the right pick for KC who desperately needed to beef up their line after getting their wieners kicked in at the Super Bowl. They had no choice but still ended up getting one of the best in the class.

31. SUPER BOWL CHAMPION PHILADELPHIA EAGLES – JIHAAD CAMPBELL: HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME. Campbell is an unbelievable linebacker who just added another stud to this defense. WOW. Let me get myself together. The Howie Renaissance with Alabama and Georgia guys continues. Just wow. (UPDATE: Jihaad Campbell is great.)

30. Bills – Maxwell Hairston: This guy is fast as all hell and was drafted specifically to stop Xavier Worthy. It is a counter chess move to the Chiefs. Why don’t they just try beating the hell out of them or smothering out their oxygen like the Eagles did?

29. Commanders – Josh Conerly: They need to protect Daniels at all costs. I might hate them, but this is a good idea. They still can’t stop anyone on defense though. As much as I didn’t want Tyler Warren to go to the Cowboys, I think I didn’t want Jihaad Campbell going to the Commanders even more. (UPDATE: CAMPBELL IS AN EAGLE!)

28. Lions – Tyleik Williams: This is a massive man coming to the center of our next big rival’s defensive line. It’s what every team that has Saquon Barkley coming at them needs to do, but no one else is doing it. For example, the Commanders got rid of Jonathan Allen and signed Javon Kinlaw. The Lions are our great and worthy opponent.

27. Ravens – Malaki Starks: As always, if there is a solid player you want, you need to get ahead of Baltimore. They wait out the best picks. Nothing wrong with a Georgia DB in Baltimore who seems like a perfect fit next to Kyle Hamilton. I’m guessing the Eagles tried to get ahead of them, but couldn’t match the Giants and Rams trade packages ahead of them. (UPDATE: Well, I was right that we tried get ahead of them, but for a different guy)

26. Falcons – James Pierce: The Rams traded the pick to the Falcons for a first round pick and a swap of this year’s 2nd (#46) and 3rd (#101). Good move by the Rams to invest in the Falcons mediocre at best future. They double down on EDGE rushers, which isn’t the worst move, but damn do they waste picks. I guess you can think of this as trading back 60 spots in order to take next year’s pick early, but they did not get a stud here. The difference between possibly picking Donovan Ezeiruaku in the 2nd round vs taking Pierce in the first isn’t much if anything. I shouldn’t be surprised that a team that spent $100m+ on Kirk Cousins only to overdraft Michael Penix at #8 last year is wasting resources. Their GM simply doesn’t understand how value works.

25. Giants – Jaxson Dart: The Giants desperately needed a QB, and didn’t give up the farm for him, but they picked the wrong one. The trade was for #34 and two 3rds. I’m glad I had them taking him in my 2nd mock (even if it was at #3). It’s still crazy that a player whose name is way more impressive than his skills parlayed that into a first round result. By trading up to get Dart, they showed that they were completely enamored in him and were never in on Shadeur Sanders, otherwise they never would have made the trade, opting to let the draft unfold instead. It’s very clear that the Giants have no intention of having a black QB run their team.

24. Vikings – Donovan Jackson: More offensive lineman going in the first than expected. That’s still a good thing. The Vikings loaded up big time this off season and this is just a solid smart pick for a team without a lot of picks. It may be a small reach though and they would have been better off trading back, especially with the Giants who are now on the clock. Still solid.

23. Packers – Matthew Golden: The League’s softest team decided to pass on a defensive tackle believing that complaining incessantly to the league office that the Eagles are bullies is defense enough. They finally picked a WR 23 years after the last time they took one in the first round. I hate this team. I didn’t realize just how much I hated them until this pick too. What a bunch of soft ass losers.

22. Chargers – Omarion Hampton: Ummm…what happened? (UPDATE: After the pick clock hit zero it restarted causing a lot of confusion before the home team’s selection. Apparently, the Eagles and Chargers had a deal in place but something caused it to fall apart. Very strange. Not as strange as the Chargers wasting a first round pick on an average running back though.)

21. Steelers – Derrick Harmon: This pick needed to be Shadeur Sanders to benefit the Eagles, but the Steelers are going a different way. Derrick Harmon was my number 2 choice for the Eagles behind Walter Nolan so this double stinks. That would have been awesome. The Steelers had some bad drafts recently, but this is a return to normalcy for a historically smart franchise.

20. Broncos – Jahdae Barron: Everyone had Omarion Hampton here, but that seemed like a poor use of resources for Sean Peyton. Now with Barron and Surtain…damn. That’s a good pick. Well done Louie.

19. Bucs – Emeka Egbuka: As sure as we all were that a tight end would go to the Colts, we were equally sure Jihaad Cmbpell was going to the Bucs. Instead, they take a WR3? He’s an Ohio State receiver so he will be great and it’s a good pick, but I wonder how this fits in Tampa. That’s 3 receivers for Baker to throw to, but does the defense suffer now?

18. Seahawks – Grey Zabel: Holy overdraft! Love it from an Eagles perspective. The more offensive lineman that go, the better it is for us. I’m sure he’ll be a fine player and he’s not who was expected in Seattle. This is a franchise that seems to be trying to do a little of everything but do not have any stars other than in the secondary.

17. Bengals – Shemar Stewart: I just can’t get behind drafting him with that production. He is raw but athletic as all hell. How did he not just fall into more than a sack and half per season??? The broadcast just said that he plays hard, but that simply cannot be true. His wingspan is that of a basketball player, again HOW NO SACKS??? It is baffling. He also falls to basically the worst team for him. This is not a quality defense and Stewart will not benefit from advanced coaches or teammates. I feel like his best chance of success is being a late bloomer after another team picks him up on the cheap in a few years.

16. Cardinals – Walter Nolan: DAMN YOU JONATHAN GANNON!!! You had to take our guy? The Cardinals have really turned their draft philosophy around after years of taking tweeners. Eagles wanted this guy for a reason. He seems like a menace on the line that would have been perfect next to Jalen Carter. I was always dubious of him falling to 32 based on how much EVERYONE liked him, but by not even falling to the 20s, we had no shot.

15. Falcons – Jalon Walker: THEY HAD TO TAKE HIM!!! How many years in a row could they screw up and not take a defender? I couldn’t bring myself to make another dumb pick for them in my mock draft, and for Nick Johnson and other Atlanta fans out there you finally have a local boy to root for. The announcers just said they hadn’t picked a defender this high in 10 years while also claiming that they’ve been trying to fix the defense. How can both be true?

14. Colts – Tyler Warren: There was no chance the Colts were passing on a tight end. This pick was almost as scripted as the top 5. Thank God Warren didn’t go to the Cowboys. Anthony Richardson needed a safety valve and now they have one. If he can’t put up numbers with Warren this season, they will have to move on.

13. Dolphins – Kenny Grant: Some people had him going late first round so this might be a reach. Them taking a DT though isn’t a bad move. The Dolphins are a team that just needs to stop being flashy. Teams seem to be going after the National Champion Wolverines despite last year’s fall.

12. Cowboys – Tyler….Booker! – I thought for SURE Roger was going to say Tyler Warren and this might have been the single slowest my senses ever registered a pick. In the end, Booker might be the safer pick, but Warren would have been trouble for 10 years. Thank you Jerry, nothing to worry about on offense again. Booker is one of the biggest reaches so far and is probably the least athletic first rounder you’ll ever see. Not that he’s bad at football, but Jalen Carter is going to eat him alive.

11. 49ers – Mykel Williams: I got excited thinking it might be Warren for the crazy that would bring to the George Kittle situation, but this is a solid move for SF. How can I argue with an incredibly athletic and strong Georgia defender?

10. Bears – Colston Loveland: I KNEW IT. I just figured that they would go with the midwestern guy instead of the Penn State guy. The plan is to give Caleb Williams someone as reliable as possible. Not a bad philosophy at all even if they did go with the lower rated guy.

9. Saints – Kelvin Banks: Good for the Saints to take an OT. That is the sign of a smart team that is not thinking about scoring points this season. The best thing the Saints can do is tank this season for Arch Manning. The media will eat that story line alive. The Saints need to shed salary and wins desperately to have any hope of turning the ship around.

8. Panthers – Tet McMillan: I just knew this was going to happen. They saw some promise for Young at the end of last season so they are doubling down. He does not seem like a star in the making and the Panthers need talent. Trading this pick would have been the smarter move.

7. Jets – Armand Membou: I really thought the Jets would do something stupid here. It’s what they do. Drafting maybe the best OT in the draft is not that. The interesting thing about this one is that it wasn’t Tyler Warren.

6. Raiders – Ashton Jeanty: Come on Raiders? I know I projected this pick, but that doesn’t make it smart. Jeanty will be good, but why are you taking a running back? Is it just because Pete Carroll is 70 and doesn’t plan on being there at 75? Just a dumb franchise.

5. Browns – Mason Graham: What a trade by Cleveland. I have been calling for them to trade out of #2 to get out of the Watson contract, but this is almost as good. They are still going to be bad next year, but now they get to root for Jacksonville to be bad too. They get an extra pick in the early second round that might be used later on a QB AND they get the Jags pick next season. Great move for a team in desperate need of talent and a post-Watson life. I didn’t figure the Browns to be the smart thing, but that Sonny Weaver is finally making the team his way.

4. Patriots – Will Campbell: Another chalk pick. This one seems to have been set in stone for months. That doesn’t make it dumb though. So many teams talk about building along the trenches, but the Patriots are really doing it.

3. Giants – Abdul Carter: I can’t fault the Giants for taking the biggest Eagles fan in the draft. It would have been stupid for them NOT to take Carter. They’ve had their biggest successes with a good pass rush and now they have one. They don’t have much else though, so let’s see what happens.

2. Jaguars – Travis Hunter: The Jags traded basically a 2026 1st and a 2025 2nd to move up three spots. Hunter is a great prospect, but this is an incredibly stupid move by the Jags. The team needs all the help in can get so it got rid of two huge assets. The broadcast made it a point to say this was a 2 for 1 because of Hunter’s 2-way play, but THEY GAVE UP AN EXTRA FIRST!!! I know it’s a different context, but that’s not 2 for 1. As for Hunter himself, that pink jacket is AMAZING.

1. Titans – Cam Ward: It’s the choice they had to make. Chalk