By Lewis Gould
The NFL draft takes place 13 night from now — Thursday, April 25, and everyone is weighing in on whom the Eagles will take.
Especially ESPN guru Mel Kiper, who is rarely right about anything:
Round 1 (25): Johnathan Abram, S, Mississippi State (above)
Round 2 (53): Tytus Howard, OT, Alabama State
Round 2 (57): Bobby Okereke, ILB, Stanford
Philly was the beneficiary of Baltimore trading up into the first round last year, as the Eagles got an extra 2019 second-rounder. And when you study this roster, you don’t see a ton of holes. GM Howie Roseman has done a nice job this offseason, adding quality veterans at running back (Jordan Howard), defensive line (Malik Jackson and Vinny Curry) and wide receiver (DeSean Jackson) but not committing a ton of long-term money.
So if I’m taking Roseman’s job as GM in Philly, give me an heir apparent for Malcolm Jenkins in Abram, a physical and tough tackler who can play in space. Howard is extremely raw — he came to Alabama State as a 235-pound walk-on tight end in 2014 before putting on weight and moving to tackle. He needs reps but has potential. And Okereke can compete for the starting middle linebacker job, which is vacant with Jordan Hicks now in Arizona.
