Mel Kiper mock draft: Newest edition sees Eagles trading down to acquire more second-round picks

Definitely not Kiper’s craziest idea, but is Howie Roseman interested in doing this?

The NFL Draft is so close I can taste it! As a huge college football fan, draft weekend is one of my favorite on the NFL’s calendar and with our Philadelphia Eagles possessing two first round picks this year, it’s more exciting th…

::BLG sends me link to newest Mel Kiper Jr. mock draft so I can write about it::

Oh boy. We’ve got some STUFF to talk about!

In Kiper’s most recent two-round mock, released on Tuesday morning, he has the Eagles trading out of the first round with Seattle and acquiring two of the Seahawks’ second round picks. Honestly, this makes a lot of sense to me. The Birds would only be moving down seven spots (from No. 30 to No. 37) and would also add another high value pick to their arsenal. If there is no one that Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni desperately want at the end of the first round…why not make a trade?

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Eagles also possess the No. 10 pick in the draft and, like his previous iteration, Kiper thinks that the Birds will pick Northwestern Wildcats offensive lineman Peter Skoronski. As mentioned on this site before, we like Skoronski and think that he’ll be a good offensive lineman for many years in the NFL. The All-Big Ten standout played tackle in college, but most talent evaluators have him slotted in as a guard in the pros.

Alright, now let’s examine this fake trade Kiper has cooked up. He thinks that the Seahawks will want to jump back into the first round to grab a new QB (in this case, Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker) and that Philly is the ideal trade partner.

Moving down seven spots, the Eagles get Seattle’s first second pick (via Denver and the Russell Wilson trade) and select Alabama RB Jahmyr Gibbs. He is a back that can catch the ball out of the backfield and would be a nice complement to the stable of ball carriers Philadelphia already has.

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

At pick No. 52, Seattle’s other second round pick, Kiper thinks Philly goes defense and takes Auburn EDGE rusher Derick Hall. If you click on the “SEC Players to Monitor” post linked above, you’ll see that I am high on Hall as a pass rushing prospect. With Brandon Graham most likely retiring after this next season and Derek Barnett getting up there in years too, a young player for them to mentor seems smart.

Finally we get to the Eagles actual second round pick, No. 62, where Kiper mocks Illinois DB Jartavius Martin to Philly. The Illini’s defense was really good last year and their passing defense was ranked sixth in the country (165.4 yards per game given up) and their total defense was ranked second (263.8 ypg). Now, some of that is due to the fact that they play in the Big Ten and the quarterbacks there are, uh, trying their best. But still, taking a player from Illinois’ 2022 secondary is a good move. Kiper has the Raiders taking Illinois CB Devon Withersoon at No. 7 for a reason.

While there is a lot of conjecture in this newest Kiper Mock Draft for Eagles fans, it is certainly a fun thought experiment and I’d love if they got one more Day 2 pick since they are lacking in middle round picks this year.

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