Philadelphia Eagles: A Seven Round Mock Draft

Nov 13, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans receiver Nelson Agholor (15) heads up field against the California Golden Bears at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Round Two (Pick #52): Nelson Agholor, WR, USC

Make no mistake about it: The Eagles wanted to keep Jeremy Maclin. They just didn’t want to pay him $11 million per season. What do you call that? Ah, yes: sanity.

When I look at what moves a team might make, I often look at the moves they try to make, but can’t. Those are usually much more telling than the moves they are rumored to make. Or that people expect them to make. Or think they ought to make.

The Eagles liked Maclin. And they tried to keep him.

Lucky for them, Nelson Agholor is reminiscent of that very same Jeremy Maclin. They are nearly identically sized at 6’0, 198 pounds and run nearly identical 4.4 forty yard dashes. Both made a name for themselves in college as dynamic punt returners/receivers. And, like Maclin, Agholor is excellent at making quick cuts both in route running and in running with the football once he’s got it.

He’s not massive nor is he a physical freak, but Agholor is a willing and capable blocker in the run game and seems to love everything about being on the football field.

There are two other things that don’t hurt:

He played in the PAC-12. Which is funny in the same way we joke about Chip loving his Oregon guys. But it also has merit. These are the teams against which he’s played and coached. These are the coaches and athletic directors with whom he has the best relationships. The ones with whom he can have brutally honest conversations about who a player is, how he works, what kind of a kid he might be. Those things matter.

He was also in Philadelphia for a pre-draft visit last week. The importance of that varies depending on which team you’re talking about (Each team is allowed to schedule 30 such visits before the draft,) but with the Eagles it seems to matter quite a lot: Of their 2014 picks, every single one visited with the team before the draft with the exception of Oregon’s Josh Huff. Who didn’t need to visit. Because Oregon.

This is a deep receiver class. And I believe someone the Eagles like will fall to them at #52. If it’s Agholor, they’ll swoop right in and take him.

Next: Hitting a Sour Note