Philadelphia Eagles: 3 Prospects to avoid in 2019 NFL Draft
By Jeremy Klump
2. Johnathan Abram, Safety, Mississippi State
Another defensive back that has begun to be listed at No. 25 for the Eagles in mock drafts is former Mississippi State safety Johnathan Abram. Some people regard the former Bulldogs safety as the top safety in the 2019 NFL Draft, but not in my book. Former Florida safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is the best safety in the draft and I had him mocked to the Eagles in my most recent mock draft.
At the safety position, teams should want a player who can cover and tackle. It is fine if they are better at one than the other, but if the player can only tackle and isn’t able to cover well, that isn’t a safety that a team should feel strongly about.
That is Abram for me. He is a safety that is dominant near the line of scrimmage, but he can look lost in coverage. Calling him a safety almost doesn’t even make sense, as he plays more like a linebacker. If the Eagles targeted him as a linebacker, it would bring me closer to being on board, but he is only 205 pounds. In today’s NFL, box safeties that cannot cover are not as sought after. Teams love versatile safeties that can do it all and Abram isn’t able to do it all.
There’s simply not great value in taking a player early when the player has that big of a deficiently at such an important aspect of his position. Hopefully the Eagles feel the same way because they need to avoid Abram in the draft.