If they want to emerge from April as winners, the Philadelphia Eagles should avoid these prospects in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
As we get closer the 2019 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles are hoping to fill their remaining holes with draft picks. It seems that the Eagles are a few pieces away from getting back to the Super Bowl and, if they can draft well in 2019, they have a legitimate shot to win their second Lombardi Trophy.
This offseason has been another homerun for the Eagles, as they made two big trades that will pay off big this season. First, it was adding the greatest deep threat wide receiver of all time, DeSean Jackson. The former Buccaneer and Redskin was a star for the Eagles before former head coach Chip Kelly released him 2014. Jackson will be back in Philly and ready to show he can still catch bombs and make big plays.
After Jackson, it was a trade for former Chicago Bears running back Jordan Howard. The move for Howard cemented that the Eagles have the best 11-personnel in the NFL. Howard will likely be able to run the ball without a stacked box, but if they do stack the box, quarterback Carson Wentz will show why he almost won MVP in 2017.
The draft is only a few weeks away and fans are starting to lock in on the players they want their team to select. Eagles fans were happy with the additions of Jackson and Howard, as they were great targets.
However, there are some players in the 2019 NFL Draft that have been getting some buzz to the Eagles, but Philadelphia should avoid them. Here are three 2019 NFL Draft prospects the Eagles should avoid in the first round.
3. Rock Ya-Sin, CB, Temple
For some odd reason, cornerback is still a position some feel the Eagles need to address in the first round. I disagree, but if one of the top cornerbacks falls in the first and the Eagles decided he was the best player to help their football team, it would be hard to argue. One name that has been mentioned as one of the cornerbacks the Eagles could select is former Temple cornerback Rock Ya-Sin.
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Ya-Sin looks the part of an NFL cornerback, as he has great length and size for the position. He shows on film that he loves to play the game and compete, which you love to see as well. He was awarded a single digit number at Temple, which are only given to the nine toughest players on the team.
These are all good things, but Ya-Sin has the dreaded word attached to him and for good reason: potential. Now, not every player you draft is going to be great right away and there are always going to be players you draft because you hope they progress to be better. However, Ya-Sin needs to progress in a lot of places and taking him in the first round would be a huge mistake.
At times, Ya-Sin really struggles in coverage. His technique can be extremely ugly and it makes it seem like he is guessing in coverage more than he is actually reading the play. He can easily be burnt deep and I question his game speed.
He ran a 4.51-second 40-yard dash at the combine, which isn’t terrible, but when he decided not to run it again at his Pro Day, it showed he wasn’t going to get better than that. Cornerbacks that do not cover well and also aren’t fast are players that should not be targeted in the early rounds.
Add in that Ya-Sin will need to be coached to try and fix his technique and you can see why the Eagles need to avoid him in the 2019 NFL Draft.
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.
1. Josh Jacobs, RB, Alabama
Before the Eagles traded for Jordan Howard, former Alabama running back Josh Jacobs was a popular name to the Eagles. Fans were begging the Eagles to draft him. Jacobs is regarded by almost everyone as the top rated running back in the class. For me, former Penn State running back Miles Sanders is the best running back in the class and that plays a big role into why the Eagles need to avoid Jacobs at all costs.
Some people think that, even though the Eagles added Howard, they could still take Jacobs early in the draft. That would be a big mistake, as Jacobs is just not a running back you take early. The hype around him has never made much sense and his game doesn’t move the needle much for me. He will likely have a solid NFL career, but he is just as likely to be another Alabama running back that does nothing in the NFL.
Jacobs is not very fast and there’s an argument to be made that he’s closer to slow than he is fast. When he touches the ball, he would look great on film because the Alabama offensive line would dominate the trenches. However, if they missed an assignment, Jacobs rarely makes the first defender miss.
The Eagles were smart to add Howard because now they do not need to reach on a running back, and drafting Jacobs in the first round would be a reach in my eyes. Even if he falls to the second round, the Eagles should still avoid him at all costs.