Philadelphia Eagles make huge trade up in 7-round 2020 mock draft
Despite the fact that the Eagles were able to make the huge trade for Darius Slay this offseason, Philadelphia could still use some upgrades in the secondary. Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas still have a ton to prove and Avonte Maddox is fine but far from a perfect player.
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That’s why the Eagles use their only Day 2 pick — after the trade up for Jeudy — to take Darnay Holmes out of UCLA. Holmes is not a readymade, surefire starter but he’s a versatile defensive back with more than enough athleticism and potential to be a reliable starter, even if he has size limitations and a developing football IQ.
Joe Marino of The Draft Network encapsulated both the upside and risk that comes with Holmes as a prospect:
"Darnay Holmes is a true mixed bag when studying his tape. You will find high level reps from a variety of coverage techniques both from the slot and boundary that reveal an all-around skill set. At the same, his tack of anticipation skills lead to a lot of guessing and moments where he is put in a blender and cooked in coverage. If he can develop more route anticipation skills, Holmes has impressive turn and run skills to win in off-man. Holmes has some untapped potential but forecasting growth in his area of weakness isn’t easy to predict."
Adding Holmes to the secondary, however, answers a major need for Philadelphia and helps this defense really get a needed facelift. The UCLA product is valuable depth in a group that simply had almost none of that last season when they desperately were searching for it on defense.