Philadelphia Eagles make huge trade up in 7-round 2020 mock draft

Most people would like to think that the Philadelphia Eagles would take a linebacker either in the second round or the end of the third round. However, with the trade up for Jeudy and then the way the board fell, that wasn’t an option for the organization in this draft.

Having said that, the Eagles can find some nice value in the middle of the fourth round as David Woodward, a player who has flashed Day 2 talent, is available to them. Woodward has an extensive and troubling injury history but his instincts on the field and ability to play at all levels in the middle of the field are impressive.

While taking a player with injury red flags is a risk, the Eagles linebacker corps is in a spot where the team must take a risk. Rolling out Nathan Gerry, TJ Edwards and Duke Riley as the starters could be bad news and putting Woodward in the mix makes that less so.

After retaining Rodney McLeod and Jalen Mills, most would likely believe that the Eagles are set at the safety spot, even after letting Malcolm Jenkins walk this offseason. While that may be true, they could use some more depth at the position and, perhaps, could also eventually upgrade from Mills, who has been an up-and-down player in his career.

Julian Blackmon would be an ideal candidate to step into that role. The Utah product is one of the surest tacklers in the 2020 NFL Draft class as nothing gets through him. But as a converted cornerback, he also displays baseline coverage abilities to be a versatile and movable piece.

The tackling ability of Blackmon would make him an immediate weapon on special team with nothing but upside on defense. Should injuries bite the Eagles secondary again or should they just feel the need to make the switch, the young safety could come up big.