21. Philadelphia Eagles: Harold Perkins, LB, LSU
Are the Philadelphia Eagles going to be able to bounce back defensively this year? They made one of the biggest splash hires in the entire offseason by pulling defensive coordinator Vic Fangio out of Miami and getting him back to his home state of Pennsylvania. Fangio has a defensive mastermind and one of the key positions within his defense is linebacker.
Fangio needs his linebackers to be able to stay on the field for all three downs, and the Eagles are trying a couple of different guys at that position this year. Devin White and Zack Baun appear in line to start for Fangio, but are both of those guys long-term options? Getting a player like Harold Perkins, who has the versatility and athleticism to stay on the field all three downs, could be exactly what this defense needs to get to the next level in 2025.
22. Dallas Cowboys: Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ohio State
The Dallas Cowboys are rolling into the 2024 season with Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle splitting reps as the 1st-team running back. Hey, maybe it’s all going to work out really well. It just feels like there’s a little more sentimental value to Elliott coming back to Dallas than actual football value, even though he did well on the opportunities he was given last year with the Patriots.
The Cowboys need to reset their roster in a number of areas, and you don’t love to see a running back taken this early, but if the Cowboys can sort out the long-term contract situations of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, then getting a playmaker like Quinshon Judkins in the mix next offseason could be an affordable luxury. Investing all that money (hypothetically, of course) in Prescott and Lamb will put the Cowboys in a clear win-now state of roster building. In that case, you can justify a first-round running back.