B
Philadelphia Eagles
The steal of the weekend belongs to the Eagles and Smith: B.
by Stan ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 4 steals
· 3 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Ainias Smith slide, and the Eagles were the ones holding the card at the Round 6 slot. Highway robbery.
They are betting Gadsden II proves the room right and everyone else wrong. The Eagles indulged a want in Wilson while a need in cornerback, interior defensive lineman and other spots stayed open. The cornerback hole is the one line item this class does not answer.
A tidy weekend of work that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
A quiet steal in No. 40: Edgerrin Cooper for less than the market said. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They let Troy Franklin come to them and pounced at pick 51. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A market-rate safety, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Kamren Kinchens. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A want over a need in the 97th overall pick: Payton Wilson adds a linebacker while cornerback, interior defensive lineman and other spots keeps waiting.
They paid sticker price for Matt Goncalves in Round 4, Pick 8, and that is fine. It fills a real need, too.
They reached into another round for Will Shipley, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A real head-scratcher, Oronde Gadsden II in the 172nd pick is miles ahead of his ranking. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Gabriel Murphy at pick No. 178 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The board fumbled Ainias Smith all the way to the 202nd pick, and they scooped it up. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Eric Gentry at No. 253 is a conviction pick that outran the value. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.