What if Justin Jefferson Is Gone Before Eagles Pick?

The LSU receiver is predicted by many to go to Philly with the 21st pick, but Minnesota could be poised to spoil those plans. Then what?

The Minnesota Vikings are lying in the weeds, perhaps bracing for another ambush of the Eagles and their general manager Howie Roseman.

It could be 2017 all over again when the Eagles appeared poised to draft Florida State running back Dalvin Cook in the second round until the Vikings foiled that plan by trading up seven spots with the Cincinnati Bengals to pick No. 41, two ahead of Philly.

The Eagles may have been caught somewhat flat-footed and reached for injured cornerback Sidney Jones, who had torn his Achilles about six weeks earlier during his pro day at the University of Washington.

While things haven’t worked out yet for Jones, they did for the Eagles despite not getting Cook. They ended up beating the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game that season and went on to win Super Bowl LII.

The Eagles also landed a running back in the second-round last year who may be just as good, if not better than Cook, when they selected Miles Sanders.

Now comes 2020 and Minnesota needs a receiver, just like the Eagles, after it traded away Stefon Diggs to the Bills last month, receiving Buffalo’s first-round pick, No. 22 overall.

Yes, that is one pick after the Eagles.

There are certainly valid reasons to believe the Vikings are going to try to leapfrog Philadelphia yet again, as Dr. Roto explains to SI.com here:

/nfl/video/2020/04/10/dr-rotos-visionary-mock-draft

The Vikings could attempt to make a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who own the 20 pick, then grab LSU’s Justin Jefferson. That would presume that the big three of CeeDee Lamb, Henry Ruggs and Jerry Jeudy are all gone by then.

If the Vikings and Jags find a way to consummate a deal, it begs the question: Would do the Eagles do if Jefferson is gone?

Every mock draft that has come out this month has the Eagles taking Jefferson. Except one. That is the most recent mock draft done by NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, who, in his mock draft 4.0, have the Vikings taking Jefferson and the Eagles making Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray the pick at 21.

That would certainly qualify as a surprise since the Eagles don’t value linebackers the way some organizations do. The last one they took in the first round was Jerry Robinson in 1979. Though Marcus Smith was listed as a linebacker when Philly took him 26 overall in 2014, he was taken to play defensive end.

The Eagles could use a linebacker, and Murray could be the best one in the draft. Unless LSU’s Patrick Queen is. There is also a lot of love among teams for Texas Tech linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who could wiggle into the first round.

Either way, the Eagles would seem unlikely to take a linebacker, though Roseman said at the Combine, “That doesn’t mean if there’s an opportunity to get a great player at a particular position then maybe, in the past we have seemed to undervalue, that we wouldn’t look at that, because we would.”

Sounds like, yeah, maybe a linebacker.

Then in the next breath, Roseman seemed to squelch that possibility when he said, “We have to make sacrifices somewhere going forward and we’re going to have to continue to do that.”

So, again, what would the Eagles do if four receivers are gone in the top 20 picks?

Could they quite possibly have more than four pass catchers with a first-round grade, or do they go cornerback like Utah’s Jaylon Johnson, assuming Florida’s C.J. Henderson is gone or a pass rusher such as LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson if he is still around.

Frankly, it’s a real dilemma.
My move would be to go backwards with the Ravens, who need a linebacker and value the position. Move back to No. 28 and take one of Baltimore’s second or third round picks. The Ravens have two in each round.

The Eagles and Baltimore have traded in the first round in each of the previous two drafts, so why not make it three in a row?

If the Eagles land at 28, their pick would prove to be most interesting.

They could go for receivers such as Brandon Aiyuk, who is coming off recent core muscle surgery, or Jalen Reagor. Picking one of those at 28 and getting another second-day pick would be ideal.

Maybe even a linebacker at 28 would make the Eagles feel better about fortifying that position, and they go for Wisconsin’s Zack Baun or perhaps a center like Michigan’s Cesar Ruiz.

Whatever happens will be known soon enough, with the draft set to begin in less than two weeks.