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Well, the most you can say about the Philadelphia Eagles’ first round is this: Chip Kelly tried. Packaging a gigantic offer of both players and picks, Kelly made a big run at Marcus Mariota and ultimately fell short. So with Mariota off the draft radar, Kelly made the next best shocking move he could make: sitting at No. 20 and selecting wide receiver Nelson Agholor.
If you’re disappointed about not landing Mariota, be even more disappointed that Agholor is their first-round pick. I’m not suggesting that Agholor is a bad player, but my issue with this pick is twofold. First, it’s not a good thing when teams use high draft picks to simply replace players. Agholor is a Jeremy Maclin replacement, flat out. He doesn’t make the offense any better than it was last season — if anything he just brought it back up to the level that it was. I don’t see how the Eagles are improved from last season offensively with this pick. For me, simply filling a hole isn’t a win.
Secondly, I can’t justify spending a first-rounder to take a player at a position flush with talent when the secondary still needs pieces. I know Marcus Peters and Trae Waynes were off the board, but if a team is going to reach on a guy, they should reach for someone like Byron Jones. They should roll the dice on a guy that could have a significant impact on their secondary that was woefully terrible last year. You could get a speedy, shifty receiver in the second. That defensive help may still be there tomorrow, but you know they were at No. 20. It’s an unnecessary risk to take.
Maybe I need to let this settle in before I dig my heels into an opinion. To be honest, if they handle the secondary tomorrow and make some good picks there, I’ll feel better about Agholor. But for now, I don’t like this pick at all. It feels way too much like a reach.
Doug Green is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL. Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL.
