The Eagles Have A Massive Hole at Cornerback

Day 2 has passed, and one question has remained in my mind throughout.

What are they doing at cornerback?

I can tell you I was absolutely shocked that the Eagles did not draft a corner with their 2nd or 3rd round pick. To be perfectly honest, I'm not that happy about it.

Here is the current list of Eagles cornerbacks on the roster:

Darius Slay

Graynold Arnold

Avonte Maddox

Craig James

Michael Jacquet

Lavert Hill

Kevon Seymour

See an issue there? Darius Slay is great, but he is going to struggle against the top receivers again last season if he has no help in the secondary. That's just how it works.

This is what Roseman said in his post-Day 2 presser yesterday:

“I think we were going with the board. We have eight picks tomorrow. The season does not start until September”

I get his point there, I promise you I do, but this is what the NFL Draft is for. You are drafting players for the future of the franchise, and the Eagles have no corners locked in past 2 years from now.

I want to preface that I don't even hate the Landon Dickerson pick at all. I think there were a few better options there, but the pick makes complete sense. Jason Kelce will most likely be gone after next season, and preparing for that time early is a good idea. He can also shift around to guard, and with the health of the offensive line that will probably come into play.

The pick that I am questioning is Milton Williams. To be clear, I don't hate the player. He looks like an absolute beast, and seems to be laid back off the field and a monster on the field.

But, a defensive tackle? At 73? The Eagles had a small need there, but I was thinking more 5th or 6th round. How can you pass on a guy like Ifeatu Melifonwu(who has now been picked by Detriot with the 101st pick), who is considered by some as a super high ceiling pick? Yes, I have a lot of questions. I don't think Howie Roseman really answered any of them in his press conference. Two starting outside corners that are competent seems more important to me then depth at defensive tackle.

One theme that has seemed like the case is that the Eagles have been selecting best player available at their picks, maybe instead of need. That is really the only other explanation I can provide you to try to explain why this pick was made.

When speaking about the strange interaction he had with senior football advisor Tom Donahoe, Roseman said this:

“A lot of the players we wanted came off the board. These guys spend all year scouting these guys and you get favorites, guys you feel strongly about, we all do. We’re all excited about the pick”

I personally think this clip was blown way out of proportion, which is to be expected since this is the Eagles. However, we still need to at least pay attention to it. With all the reports that came out about Roseman's relationship with the scouts before the draft, everyone was interested to see how this relationship may change. This clip could be out of context, or it could be more. Who knows.

The reason I bring that up is because maybe Donahoe wanted someone else? Seems reasonable, since there were a lot of players that were there at 73 that would have probably made more sense.

Now that we get to Day 3, the quality of corners has really fallen off. There was a huge run at corners at the end of the 3rd, with 4 being taken in a row. You still have options with guys like Tay Gowan, Tre Brown and Thomas Graham Jr. being there still. But that is a massive drop off in talent from the guys you could have gotten at 37 or 73.

I have a feeling Howie Roseman has something up his sleeve. No source there, but it feels strange that they have completely just ignored the position. They need to address it, and fast.