Eagles' Joe Douglas sees '7 or 8 scenarios' for 14th overall draft pick
“We have a lot of scenarios we’ve been talking about the last couple of weeks,” the player personnel vice president says.
The Eagles seem to think there definitely will be a standout player available when they are scheduled to pick 14th overall in the NFL draft next week, judging from what de facto general manager Howie Roseman and player personnel vice president Joe Douglas said Thursday in a pair of media sessions.
But what happens in front of the Birds could send them in any of several directions, Roseman and Douglas said.
"We have a lot of scenarios we've been talking about the last couple of weeks," Douglas said. "Probably about seven or eight scenarios" for the 14th overall slot.
"One thing I know -- when we make a pick at 14, with the way our board looks right now, we're going to all be high-fiving then, and very excited about that pick," Roseman said.
"I really feel that running back is a deep draft (position), corner, tight end. I think even, through the process, offensive line – there are some good players, across the board," Douglas said.
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The draft's being deep at a position could mean you can afford to wait and get a potential starter there later in the draft, but Douglas said that isn't necessarily the case. He recalled last year's draft, when he was working for the Chicago Bears.
"We thought that defensive line was very deep," he said. "Really, our board was cleaned out by the end of the second round."
Roseman wouldn't say if Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon is on the Eagles' board. A video of Mixon breaking a woman's jaw with a punch has fueled debate over whether teams will be willing to draft Mixon, who might be a first-round talent.
Douglas said that if you take character questions out of the equation, many teams see Mixon as a top talent. "But most teams aren't doing that," he added.
Roseman agreed that some teams are philosophically opposed to drafting a running back in the first round – something the Eagles haven't done since taking Keith Byars 10th overall in 1986. Are the Eagles one of those teams? Roseman wouldn't say.
"You'll just have to wait till next Thursday," Roseman said.
Roseman said the Eagles weren't affronted by Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey's refusal to hold an individual workout with them. Roseman said several players declined such workouts this year, possibly influenced by the Achilles tear suffered by Washington cornerback Sidney Jones, who had been considered a potential top-10 pick.