Eagles need to select an edge rusher in NFL draft| Paul Domowitch

IT'S NOT very difficult to see where the 2016 season got away from the Eagles.

They headed into a Week 11 road game against the Seattle Seahawks with a still-very-much-in-the-playoff-hunt 5-4 record. They had just beaten the Atlanta Falcons, a team that would later make it to the Super Bowl.

Then, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Five straight losses to the Seahawks, Packers, Bengals, Redskins and Ravens.

The defense gave up 139 points and 10 touchdown passes in those five losses.

The common thread in the first four defeats was not so much poor coverage by the secondary, though, as much as it was an inconsistent pass rush that couldn't get enough pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

The Eagles had just three sacks against Seattle, Green Bay, Cincinnati and Washington, and only one with a four-man rush, which is defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's pass-rush weapon of choice.

Schwartz sent four rushers on 91 of 126 pass plays in those four losses. The results on those 91 plays in addition to the one sack: a 74.4 opponent completion percentage, seven touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 131.2 opponent passer rating.

So, yes, the Eagles need to find some cornerbacks in this week's draft. But they also need to improve their pass rush.

The trade acquisition of defensive tackle Tim Jernigan, who is a better pass rusher than the departed Bennie Logan, and the free agent signing of 32-year-old defensive end Chris Long, both were solid moves.

But Jernigan, who is entering the final year of his contract, probably will be one and done in Philly, and it remains to be seen how much gas is left in Long's tank.

The Eagles' pass rush was terrific early on last season. Through the first six games, they were ranked first in the league in sacks per pass play and third in total sacks with 20.

But they would get just 14 more sacks in their final 10 games, finishing 14th in sacks per pass play and 16th in total sacks. Some of that drop in production had to do with the fact that quarterbacks started getting the ball out faster on them. But mostly, they just weren't as effective as they were early in the year.

Brandon Graham had a career-high 30 hurries, but just 51/2 sacks. Vinny Curry, who was given a five-year, $46.2 million contract last offseason despite having only 161/2 sacks in his first four NFL seasons, finished with 21/2 sacks. Connor Barwin, who was released last month, had just five sacks and 11 hurries.

With defensive tackle Fletcher Cox basically being double-teamed on every down, Schwartz needs better production off the edge than he got last year.

I'm not going to try to tell you the Eagles don't need to add a couple of cornerbacks in this draft. They do. But they also need to find an edge rusher. And as I've been saying for months, edge rusher trumps cornerback in Schwartz's scheme.

"His scheme allows you to play with lesser players on the corners," said NFL Network analyst Bucky Brooks. "They can get by with guys that may be more deficient (than others), like a Teez Tabor or a Quincy Wilson. Schwartz has shown that he is willing to play a zone-based defense."

Fortunately for the Eagles, two of the deepest positions in this draft are cornerback and edge rusher. Which is why I continue to believe their preference is to find another offensive weapon in the first round to put around quarterback Carson Wentz before turning their attention to defense in the final six rounds.

"When you have a young quarterback, you always err on the side of giving him more help," Daniel Jeremiah, a former scout and current NFL Network analyst, said.

"You'll have time to eventually figure out what you need to do on the defensive side of the ball. If it's close (grade-wise), give (Wentz) help offensively.

"There are going to be some offensive weapons available at 14, whether it's (running back Christian) McCaffrey or (running back) Dalvin Cook or (tight end O.J.) Howard or one of the three wide receivers (Mike Williams, John Ross, Corey Davis)."

The Eagles have eight picks in the draft. Once it's over Saturday night, they are expected to sign more than a dozen "priority" free agents.

Last year, the Eagles had five rookies on their season-ending 53-man roster who had signed with them as undrafted free agents - wide receiver Paul Turner, running back Byron Marshall, cornerback C.J. Smith, defensive tackle Destiny Vaeao and offensive lineman Dillon Gordon. The five played in a combined 34 games last year.

Another 10 players on their roster, including nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters and safety Rodney McLeod, were undrafted coming out of college. Bottom line: It's an important part of the player-acquisition process.

"Going back to last year, it was a really good process," executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said of the "controlled chaos" of signing rookie free agents after the draft. "We were really excited about the guys that we got. We got five guys who ended up being on our 53 who were undrafted. We want to continue to have that. It's like an extra draft."

Said vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas: "When you can get guys like Paul Turner and Destiny Vaeao, it's exciting."

Howie Roseman said the fact that the draft is being in held in Philadelphia this year will have no impact on the decisions they make when they're on the clock. "You have to have armadillo skin in this city," said the team's oft-maligned de facto GM. "We're going to do what's best for the team. Some of the picks that have been made by teams in the past that were extremely popular . . . people were anointed kings of the draft or kings of free agency. What really matters is what happens once we enter the regular-season. We're going to do what we think is right for this team going forward. We're going to stick to our board. We're not going to raise a guy because he might get a standing ovation."

No one seems to have a good feel for what will happen with the quarterbacks in the first round Thursday night. Most analysts have no better than a late first- or early second-round grade on the top four passers - Mitch Trubisky, Deshaun Watson, DeShone Kizer and Patrick Mahomes. But eight of the first 12 teams on the board either need a quarterback now or will need one very soon because of the advancing age of their current signal caller. That means some or all of those four guys will get pushed up higher than they deserve. "I think most of this quarterback class should be later down the line, whether it's first round or second round," NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. "I wouldn't bang the table for any of them. I don't think any of them are ready to play."

Teams use a draft pick value chart to help guide them with trade offers. To give you an idea, the Eagles' first-round pick - No. 14 - is valued at 1,100 points. The 12th pick is worth 1,200 points. If the Eagles wanted to move up from 14 to 12, they likely would have to give up their third-round pick, the 99th overall, which is worth 104 points on the value chart. Their second-round pick, the 43rd overall, is worth 470 points. If they were willing to part with their second-round pick and nothing else, they probably could move up as high as seventh, which is worth 1,500 points on the value chart.

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@Pdomo Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog