Linebacker not a pressing need for Eagles in the draft
But they could shake things up by trading veteran Mychal Kendricks
The Eagles return all three starting linebackers for 2017, so linebacker does not appear to be a pressing need for the team.
But Mychal Kendricks has been on the trading block, and his future with the team is uncertain. The Eagles could draft a potential replacement. They could also bolster the depth behind starters Jordan Hicks and Nigel Bradham, who are also the two linebackers on passing downs.
The top linebacker in the first round might be Alabama's Reuben Foster, who won the Butkus Award last year as the nation's best at the position. Foster is 6-feet and 229 pounds and plays with an attitude that fans of defensive football would appreciate. He was dismissed from the combine after an incident with a hospital worker, and he had a diluted urine sample for his drug test at the combine. That does not make for an ideal predraft process, but there's little to question about how he plays.
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"I don't see him sliding all that far," NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. "I think he's a top-20 pick all day long in any draft. Could he have been a top-10 pick? He still might be a top-10 pick."
His biggest competition at linebacker is Temple's Haason Reddick, whose pre-draft rise started with an outstanding week at the Senior Bowl in January while showing he can move from defensive end. Reddick has cemented himself as a first-round pick and could threaten Foster to be the first linebacker off the board.
Florida's Jarrad Davis and Vanderbilt's Zach Cunningham are the next linebackers in the class. Eagles executive Howie Roseman has an affinity for Florida players, and Davis was a leader for the Gators even though his senior season was shortened by a leg injury. That restricted him at the combine, but the 6-1, 238-pounder is a potential Day 1 starter who could go in the first round.
Cunningham was all over the field for the Commodores, earning first-team all-America honors the last two seasons. He led the SEC with 125 tackles last season and ran a 4.67-second 40-yard dash with a 6-3, 234-pound frame.
The Eagles re-signed Najee Goode as a core special-teams player and reserve linebacker, but he's the only backup with notable experience. Kamu Grugier-Hill was mostly a special-teams player last year, and backup middle linebacker Joe Walker missed all of last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
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