Eagles draft primer: Which players should be on Birds’ radar going into NFL scouting combine?

The next stop on the Eagles’ victory lap will take them to Indianapolis.

The shine on the team’s Super Bowl LIX celebrations, or even perhaps the scar on Howie Roseman’s forehead from the championship parade down Broad Street, has yet to truly fade away. The team’s potential road back to the NFL’s final weekend will take an important pit stop at the scouting combine nonetheless.

Given the short turnaround from playoffs to prospects, here are a handful of players that should be on the Eagles’ radar going into the instructive week of athletic testing, medical evaluations, and in-person interviews:

Simmons will be an intriguing name to watch during the combine for myriad reasons. The 6-foot-5, 310-pound tackle is the prototypical prospect at the position with long arms and a massive frame he can grow into. He’s even got experience playing at both left and right tackle, which could make him an ideal heir apparent to Lane Johnson on the Eagles with the capability of starting out as a swing tackle second on the depth chart.

The combine will be important for Simmons, though, because he suffered a season-ending knee injury midway through the Buckeyes season. His draft range will likely be determined by the medical evaluations teams conduct on him in Indianapolis and the overall feel for his recovery timeline. Even without athletic testing, Simmons’ tape shows plenty of the requisite athleticism and foot speed to feel good about how he’ll translate to the next level assuming he makes a full recovery.

The Eagles don’t have the immediate need at tackle that many of the teams drafting ahead of them will, so the potential for Simmons to slide into their range is worth monitoring.

There’s a cluster of edge rushers that enter Indianapolis needing to be sorted. Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr., Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku, and Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart should each intrigue the Eagles for different reasons, but which one falls will likely be determined in the coming weeks.

Starting on one end of the spectrum, Pearce is a 6-5, 243-pound speed rusher who was able to beat opposing tackles around the edge consistently in college. According to Pro Football Focus, he had 55 total pressures and eight sacks last season. His burst off the ball and quickness around the edge gives him plenty of upside, but he’ll have to improve his rushing technique and ability to win with power to realize that potential. It seems he was a bit of a one-trick pony during college, although his speed made it an effective trick.

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Williamstown’s Ezeiruaku is 6-2, 247 pounds but has 34-inch arms that help him still look the part as a prototypical edge rusher prospect. He plays with a blend of speed and power with a couple rush moves and a good motor to chase down plays. He had 60 total pressures last season and 14 sacks according to PFF, albeit in the Atlantic Coastal Conference rather than the Southeastern Conference.

Stewart represents the opposite end of the gamut of edge-rusher prospects. At 6-5, 281 pounds, his game predictably features more physicality than the previous two, although he also has more than enough quickness off the ball and athleticism to get around the edge that way as well. His production isn’t as good as the others, though, with 39 pressures and two sacks. Still, Stewart has plenty of upside with his combination of length, power, and explosiveness at the snap to be an excellent value play if he falls into the late first round.

Nolen might be the perfect replacement for Milton Williams if the Eagles let the defensive tackle walk in free agency. Problem is, Nolen might be long gone by the time they are on the board at No. 32.

The 6-3, 293-pound interior rusher is quick off the ball and was disruptive throughout his college career as a result, logging 14 tackles for losses and 6.5 sacks last season. And although there are some projections — including The Inquirer’s Devin Jackson’s most recent mock draft — that predict he’ll slide to the Eagles, that explosiveness could make him one of the risers coming out of the combine if he tests accordingly.

The hope lies in a deep class of defensive tackles delaying the run on the top guys, of which Nolen should be included.

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Could the Eagles go back-to-back with first-round Toledo prospects?

One year after Quinyon Mitchell excelled through the pre-draft process en route to the Eagles, his former teammate Alexander is trying to solidify himself as a first-round prospect going into Indy. Also like Mitchell, Alexander had a strong Senior Bowl showing, proving his explosiveness off the ball and hand quickness can translate against elevated competition.

Alexander projects as a more realistic target for the Eagles at No. 32, largely thanks to a lack of production primarily playing teams outside of the Power 5 conferences. Still, the 6-3, 304-pound defensive tackle could get himself firmly into the Eagles’ range with strong athletic testing to separate himself in a crowded group of prospects.

Campbell spent part of his high school career at Timber Creek, but the Eagles could have interest in more than his local roots. Campbell was recruited as an edge rusher but switched to off-ball linebacker at Alabama because of a logjam ahead of him on the depth chart that included recent first-round picks Dallas Turner and Will Anderson. He led the Crimson Tide with 117 total tackles last season and still has the versatility to drop down to the edge, meaning he could fill a role similar to the one Zack Baun filled last season.

Speaking of Baun, there’s a valid argument to be made that, if the Eagles get priced out of the 28-year-old linebacker, they’d be unlikely to value a linebacker prospect highly enough to take one in the first round. Roseman has a track record of avoiding using premium picks on non-premium positions, particularly linebacker as well. That makes the Campbell projection harder to envision, even if he does offer some value as a part-time edge rusher with ideal traits. Perhaps his pass-rush ability, along with the slightly diminished value of the final pick in the first round potentially helping justify a selection outside of the premium few positions, are justification enough keep him in mind going into the combine.