Eagles mock draft: A trade out of the first round, a coveted O-lineman, and depth at key positions

With mock draft season close to giving way to actual draft season this week, it’s time to squeeze in my one and only all-Eagles mock draft.

There are options aplenty, especially given the range of outcomes for a team picking last in the first round, but here’s my best guess at how things could go for the Eagles as they embark on possibly the most formative few days of the offseason:

* TRADE: Eagles trade picks No. 32 and 134 to the New Orleans Saints for picks No. 40 and 93.

There’s a real possibility the Eagles will go on the clock at the end of the first round without any first round-graded players left on their board. If that’s the case, trading down makes sense, as there should be teams interested in moving back up into the first round to draft a prospect with a fifth-year option on their rookie contract. In this scenario, the Eagles make a deal with the Saints, an organization with which they’ve brokered plenty of trades, and add an extra Day 2 pick.

» READ MORE: The 2025 class is deep in interior offensive linemen. But will the Eagles wait past Round 1?

More important, they add Jackson, a prospect with the pedigree, versatility, and high-level physical traits the Eagles often covet when targeting trench players. The 6-foot-4, 315-pound lineman is a former five-star recruit who started 31 games at left guard and nine at left tackle for the Buckeyes. In those games, Jackson showcased a combination of power, length, and explosiveness that define his upside to become an impact player. It’s also worth noting Jackson visited the NovaCare Complex during the predraft process.

Jackson would have a pathway to earn the team’s starting right guard spot as a rookie, but he also could be the heir apparent to Lane Johnson at right tackle. He doesn’t have ideal height for the position, but his arm length and foot quickness should give him a chance to bump out to tackle if the Eagles needed him to.

» READ MORE: Does the 2025 class of OTs offer a potential Lane Johnson heir apparent?

It would hardly be a surprise if the Eagles stuck with the trenches with their first two picks, especially if a high-upside edge rusher is available at No. 64.

Oladejo is exactly that. The recently converted linebacker is 6-3, 259 pounds and has the explosiveness, length (33⅜-inch arms), and play personality to suggest he could develop into an every-down edge rusher with more time on task. He finished last season with 57 total tackles, 4½ sacks, and 13½ tackles for loss while splitting time between edge rusher and off-ball linebacker.

He’ll need to develop a more polished pass-rush plan to unlock his potential, but he projects similarly to Eagles second-year edge Jalyx Hunt as a moldable rusher with high-level athleticism. And, like Nolan Smith, his intensity and motor make up for any size disadvantage he may have against pulling guards or tackles coming downhill. It’s also worth noting that Oladejo, like Jackson, took a top-30 visit to the NovaCare Complex.

Although Mukuba won’t be for everyone because of his 5-11, 186-pound frame, he makes sense for the Eagles as a potential Day 1 starter operating as a post safety in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s system. The former four-star recruit had five interceptions, 11 pass breakups, and 69 tackles for the Longhorns last season and has started 43 games across a five-year college career that started at Clemson and finished in Austin.

Even though he’s smaller, Mukuba plays with plenty of intensity and doesn’t shy away from contact in the run game. Because of that, he’d make for quality competition for Sydney Brown to replace C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the Eagles secondary.

With Dallas Goedert entering the final year of his contract and on the trading block, the Eagles would do well to find a capable successor in the first couple of days of the draft. Fannin should be up for the task, at least in the pass game. The 6-3, 241-pound prospect was extremely productive in college, where he played for Eagles quarterbacks coach and former Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler and caught 117 passes for 1,555 yards and 10 touchdowns.

And while his smaller frame won’t make him a like-for-like replacement for Goedert’s contributions as an in-line run blocker, Fannin showed flashes of capability contributing to the run game during his college career, even against elevated competition. Combine that with his reliability as a pass catcher and his juice once the ball is in his hands, and Fannin feels like a solid fit for an Eagles offense that could use a few productive players on rookie contracts the next few years.

The Eagles still have some time to decide whether to exercise Jordan Davis’ fifth-year option, but they could future-proof the nose tackle position on Day 3 of the draft with a player like Jackson.

The 6-6, 328-pound defensive tackle may not make it this far in the draft, but his lack of positional versatility and pass-rushing chops may give him at least a chance to be available. That lack of versatility wouldn’t be as much of an issue for the Eagles, who could use another anchoring nose tackle to plug gaps on early downs before coming off the field for a slasher like Moro Ojomo.

Another player who visited the Eagles during the predraft process, King makes sense as a depth linebacker addition who could find a role on special teams early in his career.

At 6-1, 236 pounds, the 22-year-old has a compact build and is at his best coming downhill against the run. He started 27 games over a four-year college career and finished last season with 97 total tackles, 8½ tackles for loss, three sacks, and one forced fumble.

His lack of length and explosiveness makes him a Day 3 player, but his physicality and instincts could make him a decent fit for the Eagles on defense and special teams.

At the risk of developing a trend here, Roberts is another player the Eagles had in for a visit and makes sense as a depth addition to the defense on Day 3.

The 6-4, 285-pound prospect is a bigger-bodied defensive end and could earn some early-down snaps in a rotation that lost Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat this offseason. While he posted encouraging results in the 40-yard dash and broad jump at the NFL combine, Roberts’ game is predicated on power. He’s got long arms and a stout frame, which he often used to collapse the edge in the college en route to 35 total tackles, 7½ sacks, 12½ tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles last year.

That power should give Roberts enough versatility to bump inside to the interior defensive line as well, especially given his encouraging testing numbers.

The Eagles have plenty of juice at the top of the wide receiver depth chart, but they could add even more through the draft with a player like Felton.

The 6-1, 183-pound wideout is a projected Day 3 pick largely because his smaller frame invites valid concerns about his ability to hold up against press coverage, but Felton is dynamic with the ball in his hands and when serving as a field-stretcher. He made plenty of plays operating from the outside, but he projects as more of a slot specialist in the NFL who can threaten a defense on underneath option plays or slot fades.

Perhaps just as importantly, Felton offers value as a special-teamer, despite his smaller frame. He ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash at the combine and covered kickoff and punt returns for the Terrapins throughout his career.