I am not nearly as high on the Philadelphia Eagles 2026 draft as most people.
It wasn’t a bad draft, per se, but it certainly wasn’t the home run that Eagles fans and the local Philly media are painting it to be. Not even close.
As you know, I thought the Eagles needed to draft an OT in the first round to replace RT Lane Johnson, who will be retiring after the 2026 season. Plus, the Eagles probably won’t have LG Landon Dickerson much longer with his injury status. The Eagles drafted some offensive lineman but waited too long for my liking.
Let’s take a look at what Eagles GM Howie Roseman actually did in the draft.
Round 1, Pick 20: Makai Lemon, WR
In the first round, Roseman traded up from 23 to 20 to take USC WR Makai Lemon. I am not a fan of this move. Besides the fact that my choice for an OT was available at 23, the Eagles drafted a player they don’t necessarily need this season.
Lemon is small, slow and has short arms. Oh, and he only plays slot WR.
I understand that Lemon produced at USC last season, but the NFL is different. And there is the whole issue of how he plays a position where he would get most of his catches in the middle of the field. Last time I checked, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts doesn’t throw the ball in the middle of the field. Anybody else see the issue here?
I get that the Eagles are installing a new west coast offense and will ask Hurts to throw the ball over the middle more. Can he? I have my doubts.
Plus, if Lane Johnson’s body continues to break down and he misses more time, Hurts won’t have the time to find any receivers, and he won’t have a running game to occupy the defense’s attention. For a team that always believed in building through the trenches, I find this to be a curious pick.
I will concede that Lemon could be good eventually. I just doubt he will with Hurts at QB. I mean, the Eagles drafted Jalen Raegor over Justin Jefferson because they thought Jefferson was only a slot receiver, so maybe Roseman learned from that horrible mistake, and they think Lemon can also play outside. We’ll see.
There is also the fact that the Eagles gave up two 4th round picks to the Dallas Cowboys to move up three spots to make this pick. I don’t like that one bit.
Finally, I just want to say that this pick confirms that the Eagles already have a trade in place with the New England Patriots for AJ Brown. I also think that if the Patriots try to back out of the deal or offer the Eagles less now that they drafted a WR, the Eagles will threaten to pursue tampering charges against New England. I mean, there is zero doubt that Pats head coach Mike Vrabel had impermissible contact with Brown throughout the offseason. Using his intimate relationship with a reporter to get his agenda on Brown out there only adds to the whole unsavory situation.
Round 2, Pick 54: Eli Stowers, TE
Roseman has been preaching about the need for multi-faceted TEs in new OC Sean Mannion’s offense all offseason. They need TEs who can both catch and block. So, they resigned Dallas Goedert, who did not block well at all last season, and now they draft a TE who can’t block at all. It’s not just me, right?
Stowers started his college career as a QB and has only played TE for the last three seasons.
He had some nice receiving numbers last season at Vanderbilt, and he tested off the charts at the scouting combine, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s more of a big WR than a TE capable of blocking. So that would mean the Eagles used their first two picks on a slot WR and a smallish TE / big WR who isn’t a good blocker, in an offense with a QB who doesn’t like to throw over the middle.
Of course, this fits Roseman’s pattern of finding his TEs in the second round after drafting both Zach Ertz and Goedert in the second round.
In all honesty, Stowers might eventually be a decent receiving TE, and they might even put some weight on him to make him an acceptable blocker. But for this coming season, Stowers might only contribute on special teams.
Round 3, Pick 68: Markell Bell, OT
The Eagles finally got around to drafting an OT in the 3rd round and they got a mountain of a man. At 6-9, 346, Markell Bell certainly will be a run-blocking force, but he might have trouble with speed-rushers. And wasn’t the whole thing with offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland leaving due to the fact that they were changing the blocking philosophy by implementing a new west coast offense? That entails linemen getting out into space and into the second level of the defense. Bell doesn’t appear to be built for that.
The good news is that Lane Johnson is supposed to be back for 2026, so Bell should have time to sit and learn from a future Hall of Famer. He’ll also be able to work with the Eagles nutritionists to keep his weight down. I know it took Jordan Davis three years to do that, but he miraculously figured that out just in time for his contract year. Hopefully Bell learns that lesson quicker. We’ll see.
The Eagles traded their second third round pick, but we’ll get into that later.
The Eagles also traded both of their fourth round picks in this draft to the Cowboys, remember?
Round 5, Pick 178: Cole Payton, QB
Let me get this straight. The Eagles drafted ANOTHER QB from tiny North Dakota State? Double checks. Yep.
OK, nothing against Payton, but is Roseman kidding here? The best comp I’m hearing for Payton is QB/Swiss Army knife Taysum Hill? Well, that would be interesting if the Eagles didn’t already have three other QBs on the roster, so Payton won’t be dressing for games this season.
You can’t convince me that a guy who had more rushing attempts in college than pass attempts is going to be an NFL QB. Nope.
Round 6, Pick 207: Micah Morris, OG
The Eagles traded back from 197 and got picks 207, 251 and 252 here. That alone is a good move.
Morris is big (6-5, 334) and athletic. That’s exactly what you’re looking for in an offensive lineman you draft in the later rounds. This guy is a project. You get him into the building and coach him up. If he turns into something, great. If not, it was only a 6th round pick.
LG Landon Dickerson has a long injury history and RG Tyler Steen is a free agent after the coming season. Maybe Morris will get a chance to win a starting job in 2027. If so, this is a great pick. Heck, even if he’s just a backup for a few years, that’s OK for a late round pick.
Round 7, Pick 244: Cole Wisniewski, S
The Eagles need a safety after Reed Blakenship left in free agency, but I seriously doubt a box safety from Texas Tech is the answer. Maybe they drafted him because he spent his first four years in college at North Dakota State and Roseman is apparently obsessed with that school.
I don’t know, you’re throwing darts this late in the draft, so maybe trying to get a replacement for Blankenship on the Exciting Whites podcast will work out. The best-case scenario is probably Wisniewski becoming a contributor on special teams. And I would be absolutely fine with that from a seventh round draft pick.
Round 7, Pick 251: Uar Bernard, DT
The Eagles struck gold by drafting Jordan Mailata in the seventh round a few years ago, so they took another swing on a guy who has never played football before in his entire life by taking Bernard out of the NFL’s International Player Program.
Bernard is a physical freak from Nigeria, and he is apparently going to try to play DT in the NFL. Can defensive line coach Clint Hurtt work the same magic that Jeff Stoutland did with Mailata? I doubt it, but I guess it’s worth a shot. If nothing else, it will be a fun story.
Round 7, Pick 252: Keyshawn James-Newby, Edge
The Eagles had no pass rush last season, so why not take a shot in the dark on another undersized pass-rusher at the end of the draft.
Will James-Newby make the team? Probably not. The best-case scenario here is that he is on the practice squad for a couple of years and maybe develops into a rotational piece once they put a little weight on his frame (6-2, 238).
Getting back to that second third round pick that the Eagles traded, I just want to say that I like the move.
The Eagles traded a third rounder (pick 98) in this draft and a 2027 third rounder to the Minnesota Vikings for edge Jonathan Greenard and a 2026 seventh rounder. Then they signed Greenard to a 4-year $100 million extension.
This wasn’t some great move by Roseman. Greenard was demanding more money, and the Vikings were in salary cap hell. The picks were fair compensation, but the real reason this deal got done is that the Eagles were willing to pay Greenard what he wanted.
$25 million a season is a pretty large chunk of change, but at least it’s less than the $30 million a year that Carolina gave to Jalen Phillips. And Greenard has had a better career than Phillips. Greenard only had 3 sacks last season due to a shoulder injury that required surgery, but he had 24.5 sacks combined in 2023 and 2024.
So, the Eagles traded for a 29-year-old who is coming off a down year and surgery and then gave him a huge contract extension? That does make me nervous, but the Eagles had next to nothing as far as pass rushers on this roster. This is a great way to address the pass rush.
The Eagles also traded draft picks for another player.
They traded a 2026 sixth round pick and a 2027 seventh round pick for WR Dontayvion Wicks. All things considered, that’s not much to give up for a young receiver with some upside. They are certainly going to get more out of Wicks in 2026 than they were ever going to get out of a late draft pick, so this was a very good trade.
Obviously, it’s hard to judge a draft until the players have been in the league (hopefully) for a few years. But what fun is waiting, right?
For me this draft has far too many questions in it. I will assume that Lemon’s college production means that he will at least be a starting NFL WR. Will he be more than league average? That depends on whether or not the team can get Hurts to actually throw the ball over the middle. Will he be a star? Well, they traded up for him, so that would be nice.
The rest of the draft picks are projects, even Stowers and Bell. That’s not unusual in the NFL, so I’m not going to trash this draft. You just hope you find a few starters among your draft picks. If you find a star or two, then it’s a great draft.
Adding in what they got in trades for a few draft picks, makes this a productive draft, even if it isn’t exactly what I wanted them to do.
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