Inside the Birds: How Does Sam Darnold Trade Impact Eagles Pick At 12?

With more moves being made around the league this week, how have the Eagles been impacted by it all?

On the latest Inside the Birds podcast, Geoff Mosher and Adam Caplan take a look at the Sam Darnold trade, as well as potential linebacker prospects in this year’s draft.

Darnold trade

Geoff Mosher: “The Panthers trade for Sam Darnold. They are sitting there at eighth overall and I think a lot of the hope of Eagles fans was the Panthers were going to take a quarterback, which pushes another non-quarterback player down the list for the Eagles to get, because as you sit here today at 12, to get a guy like Horn to get a guy like Surtain, maybe Jaylen Waddle. No guarantees right now at 12. But if two other quarterbacks went in the top 10 and push that down you start to feel a little better about it.”

Adam Caplan: “The problem the Eagles are going to run into is that there are players that they like that teams ahead of them are gonna like. And now that the Panthers have done this, and I totally agree they’re not taking the quarterback – they put it out there, ‘Oh, we’re not out of the quarterback race at eight.’ OK – but when you give up a future two … Sam Darnold is your starter for two seasons by contract structure, they’re going to rollover his fifth year option before it’s due on May 3, he’ll be their quarterback for two seasons. They’re not going with the quarterback at eight. Their biggest needs are, wouldn’t you know it, cornerback and wide receiver. I don’t count linebackers as the Eagles’ top need because they don’t value it, like other teams do. It’s cornerback and wide receiver so it’s not good man, I’m telling you, it’s not good because the Cowboys, their top need is corner. The Lions, their top needs are wide receivers, the Dolphins are in the wide receiver market, the Bengals are definitely in the wide receiver market.”

Another trade?

Caplan: “If they stay there it would be a minor surprise. I just feel that the receiver and cornerback board are going to be hit. So, I’ve got to think if it doesn’t work out well, if the corners and receivers are gone, they either stay and take a guy like [Kwity] Paye, the Michigan D-end, which I think would be a solid pick. We know that they’re real light at that position in terms of depth and then Brandon Graham is not gonna play forever, they eventually will replace him. And that’s kind of what I think they’re looking at with this Panthers trade.

Micah Parsons

Caplan: “Micah Parsons, let’s start with him. I know people compare him to Isaiah Simmons and it’s a fair one. The problem is very simple, he’s got major off-the-field concerns. Not Reuben Foster-type but they’re concerns.Trouble, as one scouting source said, unfortunately seems to find him sometimes, whether it’s people around him. He’s not a bad kid. But I’ve covered this business for 21 years and when five or six people mention the same stuff to you, you’ve got to take it seriously. But he’s really gifted, he’s a flash player, you can move him around, you can line him up at end, you can line him up at strong-side linebacker, if you’re in 34 defense you can move him anywhere you want. Just a really gifted player. I’ll be very interested to see if he drops, very interested to see if he drops out of the top 10 because if you take the off the field stuff off the table, he’s going top 10, there is no way you pass on him in the top 10 without that.”

Zaven Collins

Mosher: “A guy like Zaven Collins, he’s a Tulsa linebacker. I’ve heard some great things about him and his ability to just run, cover, diagnose, do everything. This is a kid, who even though he played at Tulsa, which isn’t the highest level of competition, seems to have all those great traits that the Eagles are particularly looking for from a linebacker in nowadays’ game. The new-age game where you can run and cover and and pass all those check marks.

“I don’t know it sounds like if he’s that good he might be a bottom-end first round guy, but maybe because he played at Tulsa, it knocks him into the second round, but that’s a guy that I think we should keep our eyes on, because he’s got everything, all those kind of physical traits that Eagles saw probably in Davion Taylor, but he’s not new to the position, and he’s got great football intelligence. Those guys in the second round start flying off because a lot of 4-3 teams feel the same way as the Eagles where they’d rather get that linebacker in the second or third round, but then once it happens, you start to see those guys go.”

Jamin Davis

Caplan: “Almost every scouting source I spoke to, and I’m going way up with some teams, they mention Jamin Davis. He’s a fun linebacker, Kentucky historically and I don’t understand why this is, they have linebackers who are on the thinner side like not real big. This guy is 235 lbs, 6-foot-3 and a half, his pro day workout was elite and I understand it was only a pro day but you always have to match up tape with pro day numbers. If the tape that you watch from his pro day is exceptional which it was and you match it up to his college tape then you got something. He’s gonna go in rounds two or three, and this is the type of linebacker that would fit in well here with Eagles with this new scheme. This kid can run, he’s a playmaker, the one knock I have on him that’s true because the tape shows it, he doesn’t shed super well and he’s not a big time hitter. But he’s so athletic and he’s a mover and he could do so many different things for you. He’s a fun player.”

– Justin Morganstein (@jmotweets_) is a staff contributor to InsideTheBirds.com