Last time the Eagles started the draft process with the No. 32 overall pick, they were Super Bowl LII champions, and Lamar Jackson was an uber-talented, albeit raw quarterback prospect.
Baltimore bet right on the now two-time MVP and superstar, feeling Jackson was worth going up to get with the last pick in the first round, a sentiment tied to the fifth-year option that is cut off once you dip down to the 33rd pick and the top of the second round.
The Eagles didn’t need a QB at the time and felt comfortable moving down to No. 52 overall and then bouncing back up to take tight end Dallas Goedert with the 49th pick.
And Howie Roseman selected Goedert despite having an entrenched star at the tight end position, Zach Ertz, who was just 27 at the time and getting ready to set the NFL’s single-season record for receptions at the position with 116 for 1,163 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2018.
Goedert, 30, is over two years older than Ertz was in the 2018 draft when Roseman felt comfortable taking the latter’s heir apparent and the Eagles have already signaled the need to add depth at the TE position next season with some splashier futures signings in former Minnesota TE Nick Muse, and 2023 San Francisco third-round pick Cameron Latu.
Could lightning strike twice with Philadelphia coming off a Super Bowl LIX championship?
Former Eagles scout and NFL Media lead draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah didn’t think so when painted the scenario.
The first missing piece is the lack of a QB prospect to entice a team to trade up to No. 32.
“In terms of the quarterbacks, I haven’t been able to find that buzz out there for someone who is a quarterback who teams would want to get at the bottom of the first round,” Jeremiah told Philadelphia Eagles On SI during his annual pre-Scouting Combine conference call. Jaxson Dart [of Ole Miss] is my third guy. That would be the one [QB] I think I would keep an eye on and see if the buzz builds with him that maybe that buzz could build.
“As of today, I would say I don’t necessarily see a team moving in there.”
The other part that doesn’t match up for Jeremiah is the idea of replacing Goedert, who is still one of the better two-way TEs in the NFL.
“I do think Dallas Goedert has a lot more — he’s got a lot more football left in him,” said Jeremiah.
Of course, so did Ertz when the Eagles drafted Goedert in 2018 so a targeted move down to get a talented player at the position isn’t necessarily about finding a TE1 immediately, it’s about a hopefully seamless transition when it’s time to turn the page later on.
That part works for Jeremiah because the 2025 draft is deep with tight ends who should be in the mix from 40 to 60.
“There’s definitely tight ends,” he said. “The three that I would have in that mix, Mason Taylor from LSU would be a home run pick who is just a real steady, reliable, dependable guy who jumped on the scene with the game-winner against Bama his freshman year,” Jeremiah said. “Obviously it’s a football family with [his father] Jason Taylor there, but he’s an impressive kid who had a great Senior Bowl. I don’t know how far into the second round he would make it, but he’s in that range.”
Other TEs that intrique Jeremiah is that range are Elijah Arroyo of Miami and Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin.
“Another one who had a great Senior Bowl week, who can really run,” Jeremiah said of Arroyo. “Then Harold Fannin, who I mentioned earlier from Bowling Green. I think those would all be good guys to add along into that group.”