The Philadelphia Eagles swung a trade to move up two spots to select defensive tackle, Jordan Davis. They expected the Baltimore Ravens to select him with the 14th overall pick. The Houston Texans stepped in and sent their 13th overall pick to the Eagles. The Eagles sent their 16th overall pick, a fourth-round pick, and two fifth-round picks in 2022.
The Philadelphia Eagles Got Aggressive Trading Up in the First Round
Eagle fans heard a running narrative all off-season: under Jonathan Gannon, the Eagles want to have defensive linemen occupy two gaps. Fletcher Cox was not the ideal fit in this defense. The Eagles released Cox, and resign him to a one-year deal. That was the precursor to watching the Eagles draft Davis in round one and trading up to select him.
Eagles Bulk Up on Defense
Davis, listed at 6-foot-6 and 343 pounds, is known for eating up blocks. Despite this, his NFL comparisons are more mobile big men. The NFL Network Analysts even suggested having him drop 15-20 pounds hopefully providing more value as a pass rusher.
He is looked at as a space-eater. But PFF ranked him as a potential second-round pick. Davis still saw his overall grade rise year over year from 72.2 in 2019, all the way up to 82.7 in 2021. He is somewhat versatile having played both the A and B gap. Providing Gannon with the perfect third defensive tackle in his defense for the 2022 season before we watch Cox move on in 2023 and Davis step up.
Pairing Davis with Javon Hargrave will be a thing of beauty when we watch them eat up blockers and allow T.J. Edwards to run free. With Haason Reddick coming in at strongside linebacker, and Davis eating up space in the middle, this defense should be fun to watch in 2022.
Performance in College
Heading into the 2022 NFL Draft, it was clear to most Eagles fans that the team would seek out help on the defensive line. No one expected the trade we ended up seeing. Philadelphia decided to move up to get the top player on their board after his stellar college career.
At 6’6 340 pounds, Davis helped Georgia reach four straight bowl games. He would play in a total of 41 games over his four-year career. Missing some time in his junior season. However Davis was able to contribute 90 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss, seven sacks, and one tipped pass. These statistics from a nose tackle of his size were enough for Philadelphia to pull the trigger on a trade that send Houston two draft picks to move up just two spots.
Eagles Aggression Will Pay Off
After watching the Eagles trade away one of their three selections to acquire more draft picks in 2023 it was a surprise to see them sacrifice three more mid-round picks to move up. However, this was a move that the Eagles needed to make, despite the temptation to take Kyle Hamilton who fell to Baltimore at 14. The Eagles also ended up trading away their second first-round pick as well. Securing a premier talent at a position of need.
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