The 2025 NFL Draft was held in Green Bay, Wisconsin this past weekend, and your Philadelphia Eagles made 10 selections. As usual, General Manager Howie Roseman made plenty of trades to move up and down the draft board throughout all seven rounds, and many draft analysts are saying he has again pulled off a master class of a draft.
From a supposed steal with its first-round pick to a few late-round flyers on additions to Stoutland University, let’s do a way-too-early evaluation of the Eagles’ draft picks before they have even set foot on the practice field. This article is a functional sequel to my Eagles’ draft preview article a couple of weeks back, so if you want to see who your friendly neighborhood Seattle Seahawks fan thought the local team should have picked at the time, feel free to give it a read. I am not going to go over the exact trades Roseman made in the draft for the sake of time.
The Eagles traded up one spot with the Kansas City Chiefs to pick 31 in the first round to select Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell. It seems Roseman and Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio have had their eyes on Campbell for some time, as Roseman tried to trade up as high as pick 22 with the Los Angeles Chargers to ensure the New Jersey native ended up on his childhood team. Campbell was one of the prospects consistently given a true first-round grade in this draft class, with the overwhelming majority of draft analysts ranking him as their number one inside linebacker (ILB), so the Eagles being able to secure him at the end of the first round is nothing short of a miracle. While he is projected to be an immediate starting caliber ILB in the Eagles’ defense, rushing the passer from the line of scrimmage was a big part of his game at Alabama, and Fangio will likely feature Campbell in a hybrid ILB/Edge rusher role. Campbell should be a versatile weapon in the Eagles’ front seven for a long time.
In the second round the Eagles landed Texas safety Andrew Mukuba at pick 64. I rated Mukuba as one of my favorite safety prospects for most of the pre-draft process, and he became an easy mock to the Eagles for me after C.J. Gardner-Johnson was traded to Houston. While not possessing the biggest frame, Mukuba’s tape demonstrates frankly absurd ball skills, as he led the SEC in interceptions last year with five. His great field-vision and coverage skills should earn him the starting free safety role right away opposite strong safety Reed Blankenship, forming a formidable duo in the defensive backfield.
After trading out of the third round, the Eagles drafted Nebraska defensive tackle Ty Robinson at pick 111 in the fourth round. With many losses on the defensive line, the Eagles needed to reinforce the trenches, and Robinson should fit in well. The former-Cornhusker’s tape shows a remarkable ability to collapse the pocket, with his 15 tackles for loss in 2024 being the most for a Nebraska player since former-Eagle Ndamukong Suh. The 310 pound, corn-fed monster has also proven himself to be a serviceable run-defender, and Eagles defensive line coach Clint Hurtt should have no problems developing him into a three-down player at the next level. The “Vanilla Gorilla” may also be able to see some offensive usage, as Nebraska would occasionally line him up at fullback during short-yardage or goal line situations.
At pick 145 in the fifth round, the Eagles selected Central Florida corner Mac Williams. While showing athletic promise (he ran a speedy 4.41 second 40-yard dash at the combine at almost 200 pounds), he lacked production in college, totalling only two interceptions and thirty four passes defended. Barring the unexpected, he will likely develop into a serviceable backup nickel/slot corner behind Cooper DeJean with the Eagles.
At pick 161 in the fifth round, Roseman added yet another Georgia Bulldog to the Eagles defense with linebacker Smael Mondon Jr. Mondon was a three-year starter at Georgia, seeing snaps at both ILB, edge rusher, and nickel-safety. His ability to rush the passer, stop the run, and drop into coverage makes for a fascinating prospect, but his mediocre production, undersized frame, and injury history resulted in his slide to the fifth round. He will likely start off as a contributor on special teams coverage units, and his myriad tools could see him end up in the defensive rotation. However, his jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none skill set may leave him without a true position at the NFL level unless properly developed, so he may be a low-floor prospect.
Boston College center Drew Kendall was the Eagles’ third pick in the fifth round, at 168 overall. Kendall is a late-round sleeper I had my eyes on throughout the pre-draft process, with hopes that he would follow his father Pete and be drafted by my Seahawks, but alas, the Eagles snagged him instead. The first team all-ACC center has an NFL pedigree, three years of starting experience at center, and has the physical form and fundamentals to make the leap to the next level. With Cam Jurgens recently signing a four year extension, the likelihood Kendall gets regular season reps anytime soon is not high, but if Jurgens were to go down, I fully trust renown Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland to have him ready to fill in.
Syracuse QB Kyle McCord was picked 181st overall in the sixth round, and this one is a head-scratcher for me. Jalen Hurts is not going anywhere anytime soon, and 2023 sixth-round pick Tanner McKee has seemingly solidified the place as the backup, so McCord is projected to be the Eagles’ emergency 3rd string QB. While McCord does boast an impressive passing pedigree with Ohio State and led the ACC with 4,779 passing yards last year with Syracuse, using a draft pick on a 3rd stringer while the defense is in need of talent injection on rookie deals does not seem like the best strategy from my perspective. Perhaps they can develop McCord and deal him to a QB needy team for a net draft capital increase in the future.
In the back half of the sixth round, the Eagles took swings on two more offensive tackle prospects for Jeff Stoutland: Myles Hinton from Michigan at pick 191 and Cameron Williams at pick 207. Both players are hulking, freak athletes with multiple years of starting experience but never quite put all the tools together while in college. Adding Hinton and Williams as developmental projects under the best offensive line coach in the NFL helps ensure continuity in case of an injury, and potentially succession plan to the Eagles’ league-best but aging offensive tackle duo in Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson.
With the final pick at 209, in the sixth round, Roseman added depth to the edge rusher room with Virginia Tech’s Antwaun Powell-Ryland. He had the third highest sack total in all of FBS football with sixteen last season, but his less than ideal athletic stature raises questions about his ability to perform against NFL offensive linemen. He’s a good swing on day three to add depth to the Eagles’ depleted edge room.
I think the Eagles had one of the better drafts of all thirty two teams. Their first two or three picks will likely be immediate contributors, and the reinforcements in the trenches, while not always sexy picks, are necessary to ensure continuity of offensive and defensive schemes in case of injuries to starters. The only pick I really dislike is the pick of Kyle McCord, but since Roseman already filled many of their key needs and they only used a sixth rounder on him, I will let it slide.
If we’re grading on a letter scale, I would give the Eagles 2025 draft an A-. They landed one or two plus starters and filled in the depth on an already championship quality roster.
