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Ah draft week, where a team hopes, prays, lies, sneaks around and tries to land a player that will take their franchise to the “next level.” With the first round of the 2014 NFL draft set to take place on Thursday night, rumors have been hot and heavy about what the Eagles may do or may not do.
Will the Eagles trade up? Trade down? Stay where they are? Only Howie Roseman, Chip Kelly, and the rest of the Eagles brass will know that answer. But today, Peter King of Sports Illustrated noted that the Eagles may be looking to trade up for a wide receiver, but not the one that we in Philadelphia have been dreaming to see in midnight green. King wrote the following in his Monday Morning Quarterback column:
Keep hearing they want in on the prime receiver action, and the receiver they want could be LSU’s Odell Beckham, who can play outside, inside in the slot and as a returner. But the Eagles would have to trade up, and GM Howie Roseman is doing his due diligence, talking to at least two teams in the mid-round neighborhood when Beckham would likely go. But the cost could be too rich for the Eagles’ blood. They may have to settle for Marqise Lee, who would be some consolation prize.
Beckham entered the NFL draft after three seasons at LSU. While in school, the wide receiver caught 143 balls for 2,340 yards and 12 touchdowns. Last year alone, he caught 59 passes for 1,152 yards and eight touchdowns.
There is little doubt that Beckham is a playmaker and can succeed in Chip Kelly’s offense, but would he be enough to satisfy the Eagles Faithful’s needs for a receiver to replace the departed DeSean Jackson?
Hal Greenblatt covers the Eagles for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter: @HMGreenblatt
