{"id":154149,"date":"2026-04-01T09:21:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/154149\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T09:21:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:21:22","slug":"positions-howie-roseman-should-target-in-nfl-mock-draft-nbc-sports-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/154149\/","title":{"rendered":"Positions Howie Roseman should target in NFL mock draft \u2013 NBC Sports Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s not going to be a quarterback. We know it&#8217;s not going to be a running back. It&#8217;s hard to imagine it would be a cornerback. It can&#8217;t be a linebacker.<\/p>\n<p>So we can narrow down the Eagles&#8217; 1st-round pick to a lineman on either side of the ball, maybe a wide receiver, possibly a tight end or conceivably a safety.<\/p>\n<p>I would expect this to be a big offensive line and edge rush draft for the Eagles, and we have Howie Roseman taking two offensive linemen in the first three rounds and then two more in the later rounds as well as two edge rushers.<\/p>\n<p>With Howie, if you guess o-line or d-line you\u2019re generally not going to be far off.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, here\u2019s our All-Eagles mock draft as Howie replenishes the two lines early and late in the draft.<\/p>\n<p>First round, 23rd\u00a0pick: Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah:\u00a0First of all, I wouldn\u2019t rule out Howie Roseman moving up in the first round for Georgia tackle Monroe Freeling or Penn State\u2019s interior lineman Olaivavega Ioane and I think Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq is still in play here as well. But if Roseman stays at 23 Lomu makes a lot of sense. He\u2019s a plug-and-play tackle with great athleticism at 6-foot-6, 310 pounds, already technically sound. Lomu allowed two sacks in 2024 and none this past year in well over 300 pass block snaps. The Eagles are sorely overdue to start re-stocking the offensive line. Their last five 1st-round picks have been on defense (Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Quinyon Mitchell, Jihaad Campbell), and they haven\u2019t taken a 1st-round offensive lineman since the unfortunate Andre Dillard pick in 2019 and before that Lane Johnson back in 2013. So it\u2019s time, and Lomu should be a nice fit who can come in from Day 1 and back up both guard and tackle, provide some insurance at left guard if Landon Dickerson starts dealing with more injuries and learn tackle from one of the best ever.<\/p>\n<p>Second round, 54th\u00a0pick: Derrick Moore, Edge, Michigan:\u00a0This is a deep edge class and that means some very good talent will get bumped down into Day 2, and that\u2019s where I expect Howie to pounce and add a third outside rusher behind Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith. The Eagles added veteran Arnold Ebiketie and maybe he can provide some pass rush in the rotation, but especially with questions about Smith\u2019s health and production the Eagles need more than just Hunt and Ebiketie. Moore is a rarity in that he spent all four years of college at one school and got better every year at Michigan. He blossomed last year with 10 sacks, 10 \u00bd tackles for loss and a couple forced fumbles, joining Brandon Graham and Aidan Hutchinson as Michigan players with double-digit sacks and tackles for loss in the same season. Moore has nice size at 6-foot-3, 260 pounds, and he says he modeled his game after Jared Verse, which is a good place to start. Moore has always had the strength and athleticism to beat offensive tackles but this past year he expanded his repertoire of moves and that helped him get to the next level as a pass rusher. The Eagles haven\u2019t taken an edge rusher in the second round in 14 years, since Vinny Curry in 2012. Going o-line in the first round and d-line in the second round is about as Howie as you can get.<\/p>\n<p>Third round, 68th\u00a0pick [from Jets]: Malachi Fields, WR, Notre Dame:\u00a0A shaky combine probably knocked Fields well into Day 2 after he was considered a possible Day 1 pick after a decent Senior Bowl. Fields ran a 4.61 at the Combine and did not catch the ball particularly well, and slow inconsistent wide receivers aren\u2019t going to be in high demand in the draft. But Fields has that great size at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, and he knows how to use his size to get position on cornerbacks. His production at Virginia and to a lesser extend this past year at Notre Dame was decent. After a couple 800-yard seasons at Virginia, Fields finished up at Notre Dame and although he only caught 36 passes this past season he averaged 17.5 yards per catch. The Eagles have always been a team that values production and traits above what someone does on one random day in Indianapolis, which is why Fields may make sense here. Whatever happens with A.J. Brown, the Eagles need to add some firepower at wide receiver, and Fields\u2019 production in Charlottesville and South Bend makes him an intriguing prospect if the Eagles can get past his lackluster combine.<\/p>\n<p>Third round, 98th\u00a0pick [comp pick]: Logan Jones, iOL, Iowa:\u00a0Jones began his college career as a defensive lineman, but once he converted to center he quickly blossomed into a top prospect. Jones, 6-foot-3, 300 pounds, won the Rimington Award this past season as the best center in college football, an award named after Dave Rimington, who finished his career with the Eagles in 1988. With the serious injury situations facing Cam Jurgens and Landon Dickerson, the Eagles really need to start thinking about replenishing at interior offensive line and although they seem to be high on last year\u2019s 5th-round pick, Drew Kendall, he remains an unknown with very limited NFL experience. Unlike Fields, Jones had a tremendous combine and really showed off his athleticism. He was a three-year captain at Iowa, which tells you what kind of leader he is, and already an evolved pass blocker. The Eagles nailed the Jurgens and Dickerson picks on Day 2, and Jones could follow in their footsteps and at some point become Jurgens\u2019 replacement in the middle of the line.<\/p>\n<p>Fourth round, 114th\u00a0pick [from Falcons]: Bud Clark, S, TCU:\u00a0Re-signing Marcus Epps was huge after the Eagles lost Reed Blankenship in free agency and traded Sydney Brown to the Falcons, but the Eagles still only have Epps and Andrew Mukuba and they probably need to add another veteran free agent and draft a safety. Clark stands 6-foot-1, 190, and is equally comfortable up on the line of scrimmage or deep in coverage. His production at TCU was elite: Over the last four years he had 15 interceptions and two pick-6\u2019s. His 15 INTs since 2022 are most in the BCS during that span and tied the school record set in the 1980s by Falanda Newton. Those ball skills are valuable, but he\u2019s also a secure tackler and big hitter. Needs to be more disciplined, but if you can get a playmaker like Clark in the fourth round you jump at it.<\/p>\n<p>Fourth round, 137th\u00a0pick [comp pick]: Joe Royer, TE, Cincinnati:\u00a0Dallas Goedert is back, but Sean Mannion wants multiple tight ends who are legit receiving threats and Royer, who finished at Cincinnati after spending three years as a deep backup at Ohio State, is a nice mid-round option to add depth and playmaking potential to a revamped room that also includes Grant Calcaterra, Johnny Mundt, E.J. Jenkins, Jaheim Bell, Stone Smartt and sometimes Cam Latu. After catching just four passes for 24 yards in three seasons in Columbus, he was 79-for-937 with seven TDs in two seasons with the Bearcats. The Eagles have had great success drafting out of Cincinnati, with Trent Cole in 2005, Brent Celek in 2007, Jason Kelce in 2011 and even Al Nelson back in 1965.<\/p>\n<p>Fifth round, 153rd\u00a0pick [from Falcons]: Caden Curry, Edge, Ohio State:\u00a0The Eagles added veteran Arnold Ebiketie to an edge group that starts with Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith. But without Jaelan Phillips, the Eagles need much more. We have them adding Michigan\u2019s Derrick Moore in the second round, but multiple edge picks wouldn\u2019t be surprising at all. Curry, 6-foot-3, 255, has a non-stop motor and was super productive last year playing under Matt Patricia but is limited by his lack of bend and ankle flexion and his lack of pass-rush moves. But the production was very good. After picking up only 4 \u00bd acks in his first three years in Columbus, he was second in the Big Ten to Minnesota\u2019s Anthony Smith with 11 sacks last year \u2013 one more than Moore \u2013 and added 16 \u00bd tackles for loss, 14th-most in the BCS in 2025. The Eagles haven\u2019t drafted anybody out of Ohio State since linebacker Brian Rolle in 2011 and Kurt Coleman in 2010, but Curry makes a lot of sense if he\u2019s still on the board in the 150s.<\/p>\n<p>Fifth round, 178th\u00a0pick: Enrique Cruz, OT, Kansas:\u00a0Howie Roseman loves taking late-round offensive linemen, and Cruz fits the bill. He\u2019s huge at 6-foot-6, 315 pounds, and he\u2019s a powerful kid who got away with a lack of refined technique in college through strength. Cruz was a right tackle starter at Kansas this past season after transferring from Syracuse, where he was a starting left tackle for one season. His strength is run blocking, but he needs work as a pass blocker, and you\u2019d sure love to have Jeff Stoutland to work with him with his history with late-round picks. But Cruz is an intriguing long-term project, and his 4.94 at the Combine certainly opened some eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sixth round, 197th\u00a0pick [from Falcons]: Fa\u2019alili Fa\u2019amoe, OT, Wake Forest:\u00a0We\u2019ve got Howie going back-to-back late-round offensive tackles with Cruz and Fa\u2019amoe. He\u2019s an athletically limited right tackle prospect with good size at 6-foot-5, 311 pounds. His lack of consistency and generally poor pad level will make him a late-round pick, but he\u2019s got an NFL frame and occasional dominating reps that will convince somebody to draft him as a developmental guy. Fa\u2019amoe made 38 starts, all at right tackle \u2013 26 at Washington State and 12 this past year at Wake Forest. He didn\u2019t play any guard in college but with his size, slow feet and lack of athleticism, he could wind up as more of a guard prospect in the NFL than tackle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s not going to be a quarterback. We know it&#8217;s not going to be a running back. It&#8217;s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6107,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-154149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-eagles-blog","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}