Are the Eagles Duck hunting ?? … One of the rumors swirling around at last week’s Senior Bowl was that Philadelphia was looking at ways to possibly move up from the 20th spot in the 2015 draft to get into range to select Oregon QB Marcus Mariota. Mariota, of course, played for current Eagles’ head coach and de facto G.M. Chip Kelly early in his career with the Ducks. For a long while Mariota had been considered to be the odds on favorite to be the first player selected at this year’s draft; however, it appears that his stock has slipped somewhat in recent weeks because teams view him as something of a system QB who would need the right fit to be a success in the pros. And the feeling around the league is that Mariota isn’t going to be a particularly good fit at all in Tampa Bay which has the top pick this year and runs a very conservative pro style offense. On the other hand, it would be hard to see Mariota dropping much out of the top 5 this coming April 30th, meaning that Philadelphia, whose ‘system’ was originally designed with a QB like Mariota in mind, would have to deal away a real package of picks in order to move up from their current 20th selection. Indeed, there have been suggestions that such a move could cost as many three future #1 picks or even the Eagles’ whole draft this year. It has also been suggested that the Eagles might have had to make multiple moves by say trading up to around the 10th pick initially and then making a second deal to get into the top 5 as teams already picking in that range might not be willing to drop all the way down to the second half of this year’s draft. However, now come reports that the Eagles could include QB Nick Foles in such dealings and that a number of teams looking for some stability at the position, including St. Louis, have made enquiries about his availability. And St. Louis just happens to own the 10th pick this year – see above – which could get the Eagles‘ a good part of the way to where they will need to be to get Mariota. Interestingly, the above report also suggests that Tennessee could also be interested in acquiring Foles; Tennessee, of course, has the second pick this year, but like Tampa Bay are thought to be more interested in acquiring a pro-style type pocket passer. It still would cost the Eagles a bundle to move up all to the #2 pick, but including a young veteran QB like Foles, who had an outstanding season in 2013, might make an intriguing down payment. Stay tuned!
