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The Philadelphia Eagles are headed by substitute general manager Bud_dog in our Pride Of Detroit Community Mock Draft. With the 13th pick in the draft, Bud_Dog has selected running back Christian McCaffrey out of Stanford for the Eagles. Below, Bud_dog explains his pick.
“Wow, this was a tough one, I'm not going to lie. Watching each pick slowly be taken off the board I decided to go with Christian McCaffrey out of Stanford. Coming into the draft the Eagles had quite a few holes that included running Back, cornerback, wid receiver, defensive line and last, but not least, linebacker. The pick really came down to Dalvin Cook, Christian McCaffrey, Mike Williams or John Ross.
With the top 2 Corners off the board, Williams and Ross could have been first priority had Philadelphia not went out and got Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith this offseason. They also haven't really done much to help out the running back corps at all this offseason. While Darren Sproles still performed at a Pro Bowl level last year, he is turning 34 this June, and you have to wonder how much he really has left in the tank at this point. Running back remains very worrisome if something were to happen to Sproles.
Add in that defensive line was somewhat addressed with the recent trade for Timmy Jernigan earlier this week, I felt comfortable narrowing my options down to Cook or McCaffrey. Delving into the tape, Cook definitely seemed like the better player but the two things that stood in my way were questionable character concerns and he is a bit of a fumbler, so naturally I went with the safer pick of the two: Mccaffrey.
What the Eagles are getting is a player that is truly special. McCaffrey rushed for over 1,600 yards in is junior campaign and led the entire nation in all-purpose yards at 211 yards a game! As we know, McCaffrey is an excellent route runner and doing so allows him to flex to receiver and still be as dangerous. Over all this should be a nice pairing with Carson Wentz to help each player blossom into franchise cornerstones for years to come.