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Rare is the mock draft that agrees with another mock draft so far. I've poured through dozens of these "imaginary" draft predictions over the last couple of months, and picks change as the seasons change. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, but getting three out of four "experts" to agree on anything is difficult to do.
Maybe it really does make sense for the Eagles to take cornerback Dee Milliner out of Alabama, then.
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CBS Sports currently has four writers putting out Mock Drafts: Rob Rang, Pat Kirwan, Pete Prisco and Dane Brugler. The first three have slotted Milliner as the Eagles' pick, while Brugler is currently projecting offensive tackle Luke Joeckel to Philadelphia with the fourth overall selection. However, you could still expect that pick to change again as we draw closer to April's draft.
Philadelphia has needs at both positions. One would expect new head coach Chip Kelly to upgrade his offensive line to fit his schematic needs, and as of now we know that Philly has not signed a tackle in free agency. But it would also make sense to draft a corner after releasing Nnamdi Asomugha and letting Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie walk. This came after allowing the most passing touchdowns in the NFL last year, so even though it's rare to see a corner go in the top five, the draft isn't very top-heavy and Milliner is good enough to go to the Eagles at four.
The physical, long-armed Milliner would be an immediate upgrade at a position new head coach Chip Kelly valued highly while at Oregon. Milliner revealed at the combine that he will need to undergo surgery to repair a partially torn labrum but the tough, long-armed cornerback is expected to be fine in time for training camp and so the injury shouldn't impact his stock.
At this point it would be hard to do much worse than his predecessors, but will the Eagles pull the trigger on a corner this high in the draft? The experts seem to think so.
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