After months of anticipation, excitement, and more mock drafts than most fans will ever have the desire to read, the 2025 NFL Draft is officially less than a month away, with the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles set to hold down the bottom of the first round with the 32nd overall pick.
Now unlikely in recent years, where the Eagles were more or less set across their depth chart, allowing the team to take the best player available regardless of position, Howie Roseman still has a few very clear holes that he plans to fill in the draft, including needed depth at safety, offensive line, defensive line, and off the edge.
Will the Eagles differ from the strategy that has worked for them so well in the past to select the next Marcus Smith, Danny Watkins, or Jalen Reagor? Or will Roseman stick to his guns and trust that when Week 1 opens up, the Eagles will be ready to go, using the team's stockpile of fifth-round picks to move up and down the board as they see fit in order to get as many future starters as they can?
While only time will tell, the PFF Mock Draft Simulator is a great way to see some potential scenarios that could shake out on draft day and evaluate how they could impact the Eagles' future. Will the Eagles go heavy on the defensive line in order to attack a problem area just like they did with cornerback last year? In this particular simulation, that was the case.
Tennessee defensive lineman James Pearce Jr. (27) during Tennessee's game against Chattanooga in Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.
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1. James Pearce
When it comes to the 2025 NFL Draft, no expected first-round pick has been knocked more thoroughly than James Pearce, the edge rusher out of Tennessee.
Once considered a real contender for the best outside rusher in this year's class, Pearce has been knocked for his size, playing style, and attitude, which some consider a big enough problem to justify being out of the first round entirely.
And yet, as the clear top player left on the board in this PFF Simulation, Pearce landed in Philadelphia, where he joins an edge-rushing group with some interesting names but no true number one option.
Standing 6-foot-5, 245 pounds with a 4.47 40-yard dash, Pearce looks the part of an outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, but because the Eagles already have Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, Azeez Ojulari, Patrick Johnson, and Josh Uche, he doesn't immediately have to slot in as a full-time starter, or even a three-down player, with Vic Fangio thus allowed to bring him along as the season progresses, with more added to his plate as they see fit.
LSU Tigers offensive linemen Garrett Dellinger (72) blocks Mississippi Rebels defensive linemen Jared Ivey (15) during the first half at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
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2. Jared Ivey
What? Two defensive end/edge rusher players with back-to-back picks? Hiwue Roseman would never… right?
While yes, it is a tad unusual, with a defensive tackle, wide receiver, linemen, safety, or even tight end arguably bigger needs, Ivey is a different enough player from Pearce to make things a not-too-bad pick, even if the PFF simulator likely could have made a “better” selection with the pick.
Standing 6-foot-6, 274 pounds, Ivey looks more like Vinny Curry than Connor Barwin, with a stout frame that allows him to play inside as well as out.
Coming off the edge, Ivey rushed the passer like an absolute maniac, violently attacking ball handlers when the ball was in their hands and slaming them to the ground with a Kurt Angle-esque collection of suplexes. Kicking it inside from time to time, Ivey was able to attack slower guards with ease and might even be a better fit as a 4-3 defensive tackle/3-4 defensive end at the NFL level if he can maintain his athleticism while packing on 20 pounds the right way.
Could Ivey become the next Milton Williams, a college defensive end who could fully transition inside as a rusher? Or is he more like a replacement for Brandon Graham, who is an edge who can kick it inside if he wants to as well?
Either way, selecting Pearce and Ivey would borderline guarantee that the Eagles secure at least one long-term starter defensive end on a rookie contract for the foreseeable future, which, in the end, is the goal.
National team tight end Harold Fannin Jr. of Bowling Green (44) tracks a pass as National team defensive back Sebastian Castro of Iowa (29) defends during Senior Bowl practice for the National team at Hancock Whitney Stadium
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3. Harold Fannin Jr.
After going defense with the first two picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Eagles landed one of the more interesting offensive players in the NFL in Harold Fannin Jr., who led the NCAA in yards last season as a tight end.
Standing 6-foot-3, 241 pounds, Fannin was a one-man offense for the BG Falcons in 2024, catching balls all over the field on the way to an NCAA-leading 1,555 yards and ten touchdowns on 117 receptions. He accounted for 51 percent of Connor Bazelak's yards on the season and helped to lead the Falcons to a 7-6 record under Scot Loeffler.
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Where, you may ask, does Loeffler coach now? Well, that would be Philadelphia, where he is Jalen Hurts' new quarterbacks' coach.
Is Fannin a finished product like Colston Loveland or Tyler Warren? No, because Fannin was such an important part of the Falcons' passing game, he rarely blocked and might need some work in that department moving forward.
With that being said, Fannin could instantly slide in as a TE2 behind Dallas Goedert and eventually replace him, just like the South Dakota product did for Zach Ertz eight years ago.
Florida offensive lineman Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson (OL11) during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.
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4. Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson
Arguably the first true “huh” of this PFF Simulation, the Eagles land Florida tackle Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson with their third pick on Day 3.
On paper, the idea of drafting a Day 3 offensive tackle is a good one, as the team lost Fred Johnson and Makhi Becton in free agency, but is Crenshaw-Dickson really the guy for the job? Sure, he has good size at 6-foot-7, 316 pounds, but he ran a brutal 5.33 40-yard dash at the combine, with an 8.15 3-cone drill, and a 4.91 20-yard shuttle.
Granted, the Eagles have drafted linemen who aren't elite athletes, as they initially picked Matt Pryor in the fifth round and just re-signed him despite running a brutal 5.62 40 time at his pro day, but Crenshaw-Dickson might just be too big to play on the inside at the NFL level and too slow to become a tackle even if Jeff Stoutland works his magic. Considering players like Dillon Gabriel, Ahmed Hassanein, and Jack Kiser could all be available in this range, going for an unathletic developmental tackle would be a strange pick from Roseman and company.
Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) throws a pass during the College Football Playoff semifinal game against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium on Friday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Arlington, Texas.
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5. Quinn Ewers, Kobe King, Kyle Williams, Upton Stout
And last but not least, the Eagles have four fifth-round picks.
They will almost certainly not draft four players in the fifth round.
Amassing an impressive collection of assets into his war chest via one deal or another, Roseman can use his fifth round picks to move up and down the draft board as he sees fit, with the potential to really grab players he likes who fall out of their expected range Cooper DeJean-style, or even move into next year's draft if some team gets greedy mid-Day 3.
With that being said, PFF did give Philadelphia four good players, including a developmental quarterback in Quinn Ewers who was once considered one of the top prospects in the nation, a developmental linebacker in Kobe King, an undersized defensive back in Upton Stout, and a veteran receiver in Kyle Williams.
Of that quartet, Williams is likely the most interesting, as he ran a 4.4 at the combine and might be able to compete with Jahan Dotson for WR3 reps, where his deep speed could help to open up opportunities down the stretch like a more sure-handed – one can hope – Quez Watkins. Stout could be a good option in the slot, too, as a Maddox replacement, and Ewers would be a lot of fun for the franchise, too, even if he'd likely be QB3 for the year behind Hurts and Tanner McKee. If the Eagles ended up with these eight players, they would have a solid, if not very good, draft, but would still have questions at safety that would need to be addressed.