The Philadelphia Eagles currently stand as the wild card of the upcoming draft. The reason goes back to one player: Marcus Mariota.
Chip Kelly recruited Mariota back in his Oregon days and the Eagles coach is believed to prefer a mobile quarterback running his offense. Mariota -- the fastest QB at the combine -- certainly fits that bill.
The Eagles currently pick 20th in the first round and will almost certainly have to trade up for any shot at Mariota. Howie Roseman, the Eagles' executive vice president of football operations, had an interesting take on the idea of trading up during a panelist session at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference this weekend.
"The history of trading up for one player, when you look at those trades, isn't good for the team trading up and putting a lot of resources into it," he said, according to ESPN.com's Rich Cimini. "The guys who are really good at drafting, if you're hitting on 60 percent of your first-round picks, that's a pretty good track record and it's dropping as you go through the rounds. So, really, the more chances you get -- the more tickets to the lottery you get -- really, the better shape you're going to be."
Roseman was speaking in a broad sense, but he doesn't exactly sound like a front-office guy itching to make a move. Of course, Roseman no longer has final say on the 53-man roster in Philadelphia -- Kelly swiped that away in a successful internal power play earlier this year.
Roseman won't make the final decision for the Eagles, but you imagine he'll be part of it. Somebody sneak a camera into that war room.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast breaks down the annual "Top 101 free agents" list and discusses the latest in league news. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
