{"id":379886,"date":"2025-09-19T09:12:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/379886\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T09:12:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:12:10","slug":"eagles-2026-nfl-draft-college-prospects-to-watch-in-week-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/379886\/","title":{"rendered":"Eagles 2026 NFL draft: College prospects to watch in Week 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> are in the midst of the 2025 season, trying to go back-to-back as Super Bowl champions. But it\u2019s never too early to look ahead to the NFL draft.<\/p>\n

Each week, we\u2019ll take a look at five college prospects who the Eagles could reasonably have interest in by the time the 2026 NFL combine and draft roll around. We\u2019ll focus on the biggest games of the college football weekend, and we\u2019ll try to avoid repeats throughout the year. <\/p>\n

Here are the five college prospects (and potential Eagles) I\u2019ll be watching in Week 4. <\/p>\n

David Bailey, EDGE, Texas Tech, #31<\/p>\n

Matchup: No. 17 Texas Tech at No. 16 Utah<\/p>\n

How to watch: Saturday, noon, FOX<\/p>\n

Measurables: 6-foot-3, 250 pounds<\/p>\n

Thoughts: Bailey could go too high for the Eagles to take him if Bailey plays to his level and the Eagles make another deep playoff run. But it\u2019s a loaded edge rusher class, and Howie Roseman prioritizes the trenches in the first round, making Bailey worth watching on Saturday. The explosive speed rusher will have his toughest test from here on out against Utah tackles Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, who are both receiving early first-round grades. <\/p>\n

Gabe Jacas, EDGE, Illinois, #17<\/p>\n

Matchup: No. 9 Illinois at No. 19 Indiana<\/p>\n

How to watch: Saturday, 7:30 p.m., NBC<\/p>\n

Measurables: 6-foot-3, 270 pounds<\/p>\n

Thoughts: If the Eagles don\u2019t land an edge rusher in the first round, they could target a player like Jacas in the second or third. Jacas, after racking up 13 TFLs in 2024, is off to a hot start with 3 1\/2 sacks this season. The preseason first-team All-Big Ten pick will be key as the Illini look to disrupt Indiana QB and draft riser Fernando Mendoza.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Angelo Ponds, CB, Indiana, #5<\/p>\n

Matchup: No. 9 Illinois at No. 19 Indiana<\/p>\n

How to watch: Saturday, 7:30 p.m., NBC<\/p>\n

Measurables: 5-foot-9, 170 pounds<\/p>\n

Thoughts: The Eagles have issues at outside corner opposite Quinyon Mitchell. Fortunately, it\u2019s a deep cornerback class, which means a player of Ponds\u2019 caliber (if he declares) could fall to the second, third or even fourth round. Ponds earned an 85.0 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, the 11th-best in the FBS among CBs with at least 400 coverage snaps. The only knock on Ponds is his size. Also, keep an eye on Illinois CB Xavier Scott.<\/p>\n

Deion Burks, WR, Oklahoma, #4<\/p>\n

Matchup: No. 22 Auburn at No. 11 Oklahoma<\/p>\n

How to watch: Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ABC<\/p>\n

Measurables: 5-foot-9, 188 pounds<\/p>\n

Thoughts: A late Day 2 or early Day 3 receiver could be on the Eagles\u2019 agenda with WR3 Jahan Dotson playing out the final year of his contract. Burks missed most of last season due to injury after transferring in from Purdue, but he\u2019s been dynamite through three games (17 catches, 225 yards, 2 TDs). That includes a seven-catch, 101-day vs. Michigan. All eyes will be on Oklahoma QB and Heisman contender John Mateer. But don\u2019t forget who\u2019s making plays for him.<\/p>\n

Michael Trigg, TE, Baylor, #1<\/p>\n

Matchup: Baylor vs. Arizona State<\/p>\n

How to watch: Saturday, 7:30 p.m., FOX<\/p>\n

Measurables: 6-foot-4, 240 pounds<\/p>\n

Thoughts: Dallas Goedert isn\u2019t under contract beyond 2025. But even if he comes back, the Eagles should look for a tight end given Goedert\u2019s injury history. He\u2019s not ranked as high as Ohio State\u2019s Max Klare, Vanderbilt\u2019s Eli Stowers or Oregon\u2019s Kenyon Sadiq, but Trigg is a Day 3 guy worth keeping an eye on. The fifth-year senior, after an All-Big 12 season in 2024, is thriving in Baylor\u2019s pass-happy offense (13 catches, 151 yards, TD in three games). <\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Philadelphia Eagles are in the midst of the 2025 season, trying to go back-to-back as Super Bowl…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4955,4155,66589,25,1277,28444,7,23926,28717,4002,6,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-379886","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-david-bailey","10":"tag-deangelo-ponds","11":"tag-eagles","12":"tag-eagles-draft","13":"tag-eric-singleton","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-gabe-jacas","16":"tag-michael-trigg","17":"tag-mock-draft","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-nfl-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115230195936217391","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}