The Philadelphia Eagles endured a challenging 2025, plagued by a Super Bowl hangover. Poor coaching, injuries, and a season full of inconsistency have given fans concern about Philly\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
After a deflating loss to the 49ers in the NFC Wild Card round, attention has turned to free agency and the draft.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
General Manager Howie Roseman must answer questions at safety after Reed Blankenship\u2019s departure<\/a>, at offensive tackle with Lane Johnson nearing retirement, and in the pass rush after Jaelan Phillips signed<\/a> with Carolina.<\/p>\n Roseman and the Eagles will have several top picks to address these concerns.<\/p>\n Eagles Draft Picks:<\/p>\n Roseman tends to draft the best available player rather than focusing solely on positional needs, and his frequent trades make draft night unpredictable<\/a>. The Eagles keep their draft-day plans close to the vest, but the team\u2019s needs are clear.<\/p>\n Eagles Positions of Need:Key Draft Targets for Eagles:Emmanuel McNeil-Warren \u2013 S \u2013 Toledo<\/p>\n The Eagles have rarely invested a top pick in a safety. But the same was true at linebacker until last year, when they selected Jihad Campbell. Roseman is willing to do whatever it takes to build a winner, which means drafting a safety early this year.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n McNeil-Warren<\/a> has elite instincts and length. He is a proven playmaker, forcing 13 turnovers in his college career and recording six PBUs in 2025. He shows on-field speed to close gaps in the run game and recover in coverage. If he\u2019s available at No. 23, he\u2019s a no-brainer.<\/p>\n Max Iheanachor \u2013 OT \u2013 Arizona State<\/p>\n The Eagles are known, as of late, for having one of the league\u2019s best offensive lines nearly every year. With Lane Johnson nearing retirement<\/a>, now is the time to find his replacement.<\/p>\n Iheanachor<\/a> is a standout athlete with proven production against some of the draft\u2019s top pass rushers. Mock drafts<\/a> have him getting swooped up near the end of Round 1, but if he\u2019s available at No. 54, or if the Eagles want to trade up, he would be a smart pick for Philadelphia.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Joshua Josephs \u2013 EDGE \u2013 Tennessee<\/p>\n With Phillips\u2019 departure and given the contracts expiring in 2027, where Nolan Smith might leave, the Eagles need to invest in the pass rush.<\/p>\n Josephs<\/a> has great speed, a record-breaking wingspan, and a lightning-quick first step off the line. He would thrive next to Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis. Philly\u2019s EDGE room is thin now and will get thinner in a year; the Eagles would be wise to grab Josephs somewhere in the third round.<\/p>\n The post Philadelphia Eagles 2026 NFL Draft Preview<\/a> appeared first on The Lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Philadelphia Eagles endured a challenging 2025, plagued by a Super Bowl hangover. Poor coaching, injuries, and a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":839646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2068],"tags":[25,115518,7,1641,16251,476,479,5545,6,12510,242,109,2476,9716,526,425],"class_list":["post-839645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia-eagles","tag-eagles","tag-eagles-draft-picks","tag-football","tag-howie-roseman","tag-jaelan-phillips","tag-jalen-carter","tag-jordan-davis","tag-lane-johnson","tag-nfl","tag-nolan-smith","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-philadelphiaeagles","tag-reed-blankenship","tag-tennessee","tag-the-eagles"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116308764199133050","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839645","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=839645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}