The Eagles came into the draft with 8 draft picks, and new players and teammates join the Eagles crew for the 2026 season.
Round 1: Makai Lemon (WR, USC) (Round 1, Pick 20)
The story behind Makai Lemon’s draft day is very intriguing. Lemon came into the draft as the consensus 2nd best receiver in the draft behind Arizona St.’s Jordyn Tyson, mocked as a later 1st round pick. Originally, the Steelers were already on a call with Lemon, ready to pick the standout wide receiver with the 21st pick. This plan all changed, though, when the Eagles traded their 23rd pick to the Dallas Cowboys (losing the 114th and 137th picks, and gaining a 7th- round pick from Dallas) and switched the Steelers’ plans. The Eagles swooped in and took Lemon with the 20th pick, surprising the Steelers and landing a stud in Philly.
Lemon hails from USC, a stud receiver for a ranked USC squad who made some leaps during the last year. At 5’11 195 pounds, Lemon is a tinier receiver, but has the strength to make up for his small stature. Philadelphia is preparing for a loss of star wide receiver AJ Brown, this pick portraying a shift in the team’s focus to acquire a new core of receivers after an almost inevitable loss of Brown. Lemon does not fix the size issue on this core, with none of the 4 receivers being over the height of 6 feet, causing a size problem in the core, but it could be balanced out by the movement and talents of people like Lemon.
Round 1 grade: A
Round 2: Eli Stowers (TE, Vanderbilt) (Round 2, Pick 54)
The Philadelphia Eagles’ 2nd-round pick is a converted quarterback from Vanderbilt. Eli Stowers is a 6’3 tight end, athletic but lacking when it comes to blocking. The Eagles struggle with finding better blocking tight ends, and this streak continues.
The decision to use a 2nd round pick on a new tight end portrays Philadelphias’ desire to create a new receiving core from the ground up, built from the acquisition of Hollywood Brown, Dontayvion wicks, to the drafting of Makai Lemon. The Eagles hope Stowers will grow into an overly athleti pass catcher to bolster this new receiving core.
Jonathan Greenard (Trade with Vikings, gain 244 overall pick, Vikings gain 98 overall pick + 2027 3rd round pick)
Many have known that this trade was almost inevitable since weeks ago, with an announcement to be made today. The Eagles gave up a late 3rd round pick and next years for Jonathan Greenard, an overall worthy player for the pick value. Greenard had 24.5 sacks the last 2 years before last year, but declined with 3 sacks overall last year. Greenard had been asking out of Minnesota, and the Eagles were looking for a piece to fill in the hole left behind by Jaelen Phillips flee to Carolina making this a perfect fit for the Eagles.
Greenard signs to a 4 year/$100 million ($25 million per year) from the Eagles.
Round 2 grade : B
Round 3: Markel Bell (T, Miami) (Round 3, Pick 68)
Hailing from Miami, Bell is a 6’9 346 lb tackle who shined on a Miami team who reached last years national championship. He is a mammoth of a linemen, aligning with many past picks in Howie Rosemans environment. Most likely, Bell will play more tackle, filling in many holes that the offensive line had left last season, especially with the retirement of the offensive line coach, Jeff Stoutland.
After the first day of the senior bowl where he made a couple mistakes, Bell was able to create a fantastic senior bowl performance in the end, showing his ability to learn. A young player, 22 year old Bell will hopefully be able to bolster the Eagles offensive line and patch many specifically tackle related holes on the o line.
Round 5: Cole Payton (QB, North Dakota St.) (Round 5, pick 178)
Man people may flashback to a person like Carson Wentz as an Eagles quarterback. Both from NDSU, and both are large framed, but athletic individuals. Payton played backup for years, and finally leveled up to starter last year for North Dakota St. Payton did not play many games, and he’s played in a noticeably worth FCS level, but t 6’2 232 pounds, he is a big bodied quarterback who can help the qb room behind Jalen Hurts.
In the end, Payton looks like someone who the Eagles can hope to be a good future backup if any shakeups of this backup quarterback room come through, such as a trade of the 2nd backup, Tanner Mckee
Round 5 grade: C
Round 6: Micah Morris (G, Georgia) (Round 6, Pick 207)
Micah Morris is a large lineman, at 6,5 344 lbs, another imposing person on the Eagles offensive line. Morris shined in the shrine bowl, showing explosivity, especially for a large lineman. All of his physical traits are complete and special, but he will need help to build his technical abilities at the guard position.
Lining up with the Eagles history of drafting Georgia Bulldogs, Morris comes out as a new, imposing Eagle to hopefully build with a new coaching core in the offensive line.
Round 6 grade: B
Round 7: Cole Wisniewski (S, Texas Tech) (Round 7, Pick 244)
Wisniewski is a promising safety from a standout Texas Tech defense. A consistent help to the Tech defense, he can bring a promising future as a starter to the Eagles safety core, especially with the loss of Reed Blankenship.
Round 7: Uar Bernard (DT, Africa) (Round 7, Pick 251)
Bernard comes from Nigeria, a rare prospect in the draft. With a 10’10” broad jump, his jump power is much higher than all defensive tackles even in the NFL. Bernard almost become a real estate agent, but switched to basketball then football later on. Many see his traits as explosive, and he is a humongous wild card for the Eagles, and an amazing story for Eagles fans to follow.
Round 7: Keyshawn James – Newby (Edge, UNM) (Round 7, Pick 252)
Newby is an edge to bring more depth to the Eagles room. He is a 6’2, considerably small edge member, but is athletic and a productive edge rusher. Philadelphia helps to build Newby to become a helper on the defensive line.
Round 7 Grade: B+
The Eagles took a surefire pick to ensure their own future in Makai Lemon, but many of these other picks are overall swings on players with potential to bring to this team. Players such as Eli Stowers, another athletic tight end, to a promising Texas Tech safety in Wisniewski, and an up and coming international player in Bernard. Many of these players were not from the same years or even the same teams, making this a variety of picks and new players for the Eagles to work with, building this new Eagles squad. Alongside this, Philly gains a premier edge player in Jonathn Greenard. Philadelphia knows there are many risks and hope to get their bang for their buck on many of these young additions.
Draft Grade: B+
