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We Simulated the Eagles Draft 1000 Times, Here are the Results

Last year, out of both boredom and the lack of a thriving social life, I simulated the Eagles draft 1000 times. Turns out that in the past calendar year, not…

Eagles draft simulation

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – DECEMBER 03: Jalen Carter #88 of the Georgia Bulldogs reacts after a defensive stop against the LSU Tigers during the second quarter in the SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 03, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.

(Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

Last year, out of both boredom and the lack of a thriving social life, I simulated the Eagles draft 1000 times. Turns out that in the past calendar year, not much has changed. I am still a huge draft geek, and I still have way too much time on my hands. So I did it again. Using mock draft simulators, I ran the draft 1000 times, to see who the computer had the Eagles draft.

Last year the results were surprisingly accurate. It could not have predicted they would trade their second first-round pick for AJ Brown. But between the two picks, Jordan Davis was the most common player selected. Davis led all players, getting selected 329 total times. 252 at pick 15, and 76 at pick 18. The Eagles ended up trading up to 13 to take him. Nakobe Dean was selected 195 total times, the 4th most of any player. He ended up falling to the Eagles in the 3rd round.

This year, I changed it up a little and used 3 different draft simulators. Last year I ran all 1000 simulations through Pro Football Focus's mock draft tool. This year I used that again, but also Pro Football Network, and ESPN's new draft tool. Doing 333 on each, and then one extra on Pro Football Network to get an even 1000.

It is important to note these are not my picks. I simulated the first round, letting the computer make each pick. My only part in it was keeping track of the results. Two of the three sites did not simulate trades. Will the simulations be as accurate as they were last year? Let's see what the results were.

ESPN- Pick 10

ESPN debuted its draft tool this year. You can find it here. Let's see who it has the Eagles taking. Starting with Pick 10.

PlayerTimes Picked
Peter Skoronski- OT- Northwestern86
Nolan Smith- Edge- Georgia44
Jalen Carter- DT- Georgia36
Lukas Van Ness- Edge- Iowa34
Jaxon Smith-Njigba- WR- Ohio State33
Christian Gonzalez- CB- Oregon33
Paris Johnson- OT- Ohio State23
Joey Porter Jr- CB- Penn State20
Bijan Robinson- RB- Texas13
Trenton Simpson- LB- Clemson6
Darnell Wright- OT- Tennesee5

Well, they certainly know who Howie Roseman is. The top 4 most selected players are all Linemen. With Peter Skoronski coming up most often. The Eagles do not have an immediate need at Tackle. But that has never stopped Howie from drafting an Offensive Lineman in the past. He has a draft philosophy that does not deter him from using a pick on someone even if they won't play right away. He values future returns far more than he does immediate value. And Skoronski could always play RG for a couple of years.

Just behind him are Georgia teammates Nolan Smith and Jalen Carter. Who could both satisfy future and present needs. The Eagles D Line is not a dire need, but you could never have too many DTs or edge rushers. Lukas Van Ness, the 4th most drafted player by ESPN for the Eagles, would also fit that bill.

Some more notable results:

  • The breakdown by position is 114 defensive linemen, 114 Offensive Linemen, 53 Corners, 33 Wrs, 13 RBs, and 6 LBS
  • The talk when it comes to the Eagles going with a skill position, has mostly centered around taking Bijan Robinson at 10. But Jaxon Smith-Njigba coming up 33 times is interesting. With AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and now Olamide Zaccheaus, there is not much of a need for another pass catcher. Though the thought of adding another elite WR to the room is certainly tempting, it is not likely or practical.
  • An LB in the first round? At pick 10 no less? Maybe I spoke too soon, ESPN doesn't know Howie at all.

ESPN- Pick 30

Now let's look at who ESPN has the Eagles picking at 30.

PlayerTimes Picked
Adetomiwa Adebawore-DT- Northwestern61
Felix Anudike -Edge- Kansas State47
Jahmyr Gibbs- RB- Alabama31
Anton Harrison- OT- Oklahoma30
Emmanuel Forbes-CB-  Mississippi State24
Will McDonald- Edge- Iowa State22
Jordan Addison- WR- USC22
Keion White- EDGE- Old Dominion21
Michael Mayer- TE- Notre Dame13
Deonte Banks- CB- Maryland11
Quentin Johnston- WR- TCU9
Bryan Bresee- DT- Clemson8
Mazi Smith- DT- Michigan7
Brian Branch- S- Alabama7
Zay Flowers- WR- Boston College6
Trenton Simpson- LB- Clemson6
Kelee Ringo- CB- Georgia5
Darnell Washington- TE- Georgia3

Pick 30 on all 3 draft sites saw a much wider range of players, some making more sense than others. The common belief is that they will trade out of this pick. But that doesn't matter all that much to this simulation because all of these players could be there in the 2nd round where they traded back to anyway.

Adetomiwa Adebawore is a name suddenly being attached to the Eagles a lot. Tony Pauline from The Pro Football Network reported the Eagles are in love with him. The same guy reported the Eagles loved Cam Jurgens last year, and we saw that pan out to be true. So he is definitely a name to watch for.

More notable results from pick 30:

  • The positional breakdown is 166 Defensive Linemen, 40 Corners, 37 WRS, 31 RBs, 30 Offensive Linemen, 16 TEs, 7 Safeties, and 6 LBs.
  • No clue why they have the Eagles taking Tight Ends at pick 30. Lots of national draft guys have done that too. Notice none of the local guys have done that though. Almost like it makes no sense. And people around the team know that.
  • Again with the LBs in the first round. Eagles fans certainly wouldn't mind it. But it is not going to happen. Every year there are draft experts who mock guys like Patrick Queen, or Devin Lloyd, etc to the Eagles, but every year it doesn't happen. Maybe if they trade back into the 2nd round, but we have seen Howie values other positions much more.
  • ESPN by far had the most different players selected at 30. 18 different guys. The next highest was 14.

Pro Football Network- Pick 10

Pro Football Network was the one site I used that predicted trades even when the pick is simulated. It did not have the Eagles trading up much from 10. But it did have them trade up from 30, and down a decent amount from 10. I didn't keep full track of everything they got from those trade-downs, or even exactly how often it happened. But there were a few very interesting trades that I did note that we will get to later. But for now, let's just look at the poor results of who they picked at pick 10, or with whatever pick they traded down to with it.

PlayerPick 10
Jalen Carter- DT- Georgia156
Devon Witherspoon- CB- Illinois58
Brian Branch- S- Alabama26
Cam Smith- CB- South Carolina18
Tyree Wilson- Edge- Texas Tech16
Joey Porter Jr- CB- Penn State14
Christian Gonzalez- CB- Oregon14
Will Anderson Jr- Edge- Alabama13
Bijan Robinson- RB- Texas12
Myle Murphy- DT- Clemson7

PFN really liked picking Jalen Carter for the Eagles. They mocked him to them at Pick 10 nearly 100 times more than any other player. He made up 46.7 % of the picks at 10 in the 334 simulations with the PFN tool. Last year, even though Jordan Davis was the most often picked player, he made up only 25% of the selections for the Eagles' first pick.

Other notes from these results

  • Defensive Linemen were selected 192 times, CBs 104 times, and the only positions picked were Brian Branch at Safety (26 times), and Bijan Robinson at RB (12 times).
  • There were zero Offensive Linemen, or Wide Receivers, even though those positions were both popular picks on the other sites for the Eagles.
  • Also no linebackers at 10, so Kudos to PFN for knowing that the Eagles would never select a LB in the first round.
  • Will Anderson falling to them at 10 feels very unlikely, but it sure would be nice if he did.
  • As I said, I didn't keep track of everything they traded for when they did trade down or up. But I will say on average 19 was the farthest they ever traded down to. The Bucs traded up with them a decent amount of times. And often that, for some reason, resulted in the Eagles bringing back Mike Evans along with other picks. That part seems very unlikely. But the idea of the Bucs trading up for a QB at 10, makes sense.
  • There was a time they traded down to 19 with the Bucs, got Mike Evans, then traded down again with the Raiders, and got Josh Jacobs. I did not count that draft in the results. Just seemed way too absurd, and since they traded out of the first round with pick 10, it would have thrown off the results. But felt worth mentioning at least as a weird result.
  • Despite Peter Skoronski being the most drafted player at 10 by both other websites, PFN selected him zero times for the Eagles.

Pro Football Network- Pick 30

Now let's see who PFN had them picking at 30, or wherever it had them trade up to.

PlayerPick 30
Nolan Smith- Edge- Georgia73
Will McDonald- Edge- Iowa State65
BJ Ojulari- Edge- LSU39
Bryan Bresee- DT- Clemson30
Trenton Simpson- LB- Clemson30
Cam Smith- CB- South Carolina20
Isaiah Foskey- Edge- Notre Dame19
Joey Porter Jr- CB- Penn State16
Calijah Kancey- Edge- Pitt16
Kalee Ringo- CB- Georgia16
Lukas Van Ness- Edge- Iowa7
Zay Flowers- WR- Boston College3

Apart from it being an edge rusher, PFN was far less consistent about what player the Eagles will take at 30. Nolan Smith led the way with 73 selections. But of the 12 players who got picked at least once, 6 were edge rushers. And all of them, except for Zay Flowers who came up just 3 times, are defensive players.

Most mock drafts have Nolan Smith going way before the Eagles are on the clock again. In fact, I can't find any recent mock drafts that have him available when the Eagles pick at 30. A number of those occasions came from the Eagles trading up from pick 30, into the higher 20s range. Still, it seems unlikely they can land Nolan Smith unless they do so with their first pick. The same goes for Lukas Van Ness and Joey Porter Jr.

More notes on Pick 30

  • 219 of the 333 selections were edge rushers. Which makes a ton of sense given the need there, and how much Howie values pass rushers.
  • Cornerback was the next most common selection with 62. DT and LB were tied at 30, and WR at 3.
  • No Safties or RBs. Which fair enough. Apart from LB, those seem like the least likely positions Howie would ever spend a 1st on. Maybe at 30? And trading down into the second and taking a Safety or RB is definitely on the table. But Howie doesn't spend firsts on LBs, Safeties, or RBs.
  • A Georgia player led at both Pick 10 and 30. It's fun imagining a line with Davis, Carter, Smith, with Nakobe Dean lined up behind them at LB. Kelee Ringo also showed up a bit at pick 30. Could the Eagles continue to become Georgia North?

Pro Football Focus- Pick 10

I am just going to get this out of the way now. The Pro Football Focus results were weird. Apparently, the Eagles have a huge need at WR. Because PFF was obsessed with picking WRS, even picking two on a few occasions. Let's see what the results were at 10.

PlayerPick 10
Peter Skoronski- OT- Northwestern71
Jaxon Smith-Njigba- WR- Ohio State59
Calijah Kancey- EDGE- Pitt56
Christian Gonzalez- CB- Oregon42
Quentin Johnston- WR- TCU39
Tyree Wilson- Edge- Texas Tech34
Devon Witherspoon- CB- Illinois21
Lukas Van Ness- Edge- Iowa11

The first thing that stood out to me is how few players it ever selected. ESPN split 333 selections across 11 guys. PFN 333 across 10 guys. PFF meanwhile, just 8 total guys ever selected at pick 10. And 3 of those 8 guys have never been connected to the Eagles.

As already said, Jaxon Smith-Njigba would certainly be an exciting name, but not one that makes a ton of sense for the Eagles. The same goes for Quentin Johnston, with the added detraction of being a TCU WR. We know Eagles fans aren't big fans of them. Calijah Kancey feels like a reach at 10, with him mostly going in the high teens. And while Tyree Wilson falling to 10 would be amazing, it seems unlikely.

But as for the picks that do make some sense, Peter Skoronski once again came in as the most often selected player. Meaning he was the number 1 selected player on two of the 3 mock draft tools. Like WR, OL is not an immediate need. But Howie has never shied away from drafting an O-Linemen to stash for a year. And Peter Skoronski could play right away at RG and would give Cam Jurgens competition. Are there better uses of pick 10? Sure. But taking an Offensive Lineman at 10 is not something anyone should rule out.

A few more takeaways

  • The breakdown by position was 101 Edge Rushers, 98 WRs, 71 O-Linemen, and 63 CBs.
  • PFF was the only mock draft tool to mock Quentin Johnson to them, or Calijah Kancey at pick 10 to them.
  • 98 WRs is by far the most any mock draft tool has the Eagles taking at WR at 10
  • PFF selected Jalen Carter 0 times. The only of the 3 sites to never select the Georgia DT. They also never selected Joey Porter Jr or Bijan Robinson at 10.

Pro Football Focus- Pick 30

Now let's see what they had the Eagles doing at Pick 30...

PlayerTimes Selected
Jordan Addison- WR- USC63
Mazi Smith- DT- Michigan42
Will McDonald- Edge- Iowa State38
Bijan Robinson- RB- Texas36
Michael Mayer- TE- Notre Dame26
Zay Flowers- WR- Boston College24
O'Cyrus Torrence- OG- Florida21
BJ Ojulari- Edge- LSU17
Emmanuel Forbes-CB- Mississippi State17
Broderick Jones- OT- Georgia15
Felix Anudike -Edge- Kansas State14
Anton Harrison- OT-Oklahoma9
Darnell Wright- OT- Tennesee7
Myle Murphy- DT- Clemson4

PFF's obsession with the Eagles needing a WR continues. There were even times they had the Eagles pick Jaxon Smith-Njogba and Jordan Addison. What is your problem PFF?

The next thing that stands out is them having Bijan Robinson still available at 30 very often. 36 times. The Eagles taking him at 10 would be very unlikely. That is just not Howie's style. But at 30? Maybe. And it's not completely impossible he is there. There are some mock drafts that have him falling that far. And as we have seen, more and more teams are devaluing the position. Just see how little money has been spent on RBs this off-season.  As good as Bijan is, there is a chance no teams value RB enough to spend their one first-round pick on him.

More takeaways from these results

  • The positional breakdown was 115 Defensive Linemen, 87 WRS, 52 Offensive Linemen, 36 RBs, 26 TEs, and 17 CBs
  • A Defensive Lineman at Pick 30 makes a ton of sense. It may not necessarily be the players they mocked to them in this simulation. But as we all know, Howie loves his linemen, on either side of the ball.
  • Another site mocking a TE to the Eagles. Not gonna happen.

Full Results at Pick 10

Let's look at the results at pick 10 across all 3 websites

PlayerTimes Selected
Jalen Carter- DT-Georgia192
Peter Skoronski- OT- Northwestern157
Jaxon Smith-Njigba- WR- Ohio State92
Christian Gonzalez- CB- Oregon89
Devon Witherspoon- CB- Illinois79
Calijah Kancey- EDGE- Pitt56
Tyree Wilson- Edge- Texas Tech50
Lukas Van Ness- Edge- Iowa45
Nolan Smith- Edge- Georgia44
Quentin Johnston- WR- TCU39
Joey Porter Jr- CB- Penn State34
Brian Branch- S- Alabama26
Bijan Robinson- RB- Texas25
Paris Johnson- OT- Ohio State23
Cam Smith- CB- South Carolina18
Will Anderson Jr- Edge- Alabama13
Myle Murphy- DT- Clemson7
Trenton Simpson- LB- Clemson 6
Darnell Wright- OT- Tennesee5

Jalen Carter's name came up 192 times. Something Eagles fans will be very happy to see. A lot of that is because of PFN being obsessed with giving him to the Eagles. But his name also came up a decent amount with the ESPN mock draft tool too. Peter Skoronski also seems like a pick that makes a ton of sense, though Eagles fans would likely be more mixed on that given he may not even play year one with them if that is the case.

More takeaways from the results:

  • The positional breakdown was 407 Defensive Linemen, 220 CBs, 185 Offensive Linemen, 131 WRs, 26 Safeties, 25 RBs, and 6 LBs
  • Short of WRs being over-inflated due to PFF being weird, the actual positional breakdown seems to make a ton of sense. Based on Howies history, and everything we have heard, the Eagles will most likely be taking OL/DL at pick 10. Maybe a corner, but probably not. Definitely not an LB.
  • The idea that idea Will Anderson or Tyree Wilson will fall to the Eagles seems far-fetched. But it happened a few times in these simulations, so maybe the dream could come true.
  • The Eagles are not taking Bijan at Pick 10, and at least it seems even these sites seem to understand that. Why supposed draft experts putting out mock drafts don't get that, who knows.
  • Christian Gonzalez is the only name that came up at pick 1o across all 3 sites.
  • 19 different players were selected at least once at pick 10, or wherever they traded down to.
  • Of those 19, 9 were selected on at least two of the 3 websites.

Full results at Pick 30

PlayerTimes Selected
Will McDonald- Edge- Iowa State125
Jordan Addison- WR- USC85
Nolan Smith- Edge- Georgia73
Adetomiwa Adebawore-DT- Northwestern61
Felix Anudike -Edge- Kansas State61
BJ Ojulari- Edge- LSU56
Mazi Smith- DT- Michigan49
Emmanuel Forbes-CB- Mississippi State41
Anton Harrison- OT- Oklahoma39
Michael Mayer- TE- Notre Dame39
Bryan Bresee- DT- Clemson38
Bijan Robinson- RB- Texas36
Trenton Simpson- LB- Clemson36
Zay Flowers- WR- Boston College33
Jahmyr Gibbs- RB- Alabama31
Keion White- EDGE- Old Dominion21
Kelee Ringo- CB- Georgia21
O'Cyrus Torrence- OG- Florida21
Cam Smith- CB- South Carolina20
Isaiah Foskey- Edge- Notre Dame19
Calijah Kancey- Edge- Pitt16
Joey Porter Jr- CB- Penn State16
Broderick Jones- OT- Georgia15
Deonte Banks- CB- Mayland11
Quentin Johnston- WR- TCU9
Brian Branch- S- Alabama7
Darnell Wright- OT- Tennessee 7
Lukas Van Ness- Edge- Iowa7
Myle Murphy- DT- Clemson4
Darnell Washington- TE- Georgia3

Will McDonald's name came up a lot across all 3 sites. He and Zay Flowers are the only names that came up at least once on all 3 websites. But while McDonald had at least 20 selections on each site, Zay Flowers was in single digits on all but one of the websites. He is not a name getting a ton of talk here in Philly, but he would make sense. The Iowa State Edge Rusher put up huge sack numbers in 2021. They came down a bit last year, but he was still productive. The Eagles have some needs at Edge Rusher. So he very well could hear his name called if the Eagles stay at pick 30.

Other Takeaways:

  • D-Line far and away led all positions at pick 30. A D-Lineman was selected 530 times. All 3 sites had D-Linemen as at least two of the 3 most selected players at pick 30. Which makes sense given on two of the 3 sites Peter Skoronski was the most selected player at 10. So Howie goes O-Line pick 10, D-Line pick 30.
  • The rest of the positional breakdowns are 127 WRs, 109 CBs, 82 O-Linemen, 67 RBs, 42 TEs, 36 LBs, and 7 Safeties.
  • 30 total players were selected at least once at pick 30, or wherever they traded up to
  • Of those 30, only 12 came up at least once on two of the 3 websites.

Breakdown By Colleges

Georgia348
Northwestern218
Iowa State125
Ohio State115
Clemson91
Oregon89
USC85
Illinois79
Alabama77
Pitt72
Texas61
Kansas State61
Notre Dame58
LSU56
Iowa52
Texas A&M50
Penn State50
Michigan49
TCU48
Mississippi State41
Oklahoma39
South Carolina38
Boston College33
Old Dominion21
Florida21
Tennesee12
Maryland11
  • Im sure Eagles fans will be happy with Georgia being the school with the most selections
  • Georgia is also the school with the most different players selected. Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Kelee Ringo, and Darnell Washington.
  • Alabama and Clemson each had3 different players mocked to the Eagles at least once. Bama had Will Anderson, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Brian Branch. Clemson had Myles Murphy, Trenton Simpson, and Bryan Bresee.
  • 3 other schools had 2 different players mocked to the Eagles. Northwestern (Peter Skoronski and Adetomiwa Adebawore), Notre Dame (Michael Mayer and Isaiah Foskey), and Ohio State (Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Paris Johnson)
Tyrone Johnson is the host of “The Best Show Ever” on 97.5 The Fanatic. He has been with the station for the past 8 years. Before working at the Fanatic, Tyrone produced political radio, did financial reports, and was assistant chief engineer of another radio station. As a content creator for 97.5 The Fanatic, Tyrone writes articles on the Sixers, Eagles, Phillies, and Flyers.