The Philadelphia Eagles won their second Super Bowl of the Howie Roseman era with a complete dismantling of the Kansas City Chiefs in a game that late in the fourth quarter was 40-6. They did it with tremendous offensive and defensive line play, the NFL Offensive Player of the Year at running back, a calm quarterback and threatening receiving talent. Oh, and quite the stingy secondary.
Here’s a look at 2025 NFL Draft prospects who could perform similar tasks to those carried out by Eagles stars and vital role-players en route to winning the Lombardi Trophy for the second time in eight seasons. It’s a list other teams should be looking at to copy the Eagles through the draft.
Thick but explosive RB with premier gifts
- For Eagles: Saquon Barkley
- 2024 prospect to fit this role: Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty
Barkley didn’t take over in Super Bowl LIX, yet he was the engine — behind the Eagles tremendous offensive line — all season. He eclipsed 2,000 yards rushing during the regular season, then racked up 499 more and five touchdowns in Philadelphia’s playoff voyage to becoming Super Bowl champions.
Jeanty is not quite Barkley as a prospect, and being that spectacular of a running back talent entering the NFL is rarified air. But Jeanty’s close. And that’s saying something. He’s going to measure in shorter than Barkley — who was an even 6-foot — at the NFL Scouting Combine, and he’s not as explosive laterally yet could be as fast. Jeanty has above-average cutting skill, otherworldly contact balance and borderline sprinter speed in a ultra-compact frame. Behind the right offensive line, he can be Barkley-esque in the way he transforms a team’s run game.
Raw, dual-threat QB with serious upside
- For Eagles: Jalen Hurts
- 2024 prospect to fit this role: Alabama’s Jalen Milroe
The 2020 draft class of quarterbacks has become one of the best we’ve seen in a very long time, and during the pre-draft process, it was a slam dunk that Joe Burrow was going to be the No. 1 overall pick. After that, there were reasonable Justin Herbert vs. Tua Tagovailoa debates. And then, in the background, there were conversations about Jordan Love potentially going in Round 1. Some analysts loved him. Others thought he belonged on the second day.
Past all that was the idea of Hurts as an eventual franchise quarterback. He was the fifth quarterback picked that year (at No. 53 overall) and after a redshirt-ish season, in a cozy environment in Philadelphia, the mobile passer has matured into one of the better quarterbacks in football.
Milroe is likely to have a similar draft-day fate, slipping to the second round because he’s not polished. Don’t we always say the draft is about traits, though? And we realize being dual-threat is more vital at the quarterback position now than ever before?
Sizable, athletic and powerful TE with complete game
- For Eagles: Dallas Goedert
2024 prospects to fit this role: Penn State’s Tyler Warren, Oregon’s Terrance Ferguson
Goedert came from FCS power South Dakota State and was the heart and soul of those Jackrabbit offenses, then at the 2018 combine, he tested through the roof, proving he didn’t solely thrive in college because of the competition level.
He’s battled injuries throughout his NFL career. But when healthy, he’s one of the most complete tight ends in football. He can get open, makes difficult grabs look routine, rocks after the catch and battles in the trenches as a blocker. That’s essentially the book on Warren from Penn State, except he brings even more receiving capabilities.
Ferguson is another well-rounded tight end with the three-down talent to thrive instantly in the NFL. He might not be as athletic as Warren, nor as big. But he’s a monster after the catch, has reliable hands and isn’t afraid to get after it as a blocker.
Do-everything, franchise-changing, elite-level DT
- For Eagles: Jalen Carter
2024 prospect to fit this role: Michigan’s Mason Graham
Carter wreaked havoc in the Super Bowl, which is frankly what he’s done in essentially every game of his NFL career through two seasons in Philadelphia. Remember, in 2022, when Georgia had like its entire defense drafted after a national title, everyone who paid close attention realized that Carter was actually the most disruptive force for the Bulldogs and was returning for another season. He suffered nagging injuries in his final season at Georgia, but we all already knew. He had elite-level flashes as a youngster.
The same is true for Graham. When Michigan won the national title at the conclusion of the 2023 season, everyone realized No. 55 on the Wolverines defense, then only a sophomore, was the true rockstar of that spectacular defensive unit.
Then he built on that campaign with another ferociously efficient season on the inside at Michigan in 2024. He’s listed at 6-foot-3 and 320 pounds. Carter was 6-foot-3 and 314 pounds at the 2023 combine. Both are strong, sudden interior rushers with loaded pass-rush move arsenals and non-stop motors.
Long, super-athletic man-to-man outside CB from small school
- For Eagles: Quinyon Mitchell
- 2024 prospect to fit this role: East Carolina’s Shavon Revel
Mitchell was integral to Vic Fangio’s man-coverage based defense as a rookie, fresh off the bus from the University of Toledo. All season, he calmly locked down one side of the field and was rarely beaten. Counting the playoffs, Mitchell defended 16 passes, snatched two picks and only surrendered a pair of touchdowns in his coverage area. Only 55% of those in that coverage area were completed on the year.
Revel might not be as suffocating of a man-to-man talent as Mitchell, yet his frame and functional athleticism at corner are very comparable to that of Mitchell. In his final 15 games at East Carolina, Revel had 15 pass breakups and three interceptions. He was listed at 6-foot-3 and 193 pounds. Mitchell paved the way for teams to be aware someone like Revel, who played against lesser competition than most draft prospects, can instantly star in the NFL.
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Author: Chris Trapasso
February 10, 2025 | 11:55 am
