2021 NFL draft: Eagles don’t take linebackers in the first round, but could Micah Parsons end that trend?

This is the ninth of an 11-part series on the 2021 NFL draft in which, for the third straight year, Ben Fennell breaks down the draft for The Inquirer. Ben is an Emmy award-winning producer, editor, and researcher across several media platforms, most notably NFL Network and ESPN College Football. This will be his seventh draft for the NFL Network. You can follow him on Twitter at @benfennell_NFL.

The last time the Eagles took a linebacker in the first round of the draft was 1979, when Dick Vermeil and Carl Peterson selected Jerry Robinson out of UCLA.

In the 41 drafts since then, their first-round choices have included seven defensive ends, six offensive tackles, six defensive tackles, six wide receivers, three guards, two quarterbacks, two cornerbacks, two running backs, one tight end and one safety, but no linebackers.

That’s probably not going to change next week, even though the best linebacker in the draft — Micah Parsons of Penn State — could still be on the board when the Eagles pick at 12.

If they pick at 12.

National mock drafts are pretty much split on whether Parsons will make it to 12 — some have him going ninth to the Denver Broncos. And the only mocker of note to pair him with the Eagles at 12 is ESPN’s Todd McShay.

Linebacker hasn’t been a high priority for the Eagles in recent years. They’ve selected just four of them in the last eight drafts, and only two higher than the sixth round — Davion Taylor in Round 3 last year and Jordan Hicks in Round 3 in 2015. Taylor played just 32 snaps as a rookie last year.

They’ve done most of their free agent linebacker shopping at K-Mart, including this year with the signing of former Minnesota Viking Eric Wilson to a one-year, $3.25 million deal.

But Parsons is from Tiffany’s; a difference-maker out of the Devin White mold. He’s 6-foot-3 and 246 pounds with sub-4.4 speed. He’s an every-down linebacker who can play off-the-ball and also rush the passer.

Overall, the linebacker crop in this draft is very good. Depending on whether you consider Notre Dame’s versatile Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah a linebacker or a safety, as many as five ‘backers could go in the first round or early in the second, including Kentucky’s Jamin Davis, Tulsa’s 6-5, 259-pound Zaven Collins and Missouri’s Nick Bolton.

An average of 34 linebackers have been taken in each of the last six drafts. This year’s number is expected to be in that same neighborhood.

“There are a lot of intriguing options at linebacker at every tier of this draft,” Ben Fennell said. “It’s a really good group.”

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Ohio State has no less than three linebackers who are expected to get drafted — Baron Browning, Pete Werner and Justin Hilliard. Browning and Werner both will be late-Day 2 or early-Day 3 selections.

Jabril Cox, the former North Dakota State linebacker who transferred to LSU, is projected as a second- or third rounder. Texas A&M has two linebackers that will go on Day 3 — Buddy Johnson and Anthony Hines.

Alabama’s Dylan Moses was considered a potential first-round pick before tearing his ACL in 2019. He didn’t have a great year last year, but still led his team in tackles, helped them win a national championship and was a first-team All-SEC selection.

Fennell said there also are several safeties that people are projecting as linebackers, including Owusu-Koramoah (Fennell has him as a safety).

“Everybody wants that speedy guy at the second level,” he said. “Tony Field from West Virginia is like that. So is Grant Stuard of Houston. These are guys that are going to be great core special-teamers for you and great sub-package players.”

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1. Micah Parsons, Penn St., 6-3, 246, Round 1

2. Nick Bolton, Missouri, 5-11, 237, Round 2

3. Jamin Davis, Kentucky, 6-3, 234, Round 2

4. Zaven Collins, Tulsa, 6-5, 259, Rounds 1-2

5. Chazz Surratt, N.Carolina, 6-2, 229, Round 3

Micah Parsons

Penn State

6-3, 246

Arms: 31½ inches

40-time: 4.36 seconds

Vertical jump: 34 inches

225-bench: 19 reps

Fennell’s take: “A massive guy with elite speed and explosiveness. He was actually a pass-rushing prospect coming out of high school. He’s a guy who is going to be mostly moving forward, not a guy who’s going to be dropping in coverage a whole lot. A lot of sub-rushing. A lot of blitzing on third down. He can make plays sideline to sideline. He has excellent range and toughness.

“He fits the way Devin White was used at LSU and ended up being a pass-rush threat for the Bucs this year. Similar type of player. He can cover, but he’s not a guy you want to give too much coverage responsibility to. He’s a see ball-get ball, sub-rushing type of guy. You want to keep everything in front of him.

“He opted out this year, so people haven’t seen him in a while outside of his Pro Day. He’s still a young player. But when he was on the field in 2019, he was clearly the best player out there. He was easy to find.

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“He’s an excellent edge rusher, and the team that drafts him may take advantage of that. There was a camp series before he went to Penn State where was doing one-on-ones against the best tackles in the country, like Jedrick Wills, Alex Leatherwood, Walker Little. He smoked them all. Now, that was in shorts and a T-shirt in a camp series. But it showed just how prolific he could be as a pass rusher. That might be his best trait at the next level.”

Round projection: 1 (9-15)

Jamin Davis

Kentucky

6-3, 234

Arms: 33 inches

40-time: 4.47 seconds

Vertical jump: 42 inches

225-bench: 21 reps

Fennell’s take: “Davis tested out of his mind. He checked the explosiveness boxes at every turn of his Pro Day workout. He’s kind of a raw player. Was only a one-year starter at Kentucky. Only has about 800 college snaps on defense. But he’s a rangy, long-limbed player who flashed some really good ball skills in coverage.

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“He’s super fast, super physical. He just doesn’t know what he’s looking at yet. Technically, he’s still a little off. Tackles with his arms all the time. He’s like a lot of those long-limbed guys that just want to wrangle high. He doesn’t tackle with his hips at all, so he flies off a lot of ball carriers. He doesn’t always shoot his hands out in front. But he looks the part. He’s a height-weight-speed guy to a tee. Looks a lot like the Texans’ Zach Cunningham.

“I kind of wish he would’ve stayed in school another year and put together a bigger body of work. But he’s a guy with a high ceiling. And he was a really good special teams player at Kentucky. He’s played out in space over the slot quite a bit. If you try to put a receiver on him on the perimeter and throw a bubble (screen), he’ll crush blocks out there. You can’t block him with a receiver or tight end. He’s too long and physical. He just still doesn’t quite know what he’s doing.”

Round projection: 2

Zaven Collins

Tulsa

6-5, 259

Arms: 33 5/8 inches

40-time: 4.65 seconds

Vertical jump: 35 inches

225-bench: 19 reps

Fennell’s take: “He’s a very similar type of player to Micah Parsons. Huge guy with exceptional speed and athleticism. He played off-ball ‘backer and then would come down and sub-rush and blitz quite often. He’s a guy who worked forward quite often. Not a guy who retreats or moves backward. And that’s OK. Devin White never moved backwards. Kenneth Murray? Never moved backwards. I think it’s important to differentiate linebackers. Some are forward types and some are backward types.

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“Zaven looks like a Leighton Vander Esch. He looks like a Jamie Collins. He’s this massive, athletic player in the middle of the defense. He had some really impressive plays in coverage. Didn’t do much down-the-field, man-coverage stuff. But underneath zone, reading the quarterback’s eyes, plucking the ball out of the air. And just bee-lining it back the other way. In one of his last games at Tulsa, he ran an interception back in overtime like 90 yards. So you got to see that speed.”

Round projection: 1-2