2026 NFL draft: Eagles draft a tight end in Round 2; Bucs take younger Trotter; Makai Lemon meets the Philly media; NFC East rival drama

The Eagles took a tight end who was named the top tight end in the country with their second pick in the draft.

The Eagles stayed at pick No. 54 and drafted Vanderbilt's Eli Stowers, a first-team All-American who had 62 receptions for 769 yards and four touchdowns with the Commodores.

The 6-foot-4, 239-pound native of Texas is a former quarterback who has played tight end for just three seasons.

The latest Trotter linebacker from the area is entering the NFL.

Josiah Trotter, a St. Joseph's prep alum who was a standout at Missouri in 2025, was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 46th overall in the second round.

Trotter, the brother of current Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and the son of Eagles legend Jeremiah Trotter Sr., finished with 84 tackles (13 for loss), two sacks, and one pass breakup in 12 games last season. He transferred in from West Virginia, where he spent two seasons, the first of which spent recovering from a knee injury. Josiah plays very similarly to his father, as a throwback linebacker who can shed blocks and get after the quarterback as a blitzer.

An NFC East edge rusher could be on the move –– and soon. According to Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz, the Giants have engaged in trade talks involving defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux.

This comes less than one day after the team selected Arvell Reese with the No. 5 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The Giants also have Brian Burns and Abdul Carter at edge rusher.

Eagles first-round pick Makai Lemon ascended to the best wide receiver in college football during the 2025 season, winning the Biletnikoff Award, which is given to the game's top wideout.

He finished the season with 79 catches, 1,156 yards, and 11 touchdowns for USC, attracting the attention of NFL scouts, including Eagles senior personnel director Joe Douglas, according to USC inside wide receivers coach Chad Savage.

"A lot of teams did their homework. [The coaching staff] had talked to a lot of scouts. Joe Douglas, who's with the Eagles, he was actually on campus because we were recruiting his son, who's a tight end," Savage recalled. "So that was pretty funny, because he texted me last night saying, 'Makai Lemon's an Eagle.' So that was pretty sweet."

Makai Lemon’s arrival may just coincide with A.J. Brown’s departure, which means he's likely to be on the field often with DeVonta Smith.

Smith is 6-feet tall, and Lemon is 5-11. That's two undersized receivers, but they have different skill sets.

“I feel like we complement each other well,” Lemon said of his new teammate. “He can do a little bit of everything.

Much has been made about the late trade the Eagles made to steal Makai Lemon from the Steelers. On Friday, Lemon was introduced to introduced to the media in Philadelphia, and called it "a shocker."

"It was a shocker really, getting the call and then having the Eagles call me at the same time," Lemon said. "But I feel like it was just all a blessing. I landed where I needed to be. I couldn't ask for a better team, to be here. I'm super excited."

And the man who will be throwing him passes next season has already reached out.

Chad Savage and new Eagles wide receiver Makai Lemon only spent one season together at USC, but their relationship quickly grew — the inside wide receivers coach was in the green room of the NFL draft with Lemon and his family.

Savage, who previously coached at Colorado State for three years before joining the USC coaching staff in 2025, said he flew into Pittsburgh in the early hours of Thursday morning. He stayed through Lemon getting drafted to the Eagles and left Friday morning, but called spending the moment with Lemon and his family "surreal."

"Just seeing the mixed emotions with Makai and his family. I mean, there's so many different emotions, it's really hard to describe," Savage told The Inquirer by phone on Friday. "And then also just some of the top names in college football. You got Ryan Day, you got Marcus Freeman, you got Kenny Dillingham, you got Mario Cristobal, and you got so many well known players that were really the talk of college football this year.

One of the Eagles’ most pressing needs entering Day 2 is at safety. Reed Blankenship went to the Texans in free agency and Sydney Brown was shipped to the Falcons, so they’re thin at the position.

Should they trade up and snag the best available one on Friday?

Emmanuel McNeil-Warren did not hear his name called Thursday night. This was a surprise given the sizy, rangy safety’s body of work at Toledo. The Inquirer spoke with McNeil-Warren’s former defensive coordinator, Vince Kehres, on Friday and he gushed about how he’d fit in Vic Fangio’s defense.

Let’s just say Pittsburgh fans are feeling a certain type of way.

They already witnessed their Penguins fall into an 0-3 hole vs. the upstart Flyers, which led to a chant at the draft that included a word we can’t publish here. And that was before the Eagles stole Makai Lemon out from underneath them.

Philadelphia fans – as they do best – fought back, and looked to rub some salt in Pittsburgh’s wound.

PITTSBURGH — Makai Lemon flashed a big smile, sitting at the podium inside of Acrisure Stadium when he was asked about a former Eagles player with California roots whom he looked up to as a kid.

DeSean Jackson, a Los Angeles native, was one of Lemon’s favorite receivers growing up. Now Lemon, the Los Alamitos native, which is just south of Los Angeles, will don an Eagles jersey himself.

“That’s truly a blessing. To know what he has done for the organization, I just hope [I can] follow in his footsteps, [with] what he did on the field,” Lemon said. “He was a baller. ... [I’m] grateful to be in a position that I’m at right now.”

Here are eight prospects who could address their short- and long-term needs. Players with asterisks reportedly had some sort of pre-draft visit with the Eagles:

S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo

Could McNeil-Warren join Quinyon Mitchell as yet another Eagles defensive back out of Toledo? McNeil-Warren is a unique safety prospect given his size at 6-foot-4, 201 pounds. He may be light, but he plays hard, especially against the run. In four seasons at Toledo, three as a starter, McNeil-Warren generated nine forced fumbles. He was a playmaker in coverage, too, snaring six career interceptions. If the Eagles are interested in drafting him, though, they may need to move up from No. 54.

The annoying world of streaming will come to a head for Philly sports fans tonight, with three events scattered across the digital world.

Day 2 of the NFL draft will be most accessible, airing on ABC, ESPN, and the NFL Network beginning at 7 p.m. tonight. But you'll need at least two separate screens to keep up with the rest of the action across town.

Game 3 of the 76ers first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics also begins at 7 p.m. tonight, but the game isn't airing on TV – it's streaming exclusively on Amazon's Prime Video and won't air on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Most of the Eagles’ immediate needs are on defense. The team has a vacancy at the starting safety spot alongside Drew Mukuba, which Reed Blankenship created when he signed with the Houston Texans in free agency.

The team could also use contributors among the edge rusher corps. Jaelan Phillips signed with the Carolina Panthers at the start of the new league year, leaving Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt as the top tandem in the room. The team signed a few low-cost free agents this offseason, including Arnold Ebiketie, but Howie Roseman could stand to add to the group.

The Eagles’ long-term needs are primarily on offense. Dallas Goedert, 31, is returning to the team on a one-year deal for his ninth season. But beyond 2026, the Eagles are in need of a prospective TE1.

Makai Lemon’s phone rang. The USC wide receiver was in Pittsburgh attending the draft, and for a second he was home. It was the Steelers on the line.

But the phone rang again.

“It was the Eagles,” Lemon said.

Two things can be true at once. Case in point: the Eagles drafted Makai Lemon because they saw value in trading up for the Southern Cal wide receiver and because they need a replacement for the likely-departing A.J. Brown.

But need at the position was never likely to influence how Eagles general manager Howie Roseman approached the first round of the NFL draft. If that were the case, he would have forced a tackle to be Lane Johnson’s heir apparent, or uncharacteristically taken a safety to fill their most obvious need.

No, moving up three spots from No. 23 to 20 was, first and foremost, about Lemon dropping when the Eagles ranked him among their top prospects. It might have also been about the pieces not falling exactly the way they had projected, particularly at the tackle spot, where they had focused much of their pre-draft efforts.