Potential Eagles targets at the scouting combine: Which top tight end, secondary prospects do Birds have in their sights?

INDIANAPOLIS — In each of the past two drafts, the Eagles diverged from their typical first-round philosophy.

In 2024, general manager Howie Roseman ended the organization’s 22-year drought in selecting a defensive back in the first round when they drafted Quinyon Mitchell. Last year, Roseman and the Eagles drafted South Jersey native and linebacker Jihaad Campbell, from a position that had previously not been an early-round priority.

The Eagles roster needs retooling heading into the 2026 season, and among the potential needs are at safety and tight end. The Birds have never drafted a first-round safety and haven’t selected a tight end that early since 1988.

» READ MORE: 2026 NFL mock draft 1.0: What will the Eagles do at No. 23?

With tight ends Dallas Goedert, Grant Calcaterra, and Kylen Granson, and safeties Marcus Epps and Reed Blankenship all are set to be free agents, could Roseman and the Eagles buck another trend?

Here is what we’ve learned about the Eagles’ interest in draft prospects so far at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine:

The Eagles have spent a significant amount of time speaking with tight ends this week in Indianapolis. Roseman recently talked about needing “more of a diverse skill set at that position” last season.

The prized player of the group is Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq, the consensus top tight end of this class, but he had not yet met with the Eagles when he held his podium session Thursday afternoon.

There were several other players the Eagles did meet with, informally and formally. NC State’s Justin Joly, Georgia’s Oscar Delp, Ohio State’s Max Klare, Texas’ Jack Endries, Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers, and Ole Miss’ Dae’Quan Wright were among the players who met with the Eagles this week.

Klare, Delp, Joly, and Stowers are more like the tight ends the Eagles have drafted in the past, majoring as receivers with deficiencies as blockers, while Endries and Wright are a little more well-rounded as blockers.

Eagles running backs coach Jemal Singleton coached Texas A&M’s Nate Boerkircher at the Senior Bowl as part of Eagles D-line coach Clint Hurtt’s staff, and Boerkircher met informally with the Eagles this week at the combine. Boerkircher plays a more traditional in-line tight end role and is a physical blocker that revels in doing the dirty work that doesn’t always equate to targets and catches.

“I think [NFL teams] like my toughness and my high motor,” Boerkircher said Thursday. “I don’t have, you know, crazy stats. So that limited stats thing is brought up a little bit, and we talked about that, but [my film] shows what it needs to show.”

Ohio State’s Will Kacmarek is one of the best blocking tight ends in the draft class, and while there hasn’t been any reported interest from the Eagles, he would be a welcome addition to a room that needs that type of player.

Even if the Eagles don’t draft Sadiq in the first round, there are several other players that seem to be piquing the team’s interest.

The Eagles struck gold by drafting Mitchell from Toledo, which continues to churn out NFL secondary talent. And there are three more players from the Rockets program in this class.

There’s one specifically, though, that the Eagles brought in for a formal interview, and that’s safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. The 6-foot-3 player is explosive, can defend the run, and has short-area coverage ability. He has excellent ball skills to intercept the ball and force fumbles, and was teammates with Mitchell for two years at Toledo.

“[Mitchell] was a motivation for us, so he just pushed us to be great, pushed us to work hard every day and be the best person we could be,” McNeil-Warren said of his former teammate. “Just coming in [to Toledo], knowing you got a chip on your shoulder, especially for a small school ... just the work ethic we put in, we just got to keep grinding.”

» READ MORE: Howie Roseman addresses Jaelan Phillips, Brandon Graham, and other potential free agents ahead of the combine

McNeil-Warren tested well for his size at the combine, running a 4.52-second 40-yard dash, jumping a 35.5 inch vertical, and a 10-foot, 2-inch broad jump. He is among two other safeties that could go in the first round, which includes consensus top-10 pick Caleb Downs and Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman, who had an outstanding testing session.

Even with limited reported interest in the position group, the Eagles should strongly consider drafting a safety with a deep group this year. They may be waiting to bring other top safety prospects in for pre-draft visits over the next month.