The Philadelphia Eagles could use some help in the secondary. The Eagles finished just 31st in pass defense last season, surrendering 264.9 yards per game through the air. Although uneven play at the quarterback position hurt the team, it was Philly's shaky secondary that was its ultimate undoing. Luckily for Chip Kelly, help could be found in this year's NFL draft.
ESPN NFL Draft Insider Todd McShay projects the Eagles to select Alabama safety Landon Collins in his Mock Draft 3.0.
"I know from talking to Chip Kelly previously how highly he thinks of [Marcus] Mariota, his former quarterback at Oregon, but I don't know whether he'd be willing to pay a really high price in terms of draft picks and other assets to move up to draft him," McShay wrote. "Regardless, we don't project trades in these mock drafts anyway, and Collins would fill a need at safety, with strong safety Nate Allen a free agent this offseason. Collins has weakside linebacker size (6-0, 228 pounds) and impressive straight-line speed (4.52 40), and while has some limitations in man-to-man coverage, he's got good range in deep zone coverage and he fill hard in run support."
The Eagles have been repeatedly mentioned as candidates to try and move up the draft board to select Mariota. One recent rumor suggested the Eagles could even trade up with the Washington Redskins for a shot at the Heisman Trophy winner. But should those rumors prove to be false, Collins would not be a bad choice here.
The Eagles allowed the fourth most receiving touchdowns (30) in the NFL last season and lost three of four games in December to fall out of playoff contention. Philly surrendered 1.6 touchdowns per game through the air in that time frame. Collins could help with some of Philly's issues at the back end of its defense and bring that total down in 2015.
It makes sense that Kelly's primary focus appears to be QB. But if Mariota is out of the question, Collins could be the first step in fixing this Eagles defense.
