It’s hard to know what’s real and what isn’t when it comes to the NFL draft.

Agents leak misleading information to writers, GMs offer vague and meandering responses to pre-draft questions, and everybody on Twitter thinks their favorite receiver is better than your favorite receiver.

But I believe Adam Schefter when he writes this:

I believe that because San Fran doesn’t have much to work with, as Schefty notes. They built a young team using 27 picks over the last three years, swung a 3rd and 4th this year for Emmanuel Sanders, and then went 13-3 and reached the Super Bowl. That run left them with only six selections, so they moved DeForest Buckner to get a first rounder back, which is #13 overall. Now they’ve got the following selections:

  • Round 1 – #13
  • Round 1 – #31
  • Round 5 – #156
  • Round 5 – #176
  • Round 6 – #210
  • Round 7 – #217
  • Round 7 – #245

There are two possible scenarios for the Eagles.

Trading up to #13 would probably require the Birds giving up their second round pick. My guess is that this trade would be be pretty simple, just a first round pick swap with the Eagles giving the #53 overall pick to San Francisco in return, like this:

  • Eagles get: #13 overall pick
  • 49ers get: #21 overall pick, #53 overall pick

You move up eight spots to draft Henry Ruggs, CeeDee Lamb, or Jerry Jeudy.

Question is which teams prefer which receivers, and I’ve seen Lamb mocked to the Raiders at #12 in a couple of articles out there. Jeudy and Ruggs I’ve seen as high as 10 and as low as 21 in some drafts, but I’d honestly be stunned if one of those three remains on the board when the Eagles pick. Justin Jefferson would likely be the guy if they don’t find a trade partner.

A lot of that availability depends on how teams above the Eagles view the current quarterback crop. Tua Tagovailoa could go to the Chargers at six, or another team could try to work a deal with San Francisco to get him at #13 (Patriots, anybody?). Jordan Love is wild card selection that might push receivers down the board. The Eagles could certainly be outbid for #13 overall if a team really wants to move up to get a QB.

The other issue with trading up is that the Birds would be sitting there waiting until round three to draft again, which is a long time. Our theoretical trade would make the Eagles’ selection board look like this:

  • Round 1 – #13 (from San Francisco)
  • Round 3 – #103
  • Round 4 – #127
  • Round 4 – #145
  • Round 4 – #146
  • Round 5 – #168 (from Patriots, Michael Bennett trade)
  • Round 6 – #190 (from Falcons, Johnathan Cyprien trade)

They’d really have to nail that first round pick to make people feel good about waiting around forever.

The other possible scenario here is sitting pat at #21, taking the best player, and then trying to get back into the first round via San Francisco’s #31 overall. Problem there is that #53 and #103 overall are picks near the bottom of the 2nd and 3rd rounds, so I’m not sure that would be the Niners’ best option. In that scenario, they could pick at 13, then turn #31 overall into a pair of picks. Depends on what happens with #13 I’d say, but it’s something to think about.

Start your Monday off with some Henry Ruggs highlights: