The Colts and Dolphins both finished 9-8 this year and failed to make the playoffs.

It turned out well enough for the Eagles, who own both teams’ first round draft picks, and after the regular season wrapped up on Sunday, those picks settled at #15 and #16 overall.

Here’s the draft order:

  1. Jaguars
  2. Lions
  3. Texans
  4. Jets
  5. Giants
  6. Panthers
  7. Giants
  8. Falcons
  9. Broncos
  10. Jets
  11. Washington
  12. Vikings
  13. Browns
  14. Ravens
  15. Eagles
  16. Eagles
  17. Chargers
  18. Saints

Picks 19 to 32 will be decided once the playoffs finish, so we don’t yet know where the Birds’ natural pick will fall.

I think Eagles fans would probably be happy to wind up with both 15 and 16, considering how both the Colts and Dolphins rode the rollercoaster this year. It originally looked like one or both of those picks would be top-10 selections, then bottom-10 selections, but Indy crashing and burning at the end bumped their pick higher up, and Miami settled at one game above .500 to land in a similar position.

With that said, here are the players selected 15th overall over the past five years:

  • 2021: Mac Jones
  • 2020: Jerry Jeudy
  • 2019: Dwayne Haskins
  • 2018: Kolton Miller
  • 2017: Malik Hooker

And here are the players selected 16th overall in the same time period:

  • 2021: Zaven Collins
  • 2020: A.J. Terrell
  • 2019: Brian Burns
  • 2018: Tremaine Edmunds
  • 2017: Marlon Humphrey

There are some good players in those lists. Three Pro Bowlers in Humphrey, Burns, and Edmunds. And if you go back a little further, Ryan Shazier and Zack Martin were taken back-to-back at 15 and 16. There’s plenty of talent to be found in that range.

This year, some mock drafts have quality defensive talent being there at 15 and 16. EDGE rusher David Ojabo from Michigan should be there. Clemson CB Andrew Booth as well. If linebackers Nakobe Dean or Devin Lloyd are there, they should draft one. Howie is gonna have some good choices here, so he’d better not fuck it up. I just get this feeling he’s gonna package two of those picks to move up. You get that hunch, too?

For some historical context, the Eagles haven’t picked 15th or 16th in a long time. The last #16 they took was Shawn Andrews in 2004 and the last #15 was Jerome McDougle in 2003.