How Sunday’s Results will influence the Eagles’ Draft Position

While there aren’t any playoff implications for the Eagles on Sunday in their season finale against the Washington Football Team, there are several deciding factors on where they will end up picking in the 1st round of the 2021 NFL Draft. The Eagles are currently 4-10-1 and currently hold the 6th pick in the NFL Draft. Depending on how Sunday shakes out across the league and in Philadelphia, that draft selection could change for better or for worse.

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Currently, this is how the top 10 of the draft sits before Week 17:

• 1: Jacksonville (1-14)
• 2: NY Jets (2-13)
• 3: Miami (Via Houston) (4-11)
• 4: Atlanta (4-11)
• 5: Cincinnati (4-10-1)
• 6: Philadelphia (4-10-1)
• 7: Detroit (5-10)
• 8: NY Giants (5-10)
• 9: Carolina (5-10)
• 10: Denver (5-10)

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The Eagles cannot fall outside of the Top 10. They can however, move anywhere from as low as the number three pick in the draft, to as high at the 10th pick in the draft based on how other teams fair on Sunday.

• Move up from the 6th Pick: Eagles lose and Houston, Atlanta, or Cincinnati win.
• If the Eagles win, and the Giants, Panthers, or Broncos win, they will fall.

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Here is who all of the other teams play on Sunday:

• Houston vs Tennessee
• Atlanta @ Tampa Bay
• Cincinnati vs Baltimore
• Eagles vs Washington
• Detroit vs Minnesota
• Giants vs Cowboys
• Panthers vs Saints
• Broncos vs Raiders

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Here are some noteworthy injuries/absences for the above games:

• Falcons WR Julio Jones is out vs Tampa Bay
• Lions WR Kenny Golladay is out vs Minnesota
• Vikings RB Dalvin Cook is out vs Detroit
• Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey is out vs New Orleans
• Washington QB Alex Smith is questionable vs Philadelphia

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Philadelphia will be without Fletcher Cox, Miles Sanders, Dallas Goedert, Derek Barnett, Jordan Mailata, and Desean Jackson and more on Sunday. All players above did not practice on Saturday. Eagles will likely throw the game away to Washington and net them the NFC East title and a playoff berth.

Last one of the season. Fletcher Cox, Miles Sanders, Dallas Goedert, Derek Barnett, Jordan Mailata and others weren’t practicing. I’d expect the Eagles to sit all of them Sunday. pic.twitter.com/cuzqnqPMY1

— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) January 1, 2021

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The Eagles only hold a tiebreaker against the Bengals, for the rest of the draft, it is determined by Strength of Schedule. The Eagles will not be able to win that tiebreaker so they will remain behind the Bengals unless Cincinnati wins and Philadelphia loses.

Minnesota-Detroit and Raiders-Broncos are the only games involving teams that affect the Eagles’ draft position that don’t have any playoff implications. So it is likely you will see full strength games from all of the other opponents. 

There are still a lot of moving parts before all of the games are finished. By the time Philadelphia kicks off at 8:30 tomorrow the answer to where the Eagles will select in the NFL Draft will be a lot more clear.

Mandatory Credit: Jon Durr/Getty Images