With this year's draft quickly approaching, it seems almost like a certainty the Eagles will draft a wide receiver in either the first or second round. It’s a position that drastically needs to be filled, and this year's draft is loaded with great receivers.
There are guys like Ceedee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy, Justin Jefferson who are set to be potential stars, while there are many others like K.J. Hamler, Jalen Reagor and Denzel Mims that can become solid contributors. There are talks of the Birds potentially moving up to grab one of the potential star receivers, but it is not a certainty.
If they stay put and draft a receiver at 21st overall or in the second round, they are getting the second tier of receivers this year. One of the big names of that tier is Denzel Mims. On paper, he seems like the best fit for the Eagles right now, but I have a two reasons why I think they should steer clear of Mims.
1. Very Raw
He is a very raw talent at receiver. He does have great speed, good size, and decent hands. However, what he lacks is knowledge at the position and efficient route running. People always downplay how important it is for receivers to be intelligent. It’s always thought if you have talent, you will succeed. However, if you look at the top receivers in the league right now, they are some of the more intelligent players in the field. Guys like Michael Thomas, DeAndre Hopkins, and Julio Jones go into games knowing all the strengths, weaknesses, tendencies, and styles of the corners they will be going against and they use whatever tools they have to beat them. That’s why you may see Julio sometimes just use his amazing speed just to run by someone, or you may see him slow down to make them bite on a double move. Mims lacks a lot of these little traits that separates the top receivers from roster fillers.
2. Fear
I don’t care who you are, how good you are, or where you come from. If you let the city of Philadelphia know you are scared of them, they will eat you alive. The first bad play he makes, and the fans come down with the tsunami of boos, we can’t have him shutting down. A recent interview shows that Mims may have some fear issues when it comes to the people of Philadelphia.
I understand as a young player this city can be intimidating since the fans here are very emotionally invested. We let you hear us when you are good and when you are terrible. If you give us everything you have, we give it right back (ask Brian Dawkins, the man came into the stadium in another team's jersey and got a hero's welcome). If you admit you are scared of us, we will give you a reason to be scared.
If Mims can improve in both ways, he has a chance to be the best receiver out of this class, but what he needs to improve on are very difficult traits to change. If the Eagles do go for him, hopefully they are able to develop him to be one of the next top receivers in this league. But for now, he should not be taken with the team's first overall pick. If he is still there in the 2nd round for the team to select, then it'd be a no-brainer to bring him in then.
