It’s that sad time of year where teams are officially eliminated and their fans have to turn to hockey or start dreaming of next year. Most eliminated teams knew this was coming weeks ago, but there’s a finality to being mathematically eliminated that hurts more than a losing record.

For the Eagles, the season ended a few days ago after a loss to the Ravens. They managed to take some solace in finishing the Giants’ hope for a division championship, but it’s little more than a consolation prize for a team that thought they’d finally put it all together after a 3-0 start.

The Eagles did trade away their 2017 first rounder as part of the Wentz deal, but did acquire a new first rounder from Minnesota after trading away Sam Bradford. With the Vikings hovering around .500, that leaves the Eagles with a likely mid-round pick. What kind of player should they consider drafting?

QB isn’t a real issue even though Carson Wentz has struggled off and on throughout the year. Once defenses realized the rookie still needed to work on his footwork, they started attacking him more aggressively. It didn’t help that the offensive line was inconsistent, but that was more about suspensions and injuries than about talent.

 

Philly’s defense hasn’t been bad, either. It’s 17th in yards per game, 20th in points per game, and 14th in sacks, but a free agency addition or two plus another fix discussed further down will be enough. They do rank in the top ten in takeaways, so there’s signs of hope.

The real issue is that they need a playmaker. A glance through their list of receivers isn’t exactly inspiring- Jordan Matthews isn’t star material, while Dorial Green-Beckham and Nelson Agholor haven’t lived up to expectations. The most athletic pass catchers they have might be TE Zach Ertz and ageless RB wonder Darren Sproles. However, these receivers are at least passable for now, and aside from Sproles they’re all young and likely to develop.

The real issue is at running back. Sproles lacks the power to be a feature back, while DeMarco Murray is gone and Ryan Mathews is a Chargers castoff that is injured once again and might even miss time next year.

If the Eagles can land a top running back in next year’s draft, it can do for them what Ezekiel Elliott did for the Cowboys this year (and Murray did in 2014). We’ve seen the Cowboys defense go from the middle of the pack to a top ranking, and opposing defenses can’t attack the QB and cover the run at the same time.

This is the year to do it, too. LSU RB Leonard Fournette will probably go in the first ten picks, but FSU’s Dalvin Cook and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey could both be available in the middle of the first round, and right now both look like potential NFL stars.

It’s too soon to make the final call, but right now that appears to be the Eagles’ best option. This could change once all the players have run through the draft process and free agency has settled, but for right now, expect the Eagles to target Cook or McCaffrey.

In the meantime, Philly fans can always watch the Flyers.