The Eagles were one of five teams working out South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn Wednesday, according to ESPN draft analyst Jim Nagy.
Easy to imagine they were blown away by Horn's pro day performance.
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Presumably Eagles secondary coach Dennard Wilson was the Eagles’ coach helping run the drills, but all 32 NFL teams watching Horn saw him run a 4.39 and do 19 bench press reps, as well as a 41-inch vertical and an 11-1 broad jump. He didn’t participate in the three-cone drill or short shuttle.
The 6-foot, 205-pound Horn, whose father Joe had nearly 9,000 receiving yards in 12 NFL seasons, is considered one of the top three cornerbacks in next month’s draft, along with Patrick Surtain II of Alabama (whose father also played in the NFL) and Caleb Farley of Virginia Tech.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, a former Eagles scout, said after watching Horn and Surtain’s pro days that he believes both have moved ahead of Farley at this point.
The Eagles are desperate for a cornerback to begin his career opposite Darius Slay and eventually graduate to a CB1. They haven’t drafted an elite corner since Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown in 2002.
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Most draft experts believe Surtain, Farley and Horn will all get picked somewhere in the 10-to-20 range.
Earlier this week, Surtain benched 18 reps, ran 4.46, had a 39-inch vertical and broad jumped 10-11. Farley has been hurt and hasn't worked out yet.
The Eagles pick at No. 6 and again at No. 37, and there seems to be a pretty good chance one they’ll come out of the first two rounds with a corner.
No. 6 still seems too high for any of the top corners, but it’s possible to envision a scenario where the Eagles trade out of No. 6 with a QB-needy team like the Panthers at No. 8 or the 49ers at No. 12 and come out of Day 1 with Horn, Surtain or Farley and additional assets.
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