Linebacker is the bigger need, but the defensive tackle class is perhaps the deepest in this NFL draft, according to analysts.
The Eagles get a chance to examine their options this week in Indianapolis, where the league hosts more than 300 college standouts at its annual scouting combine.
The team has struggled to draft star talent on defense, accounting for its needs and forcing it to spend heavily in free agency. Since 2006 the Eagles have taken 11 defensive players in the first three rounds. Only Nate Allen, a 2010 second-round pick, is a starter.
The jury is still out on Allen, Jaiquawn Jarrett, and 2010 first-round defensive end Brandon Graham, but none has shown star talent yet.
"We want to get great players from the draft, and so we'll look at the things we've done, not only in the last two years, three years, but really in the last decade and try to learn from them," said general manager Howie Roseman, noting that Graham and Allen were slowed by injuries in their second seasons.
If the Eagles plan to break their streak of not taking a first-round linebacker since the Carter administration, Boston College's Luke Kuechly could be a perfect fit, said NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock.
"If I'm the Eagles and Kuechly's there, that might be a slam dunk for me, because I know what I'm getting and I'm plugging a huge hole," Mayock said last week.
He considers Kuechly "the best inside linebacker in this draft, by far," with no injury history, strong instincts, and more athleticism than he gets credit for. Mayock compared him to Sean Lee, a rising star for the Dallas Cowboys, saying Kuechly could start immediately.
