The Philadelphia Eagles finished the 2020 season at 4-11 with many wise observers believing the franchise tanked its final game at home against Washington to move up from the draft’s ninth spot, to its sixth, in the hunt for a fortunes-changing athlete near the top of the board.

Mel Kiper has a hunch that player might be sourced at the other end of the Keystone State in Happy Valley with Micah Parsons, a monster Penn State linebacker who sat out the Nittany Lion’s COVID-addled 2020 campaign in order to prepare for the draft. As a true sophomore in 2019, Parsons established himself as an elite All-Big Ten player with the ability to rampage through an opponent’s offensive game plan almost on his own.

“If you look at the Eagles, Micah Parsons, linebacker from Penn State makes sense,” Kiper said. “He opted out, but if you go back to 2019, Micah Parsons was all over the field making plays, 109 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, five sacks and four forced fumbles . . . He is an outstanding football player and going from nine to six [in the draft by losing to Washington] allows him to be in play for Philadelphia.”

Multiple professional scouts believe Parsons could be the top defensive player in the entire draft and there’s little doubt he will be picked early on the first day. The Nittany Lions would have loved Parsons on the field last season helping his teammates as they opened up at 0-5, the worst start in the history of the proud program, before winning their last four to finish at 4-5. But Parsons was done with the college game and is on his way to a big payday in the NFL.