With the 64th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles found their replacement for C.J. Gardner-Johnson — in a prospect analysts have been calling the next C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Philly selected playmaking Texas Longhorns safety Andrew Mukuba with the final selection of Round 2. The Eagles had a need at safety after trading CJGJ to the Houston Texans earlier this offseason. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Mukuba projects as a potential Day 1 starter next to Reed Blankenship, with Sydney Brown and Tristin McCollum also heavily in the mix.
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Mukuba flashed some elite skills in coverage at Texas, piling up five interceptions and seven pass breakups in 2024 while allowing an impressive 12.1 passer rating when targeted. He also committed zero penalties over his final 26 games in college, spanning back to his final season at Clemson.
He’s a bit thin and undersized, however, and will need to earn his chops at the NFL level in run defense. Draft experts had mixed opinions on the pick. Here’s how they scored Philly’s new safety prospect:
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Expert grades for Andrew Mukuba at No. 64 overall
Trapasso: “Fluid safety who plays more athletically than his workout indicates yet stiffness when changing directions can appear. Built like a spindly-ish cornerback. Makes plays on the football like one too. Older prospect with plenty of experience in every type of role. Rarely out of position but his tackling reliability could improve. Good, not spectacular safety reinforcement for Philadelphia.”
Iyer: “The Eagles needed an upfield thumper to help clean up next to coverage playmaker Reed Blankenship and Mukuba can be a starter for them sooner rather than later.”
Middlehurst-Schwartz: “Howie Roseman deserves the benefit of the doubt on secondary picks after he aced last year’s haul of Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. But despite his instinctive coverage skills, Mukuba shapes up as a potential liability as a tackler while offering a pedestrian athletic profile.”
McDonald: “Mukuba and Cooper DeJean, this is what dreams are made of. Mukuba has been one of my favorite players in the draft all offseason on and his energetic, physical style of play will fit right in with the players that the Eagles already have in their back seven.”
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