Howie Roseman

Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman listens to a reporter's question after a news conference at the team's NFL football training facility, Thursday, June 7, 2012, in Philadelphia. Joe Banner is stepping aside from the team's day-to-day operations and taking on an advisory role to be succeeded as president by chief operating officer Don Smolenski. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

(Matt Rourke)

Currently, the Eagles cornerback group consists of last year's seventh-round rookie Jalen Mills, Ron Brooks, Aaron Grymes, C.J. Smith and a group of players currently signed to futures contracts.

According to ESPN NFL insider and former Eagles front office personnel executive Lou Riddick, that is about to change during next month's NFL Draft in Philadelphia.

"The easy answer is to say they will take the best player available," Riddick said Thursday afternoon on 97.5 The Fanatic of the Eagles' likely plans. "One of the best players available that will provide the biggest impact and the best bang for the buck and really solidify a top-five position of need on the roster will be at cornerback. I think at No. 14, that is where they will find the best value and that is where they'll find the best player.

"I would put money that that's really the position they go for. I don't really know if running back makes sense there. It just doesn't. It just doesn't make sense to me. Cornerback is a position that's very vital position and running back they'll be able to address elsewhere."

Along those lines, in Riddick's colleague Mel Kiper Jr.s latest mock draft, the Eagles are projected to take Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley.

"I say this with all due respect because I'm part of the media," Riddick said of Conley. "The media is just catching up to the fact that Gareon Conley is someone who I know that scouts have really liked him all fall. Some people liked him better than his teammate Marshon Lattimore.

"Some people liked him better because he's more dependable and maybe more available on a long-term basis because Lattimore has some issues with soft-tissue injuries, particularly hamstring injuries. I think that's why you're now starting to hear about Conley more, but during the fall, people liked the fact that this kid has tremendous ball-skills. He has exceptional straight-line speed. He doesn't have as much short-area and change of direction quickness of Lattimore, but there's people who really like him."

Conley, 6-foot-t, 195 pounds, finished his junior season with 26 tackles and four interceptions.

The Eagles could also be in a position to snag the likes of Alabama's Marlon Humphrey or Florida's Quincy Wilson among others at the cornerback position when they go on the clock in Round 1 next month.

Whether the Eagles opt to choose a cornerback or not remains to be seen, but this is anticipated to be a historically deep class at the position.

Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoPHL.