EAGLES DRAFT EXAMINATION: Second Round
Once upon a time, the Eagles used their second-round pick in back-to-back drafts on a safety.
That was at the start of last decade, in 2010 when they selected Nate Allen then went safety again in 2011 by drafting Jaiquawn Jarrett.
Allen mostly panned out, Jarrett did not.
The Eagles’ second-round pick in April is No. 53, and it feels like as good a place as any to take a safety, and they could have their pick of two highly regarded ones in Minnesota’s Antoine Winfield and Lenoir-Rhyne’s Kyle Dugger.
Of course, the same could be said for linebacker and defensive tackle, that it feels like a good pace to grab one of those positions.
They did not take a defensive tackle in the second round at all in the last decade, though they did grab defensive end Vinny Curry in 2012, which was the same year they drafted their only second-round linebacker of the decade in Mychal Kendricks.
The next decade of picks will begin in about six weeks when the 2020 NFL Draft is held in Las Vegas.
This is the first in an occasional series that will examine and grade the Eagles’ picks in each round.
Over the past decade, the Eagles spent second-round selections on two safeties, two cornerbacks, two receivers, two tight ends, a linebacker, a defensive end, and a running back.
Here is the breakdown:
2010: S Nate Allen (37overall)
Grade: B
Comment: When Allen was in Philly, many thought he should have been better than he was, but looking back now, Allen was better than most thought. He started 69 games in five seasons with the Eagles and made 10 interceptions, 324 tackles with three forced fumbles and three recovered fumbles.
2011: S Jaiquawn Jarrett (54 overall)
Grade: D
Comment: Jarrett doesn’t get an ‘F’ because he played slightly better after he left Philly and finished his career with three seasons with the New York Jets. He lasted just two for the team that invested an important raft pick on him.
2012: LB Mychal Kendricks (46 overall)
Grade: B+
Comment: He gets the plus added on because he helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl. Even though he liked to freelance more than he should have, and was sometimes caught out of position, Kendricks put up some good numbers in six seasons with the Eagles. He played in 85 games (74 starts) with 454 tackles, three interceptions, six forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries.
2012: DE Vinny Curry (59 overall)
Grade: C+
Comment: Curry started all 16 games in the Eagles’ Super Bowl season of 2017 after not starting one in his previous five seasons. Curry will probably always be an underrated performer in Philly, but he had his moments, including 2014 when he ended with nine sacks but would have been in double digits but at least two sacks wiped out by a defensive penalty from cornerback Cary Williams.
2013: TE Zach Ertz (35 overall)
Grade: A+
Comment: Ertz is the best tight end in Eagles history, though it’s close with Pete Retzlaff and is having a Hall of Fame career so far.
2014: WR Jordan Matthews (42 overall)
Grade: B
Comment: Has had three stints with the Eagles, so he is well-liked. He’s another underrated player in this team’s history. All he did was score touchdowns – well kind of. He had 21 of them in 40 career games with Philly while averaging 12.6 yards per catch on 386 receptions.
*2015: CB Eric Rowe (47 overall)
Grade: C-
Comment: For some reason, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz never took a liking to Rowe’s game when Schwartz arrived in 2016. Rowe had a decent rookie season for Chip Kelly, however, starting five games and recording one interception.
2016: Traded
2017: CB Sidney Jones (43 overall)
Grade: D
Comment: The Eagles took a chance drafting him after an Achilles tear in March leading up to the draft. So far, that chance has not panned out.
2018: TE Dallas Goedert (49 overall)
Grade: B+
Comment: If Goedert can piece together another couple seasons like his first two, he will rise to and ‘A’ level. In two seasons, he has 131 catches for 941 yards and nine touchdowns, and that is with Ertz on the team. In fact, he may make Ertz expendable in another year.
2019: RB Miles Sanders
Grade: A
Comment: Should have been offensive rookie of the year over Kyler Murray. Sanders had that kind season, and for that he deserves his grade, though it is subject to change should the next few years fail to live up the standard he has set for himself.
2019: WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside
Grade: D
Comment: The Eagles needed a receiver to step up last year and their second-round pick never quite did.
*Indicates Chip Kelly’s year of being GM
