Eagles Have Done Well Drafting in Top Five
The Eagles’ 2017 draft class was abysmal, but the Eagles aren’t alone in their missed evaluations of several of their picks that year.
At least they didn’t screw up their first pick, though Derek Barnett has yet to truly live up to his first-round status as the 14 pick overall. Most of that has to do his with failure to stay healthy. Still, the Eagles picked up the defensive end’s fifth-year option last week.
Of the top five players taken in 2017 only one had his option picked up for the 2021 season and that was the very first pick that year, defensive end Myles Garrett, who the Cleveland Browns selected.
The other four that were picked right after Garrett will all be free agents at the end of this season. They are:
Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
49ers defensive lineman Solomon Thomas.
Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette.
Titans receiver Corey Davis.
There are other first-rounders in that draft whose contracts weren’t picked up for a fifth year, such as John Ross (No. 9 to Bengals), Garrett Boles (No. 20 to Broncos), Jarrad Davis (No. 21 to Lions), Charles Harris (No. 22 to Dolphins), and Takkarist McKinley (No. 26 to Falcons).
Taco Charlton (No. 28 to Cowboys) is on his third team and Jabrill Peppers (No. 25 to Browns) is on his second.
Teams have until Monday to decide whether they will bring back first-rounders from 2017 for a fifth year and one of those decisions will need to be made by the Colts on Malik Hooker, who went No. 15.
The Eagles, particularly general manager Howie Roseman, take a lot of heat for some sketchy drafts, but this serves as a reminder that there are no guarantees that come with being drafted in the first round.
The first five picks in any draft are particularly important, and the Eagles have only been inside the top five six times in the the last 50 years.
Here are the Eagles top five picks dating back to 1970 when the draft merged the AFL and NFL:
2016: Carson Wentz (No. 2 overall)
Face of the franchise ever since two separate trades were made to move up to this pick. Injuries at inopportune times bring his grade down a bit.
Grade: B
2013: Lane Johnson (4)
Sure, Johnson has been suspended twice for PEDs, but two OTs went before him in this draft. One DE went before him and one after him. You tell, who would you rather have: Eric Fisher (1) Luke Joeckel (2), Dion Jordan (3) or Ezekiel Ansah (5)?
Grade: A
1999: Donovan McNabb (2)
Five QBs went in the first 12 picks in this draft and the Eagles made the right pick considering the others did mostly nothing, except for maybe one: Tim Couch (1), Akili Smith (3), Daunte Culpepper (11), and Cade McNown (12).
Grade: A
1984: Kenny Jackson (4)
Former Penn State start never had more than 40 catches or more than 700 yards in seven seasons and two different stints with the Eagles. It was a different era back then, but better production in the passing game had to be expected.
Grade: C
1973: Jerry Sisemore (3)
Considered one of the greatest OL in team history, spending 13 years with Eagles and making 155 starts.
Grade: A
1971: Richard Harris (5)
Not many stats were kept for DL back then, but he made the all-rookie team and was regarded as one of the fastest D linemen of his era until knee injuries caught up to him.
Grade: Inc
