Eagles Howie Roseman Addressed Why Top 30 Visits Didn't Lead To Draft Picks

PHILADELPHIA – Drew Kendall said he had a pre-draft Zoom call with the Eagles about two months before the NFL draft, right around the Scouting Combine.

“We were in contact a little bit, but we went a little silent between now and the draft,” said the center the Eagles selected in the fifth round on Saturday.

That was an echo of several of the 10 players made available during the weekend after the Eagles drafted them.

First-round pick Jihaad Campbell said he talked to general manager Howie Roseman a little bit, “building that relationship,” he said. He added that he had one phone call with outside linebackers/defensive ends coach Jeremiah Washburn.

Quarterback Kyle McCord said he had only one Zoom call with the Eagles and “a couple of meetings at the Shrine Bowl and the Combine.”

Each draft pick who spoke to the Eagles media contingent talked about sporadic contact with the Eagles during the months leading up to the draft.

Every team is allowed to have 30 top visits during the process. It’s a chance to bring in a player and get to know him better. In recent years, it has led to several selections the Eagles made in the draft. Not this year. Of the 30 visits that were reported this year, none were drafted.

Eagles on SI asked Roseman about it on Saturday night, after the draft concluded.

“Was it a board thing or a smokescreen?” was the question.

Roseman wasn’t sure how to answer. He said he would get with a member of the public relations staff to see if all the top 30 visits were out there and correct.

“Everyone we bring in for top 30 is for a reason,” he said. “Sometimes we're trying to get more information on guys. Sometimes we're trying in that vein to try to get to know them better. Sometimes we want them to meet someone in particular, but I'm not sure that, I don't know the answer to that.

“I certainly wouldn't want to start opening the door to who all our top 30 visits are and getting in the process of doing that and then all of a sudden everyone's trying to figure out the reasons we're bringing in top 30 guys,” he said. “But I don't know that I know the answer to that just off the top of my head, but again, we did a lot of stuff over the last couple of days. I'm going to take some time and look at it and figure out where our roster is, where we can continue to improve.”

Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Jalyx Hunt, Ainias Smith, and Johnny Wilson were all top 30 visits heading into last year’s draft and became Eagles. Same thing with Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Tyler Steen, and Kelee Ringo in 2023. Jordan Davis visited in 2022.

Roseman didn’t admit to it being a smokescreen to throw other GMs off, and that wouldn’t make sense to do that. It’s interesting, though, that he has had some of his best drafts leaning on the process of top 30 visits.

It will take some time to determine if not bringing players in for closer looks in this draft will have the same great outcome as previous drafts when they added that extra layer of top 30 visits.

More NFL: Eagles Howie Roseman Delivers Foreboding Message On Tight End Front