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Howie Roseman Not Likely to Stay Put in Draft
Howie Roseman entered last year’s draft with three first-round picks.
The Eagles GM ended up making only one of those selections, exchanging his embarrassment of riches, in part, for a top-five NFL receiver in A.J. Brown, and the New Orleans Saints first-round pick in this spring’s draft, the 10th overall selection.
He also moved up three spots to take defensive tackle Jordan Davis.
This spring, Roseman has a pair of picks in the first round this year – Nos. 10 and 30.
Mock drafts are again filled with names of college players and positions.
Question 1: Does anybody honestly expect Roseman to keep both picks?
Question 2: Does anybody honestly expect Roseman to stay at Nos. 10 and 30?
The answer to both is probably no.
In 2018, drafting No. 32 after winning Super Bowl LVII, he moved down into the second round and took tight end Dallas Goedert.
In 2019, he moved up three places to grab offensive tackle Andre Dillard.
He stayed put in 2020 and ended up with a bust in receiver Jalen Reagor, though he took away some of the stings of that selection by finding a franchise quarterback in the second round with Jalen Hurts.
In 2021 he climbed two spots to select receiver DeVonta Smith.
There could be as many as four quarterbacks taken among the nine picks before the Eagles hit the clock, and that could leave him with his pick of cornerbacks or edge rushers, or a trade to someplace else on the draft board.
NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah was asked last week about the Eagles’ two picks and a possible trade down from 10.
“I think that 30th pick is great,” he said. “I think there's tremendous value there in that pick. When I look at trading back to 14 or 15 and places that they could go, I mean, you kind of get out of that first group of edge rushers.”
Jeremiah mentioned Iowa’s Lukas Van Ness has one of those edge rushers in the first tier, and maybe he would still be there if the Eagles drop to 14 or 15. There’s also a chance, he said, that Van Ness could be gone, and the Eagles would not find an edge rusher worthy of being picked at 14 or 15.
The cornerbacks, though, are a different story.
“I would feel great about it with (Christian) Gonzalez, (Joey) Porter, or (Devon) Witherspoon, somehow made it there,” he said. “Those would be home run picks. Those are some of the guys that I would think in a trade-back scenario that could make some sense there.”
Perhaps even a running back like Texas’ Bijan Robinson could be the grab if a trade-down happens.
“I know the Eagles' history and they don't take linebackers and running backs in the first round, but I'm looking at a team - it's hard to find a team that's put together a better roster than the Eagles,” said Jeremiah. “I don't think there is one. I think that San Francisco has done a really, really good job, and I think they're right there with them.
"I look at them as a team that traded resources and obviously dedicated a lot of money towards Christian McCaffrey, and I saw what Christian McCaffrey did in that offense where they already had a bunch of good players and how he took it to a whole other level.”
Jeremiah marveled at an Eagles offense that would add Robinson to a mix of QB Jalen Hurts, receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and tight end Dallas Goedert.
Adding Robinson, Jeremiah said would make the Eagles’ offense even more fun to watch.
“He is a special, special player,” the analyst said about Robinson. “One of the best backs we've seen in the last several years. …I have no clue where he is going to go. I just know I think he is one of the best players in the draft.”
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Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglestoday.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
