Eagles Draft: Projection Played into Day 2 for Philly
PHILADELPHIA - After adding significant talent on the defensive side of the football in the first round of the 2023 draft with Georgia difference-makers Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, the Philadelphia Eagles started plugging some holes on the projected 53-man roster on Day 2.
Entering the day with the No. 62 overall pick late in the second round and No. 66 in the early third, Eagles GM Howie Roseman moved down three spots by trading with Houston and gained a sixth-round pick (No. 188) and another seventh-round pick (No. 230) on Saturday.
With consecutive picks at No. 65 and 66, Roseman allowed the first five minutes to drain off the clock before taking Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Steen and following that up with Illinois safety Sydney Brown.
The interesting part of the selections is that the roles each player handled in college don’t seem to be the way that the Eagles are projecting them at the professional level.
The Eagles needed to replenish depth on the offensive line after losing Isaac Seumalo and Andre Dillard in free agency. Seumalo, the starter at right guard in 2022 and a Pro Bowl alternate, is set to be replaced by second-year player Cam Jurgens, a center by trade.
In the case of Steen, he started his career at Vanderbilt as a defensive lineman before flipping over to right tackle and finally left tackle for his final three seasons in Nashville. As a graduate transfer at Alabama, Steen finished his college career at LT replacing Evan Neal, the seventh overall pick in the 2022 draft by the New York Giants.
He shapes up as the fourth consecutive Crimson Tide LT to be a significant pro prospect following Jonah Williams, Alex Leatherwood, and Neal.
Although Steen never played inside at guard in college, he was requested to play there at the Senior Bowl by NFL scouts and the Eagles saw something and when they drafted Steen he was announced as a guard.
At 6-foot-6 and 321 pounds Steen is a much bigger player than Jurgens and the Eagles have typically liked larger bodies inside like Seumalo and Brandon Brooks.
“I got an opportunity to play guard at Senior Bowl, and I felt pretty good over there,” Steen told SI.com’s Eagles Today. “I feel like I could play across the offensive line, so getting the opportunity to play guard at the Senior Bowl was pretty good. I felt pretty comfortable over there. I took the same approach as playing tackle, and it felt pretty comfortable.”
As for Brown, he was arguably the first true safety selected in the draft because Alabama’s Brian Branch is a hybrid safety/slot player. What’s interesting is that Brown was a box safety at Illinois and the Eagles typically want post safeties in their Vic Fangio-inspired defensive philosophy.
Again the Senior Bowl played a big part in the Eagles’ projection moving forward as Brown was asked to play more two-high in Mobile and show off the range Philadelphia was looking for.
"You get worried about guys on offense, that guys that are playing in the middle of the field that have range, that can cover, and we definitely think that Sydney has that," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. "... He can get to the ball. He has great range to make plays from hash to hash."
While each third-round pick will not be asked to make an immediate splash in 2023 there is a path to playing time if each takes to their new roles.
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
