Inside the Eagles' Recent SEC Scouting Obsession
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PHILADELPHIA - By now, the Philadelphia Eagles’ recent history with the University of Georgia and one of the Bulldogs’ top SEC rivals in Alabama is common knowledge.
In April’s draft, the Eagles selected three players from the stifling Georgia defense, including two first-round picks in defensive tackle Jalen Carter at No. 9 overall and edge rusher Nolan Smith at No. 30.
Early on Day 3, Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman moved up to the top of the fourth round to select speedy cornerback Kelee Ringo from the back-to-back national champions and also added a fourth former Bulldogs player on the trade market by bringing Philadelphia native and former Georgia running back DeAndre Swift back home from the Detroit Lions.
All of that movement came on the heels of the 2022 draft where Roseman went with UGA defensive tackle Jordan Davis at No. 13 overall in the first round before snaring Butkus Award-winning linebacker Nakobe Dean in the third round.
The Southeastern Conference wave as a whole actually began in 2021 when Roseman double-dipped at the top with Alabama stars, first trading back up in the first round to select Heisman Trophy-winning receiver DeVonta Smith at No. 10 overall and supplementing that with offensive lineman Landon Dickerson at No. 37.
Both of those players are already impact starters and Roseman didn’t forget about the Crimson Tide this year when he selected Nick Saban’s left tackle Tyler Steen with the intent of moving him inside to guard.
Most of the Eagles’ scouts do their work anonymously but Roseman was asked who was responsible for all the SEC love after the draft and lauded two of his star scouts.
"[Then-Director of Draft Management] Phil Bhaya is primarily responsible for the SEC,” the GM explained. “He has over-the-top responsibilities, as well. Phil is a local guy (South Jersey) who played at Princeton, and he's a tremendous young scout. He has a pretty wide skill set.”
An All-Ivy League defensive back, Bhaya was hired as a scouting assistant by the Eagle right out of college in 2014 and has slowly advanced with his most recent promotion being finalized this month when he was named as Director of College Scouting
Bhaya was the boots on the ground for the Eagles in the SEC as the organization’s Southeast Area Scout in 2021 before being promoted to Director of Draft Management last year.
Long before Bhaya, Eagles co-Director of Player Personnel Alan Wolking was the team’s Southeast Area Scout from 2013 through 2017 before advancing to Assistant Director of College Scouting in 2018-19 and then getting Bhaya’s current job of Director of College Scouting from 2020-21.
Wolking may have more contacts in college football’s best conference than anyone else in the organization, according to a team source,
“Alan Wolking goes every year, and obviously we have other guys who have been in there [to Georgia],” Roseman said.
One of them is Roseman himself, who was self-deprecating.
"It was funny because I was saying this, and I'm not trying to overshadow those guys because they do a great job, but I went to Georgia last year at practice, and I remember coming back. ... Coach [Nick Sirianni] was like, 'who did you like there?' and I'm like, 'I don't know, like the whole defense.'"
Because the talent is so deep in the SEC, the Southeast Area has become the plum road-scouting job in just about every organization.
Moving forward the name to remember for the Eagles is Lee DiValerio, who was just moved from being the organization's National Football Service Scout and given the Southeast Area.
For those who don't know NFS Scouts are assigned to prepare reports for the larger organization, which are then shared with all member teams who belong to the service.
DiValerio, a Villanova product, has climbed from intern to Scouting Assistant to the NFS beat and now the prime real estate of the SEC in seven years.
“I think those guys do a tremendous job in the SEC,” Roseman said.
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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
