Howie Roseman Taking Trip Down Memory Lane; Will it Help Philadelphia Eagles?

Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman has gotten nostalgic this offseason.

PHILADELPHIA - Is it troubling or is it smart?

A trend has developed this offseason when it comes to Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman and his propensity to revisit what might have been with his team.

The Eagles acquired three players from recent drafts that the organization and Roseman himself specifically liked: running back Saquon Barkley (2018), receiver Parris Campbell (2019), and quarterback Kenny Pickett (2022).

Each case is different of course but none of the three brought in has lived up to their individual pre-draft hype which ranged from superstar (Barkley) to best quarterback in a shaky class (Pickett) and finally solid second-round potential with upside (Campbell).

Moving forward, the expectations with the 2024 Eagles remain different for each with Barkley the lone foundational piece described as "special" by the organization itself and a player expected to deliver an offensive presence to rival what Christian McCaffrey has given the San Francisco 49ers.

Campbell is next in line as a potential WR3 and an upgrade over Quez Watkins/Olamide Zaccheaus/Julio Jones trio from 2023 if nothing further is added by the Eagles during the draft or the rest of the talent-gathering season.

Mar 14, 2024; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.

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Pickett, meanwhile, slots in as Jalen Hurts' cost-effective backup for the next two years of his rookie deal after starting 24 games for the Steelers over his first two professional seasons.

Rewind to 2018 and everyone liked Barkley, the No. 2 overall pick by the New York Giants.

Eagles' defensive players at that time like Malcolm Jenkins, Fletcher Cox, and the still-kicking Brandon Graham would rave about Barkley's physical gifts early in the RB's career.

Barkley never lived up to the expectations as a game-changing player with the Giants, however.

There's plenty of context to that, including years of toiling with mediocre or worse quarterbacks and undermanned offensive lines.

Assuming that evaporates in Philadelphia ignores the heavy workload Barkley had with the Giants that has already reached over 1,500 touches, along with a host of significant leg injuries, most notably a torn ACL in 2020.

All of that has surely taken somewhat of a toll on Barkley when compared to the pristine version that arrived in the Meadowlands from Penn State in 2018.

On the surface, Roseman and the Eagles also turned away from their typical analytics-based approach when it comes to the workload of backs to try to take advantage of a market inefficiency they helped create.

The bottom line is the Barkley of 2023, who averaged under 4.0 yards per carry, looked nothing like the rookie version that was at 5.0 even factoring in the poor supporting cast.

The Eagles, however, do have the luxury of GPS numbers which presumably indicated Barkley still has the juice left to be described as "special" at least for one season.

“For us, it’s hard to find special players at any position. We think Saquon is a special player," Roseman said. "We think he’s a special person. And so when you’re trying to find those guys, they’re hard to find — especially on the open market.

"And then you put into the dynamic, of has the pendulum swung so far at this position? I mean, the guy touches the ball 300 times a year, hopefully. There’s not a lot of other players, skill-position players, that are touching the ball that many times and have that effect.”

Campbell and his 4.31 speed was the choice of Roseman and then-VP of Player Personnel Joe Douglas at No. 57 overall in 2021 before Jeffrey Lurie steered things toward J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and his perceived elite catching radius.

The hunch is that the Eagles will still try to add at receiver in next month's draft. If not, Campbell will be the leader in the clubhouse at WR3 and perhaps a candidate to be the lead kickoff returner, a more important role with the much-discussed XFL-inspired rule changes being implemented.

In five NFL seasons, however, Campbell has struggled with injuries and not produced much. His speed has never really translated either, but Roseman continued to stress it.

"The vertical speed, he's obviously got that," Roseman said of Campbell. "Coming off a down year in New York. Two years ago in Indianapolis, I think he had 60 catches for 661 yards (actually 63 for 623). Parris' speed is real, he's a physical player. He's done some returns as well. Gets a chance to come in and compete."

Finally, Pickett was in no man's land when it came to the Eagles in the 2022 draft, never a consideration when Roseman used a targeted trade-up to get Jordan Davis in the first round and long gone by the time their second-round selection, Cam Jurgens, arrived.

It was notable that Roseman himself traveled out to Pittsburgh to watch Pickett in person against North Carolina even though the proximity of Western Pennsylvania and the night of the game (Thursday) helped, it did signal something.

“Kenny’s a talented guy who, like all QBs in this draft, we do work on him. Just because you never know when you’re going to have the opportunity," said Roseman. "To get those guys and to continue build depth throughout the roster with talented guys at maybe the most important position in sports, we thought it made sense."

Maybe Roseman's nostalgia works and Barkley is the only piece of sentimentality that must.

That said, in general terms, it's better to look forward in the fast-moving NFL than peer through a rear-view mirror at objects that only appear to be closer to what they once were.