Biggest Lesson Giants Can Take from Eagles' Roster Building Process

For years, questions have been raised about the Philadelphia Eagles and their wizard of a general manager, Howie Roseman. Under Roseman's watch, the Eagles are on one of their most successful stretch runs, which includes four straight postseason performances and two Super Bowl berths in the last three years.

Meanwhile, the New York Giants have been on the opposite end of the spectrum. They last enjoyed glory in 2011 with their fourth Super Bowl win. Other than for two exceptions, the 2016 and 2022 seasons, the Giants’ annual story has left their fan base feeling, well, blue.

Like it or not, the Eagles are currently the cream of the crop in the NFC and in the NFC East, the same division the Giants play in.

And if Giants general manager Joe Schoen wants to stop spinning his wheels in trying to close the talent gap between the Giants and the Eagles, which right now is wider than the Grand Canyon, there is one area in particular where Schoen and the Giants really need to start having more success.

The NFL draft.

Schoen is getting ready for his fourth draft as general manager of the Giants, and without question, his third one was a charm. It yielded five starters (out of the six picks), such as receiver Malik Nabers (R1), safety Tyler Nubin (R2), cornerback Dru Phillips (R3), tight end Theo Johnson (R4), and running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr. (R5).

That right there is the very definition of a homerun draft class. But where Schoen and the Giants just haven’t been able to compete with the Eagles, at least so far, is in consistently getting top value out of those picks year in and year out, particularly from the first three rounds, where those players should be among a team’s core foundation.

For the purpose of this comparison, we’re only going to look at 2022 onward since that’s when Schoen was hired.

That said, it does need to be acknowledged that Roseman has been a top personnel executive for the Eagles since 2010 when he served as the general manager from 2010 to 2014 before receiving additional titles as executive vice president of football operations in 2015.

The Eagles have absolutely crushed the Giants in the quality of their draft picks in the first three rounds, which are considered the “premium picks.”

According to the depth charts at Ourlads, the Eagles have five first-round picks in their starting lineups on offense and defense: receiver DeVonta Smith, Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, and Quinyon Mitchell.

They also have two players drafted in the second round–center Cam Jurgens and cornerback Cooper DeJean–starting for them on offense and defense respectively.

The Giants? Of their four first-round draft picks (receiver Malik Nabers, cornerback Deonte Banks, edge Kayvon Thibodeaux, and tackle Evan Neal), only three started this year (Neal being the lone exception.

The New York Giants need more impact players like receiver Malik Nabers from their top-100 draft picks. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Giants fared much better in the second round, acquiring starters from safety Tyler Nubin, receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, and center John Micahel Schmitz.

But in the third round, the Giants managed to get starters out of corners Dru Phillips and Cor’Dale Flott. The latter of whom might not even be a starter in 2025 if the Giants bring in a veteran cornerback to pair opposite Banks.

Meanwhile, receiver Jalin Hyatt and offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu have not developed into starters, let alone key role players.

Boiling it all down, the Eagles, who have done a masterful job with moving around the draft board to get themselves almost as many top-100 picks despite usually picking toward the bottom of the order due to their success, have done much better with talent selection when picking in the top 100 and with that talent development, as they have a 100% success rate thus far,

The same can’t necessarily be said of the Giants, who, despite having one additional top-100 pick in that three-year period, have, at least so far, had three of their top-100 picks develop into starters.

‘If the draft is the lifeline of an NFL franchise, it’s clear that the Giants, who did their best draft work in the Schoen era in 2024, need to have more classes like that one if they are to have any hope of closing the gap with the newly crowned Super Bowl champions.

More New York Giants Coverage

Report: Russell Wilson Could Be Interested in Revisiting Playing for Giants

Titans Reportedly Open to Trading Out of First Spot; How That Could Affect the Giants

Hall of Fame Voter Weighs in on Snub of Giants QB Eli Manning

Report: Saquon Barkley’s Trainer Revealed Surprising Detail About Giants Negotiations

NFC East Rival Criticizes Giants for Letting Saquon Barkley Leave

More New York Giants Coverage

New York Giants On SI Social Media