Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas met with the media today, one week before the commencing of the NFL Draft. There has been plenty of excitement when it comes to the Eagles this year..especially when the 14th overall pick is mentioned. The pair fielded plenty of questions surrounding their draft direction.
Howie once again spoke glowingly of the Vice President of Player Personnel, shedding some light on just how much has changed in the way way that the Eagles prepare for the Draft since his arrival.
“Part of bringing him (Joe) in here, is trying to change what we’ve done and trying to get better.” Roseman said. “It started with using a different grading scale and getting us all acclimated with the way he talks about players and how he grades players. As we go through the free agent board and the draft board, we trust in Joe and his ability to put that together.”
Earlier on in the presser, Douglas spoke about the comfort the team feel when looking at all the potential scenarios to explore regarding their 14th overall pick.
“Gut instincts are taken out of the Draft. We have a great group of scouts, a great group of coaches.” Douglas told the media. “We’ve done so much work on these guys, it’s never going to be an exact science..but I think we’ve fine tuned it to a formula we’re looking for in a player”.
So what is that formula that Douglas speaks of? It’s a lot less of what we see on the field, and a lot more of what we’re hearing about off the field.
“You’re really trying to gauge how much does this guy love Football? When you get to this level, everybody is talented. There’s a prerequisite of talent that’s required for every position. We’re trying to find the things you can’t really measure; Mind, Spirit, Soul, their will to win.”
Howie Roseman joked that the phrase “Mind, Spirit, Soul” should be on a T-shirt..and it’s hard to disagree. But those three words are so powerful when judging the character of a person..and character is something that has been focused on heavily this year. From the off-the-field controversies involving Joe Mixon, to pressures on those facing injury setbacks such as Sidney Jones, the “things you can’t teach” as Douglas phrased it, have become crucial in trying to break down such an incredibly talented draft class.
“We go through those scenarios about guys, what we think about guys. If they’re on our board, we feel comfortable about putting them on the Football team. Roseman said in response to a question regarding something similar. When we make those sort of decisions, they go back to Joe. His team have stacked guys, it’s easy to pick them off the board because we’ve had those discussions already.”
With conflicting reports on whether or not Joe Mixon is still on the Eagles draft board or not, it appears as though if he is, the team would feel comfortable in having him play in week one. It’s all about character for the Eagles, it has been for quite some time. Since the departure of Chip Kelly, every staff change, player signing or even trade, has been made with the heart and soul of the team in mind. The vision that Joe Douglas possesses embodies that translucently…and it’s a quality that sees the Eagles ship heading in an exciting and equally promising direction with draft week approaching.
Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
