Quality over quantity
The Eagles were joint 32nd for ‘total draft selections’ this year with the New York Jets. The Birds ended up selecting just five players from this year’s crop, trading away a 4th round, 6th round, and eventual 7th round selection.
But in a scenario where ‘winning now’ is the key…there isn’t much room for talent that won’t impact the roster right away. The Eagles were smart and kept it simple…bringing us very neatly onto our next point.
Built to win now
The Eagles are a playoff team. Fact. Super Bowl champions in 2017, the team (just about) survived the hangover one year later and returned to the playoffs once more in unlikely circumstances. Now, with their franchise quarterback healthy and an aggressive offseason, the Eagles are arguably better positioned than ever to return to the promised land.
There are still question marks, sure, but the draft reflects a vision that this team isn’t preparing to develop for another window, rather than maximizing the season’s remaining in their current one.
West Virginia who?
There was a trend in Philadelphia. From Wendell Smallwood and Rasul Douglas, to Shelton Gibson and Tyler Orlosky, of the Eagles drafting and signing players from the University of West Virginia.
The man responsible seems to have been replaced with someone as equally in love with Penn State. Miles Sanders, Shareef Miller and two reported undrafted free agents (we’re waiting for team confirmation before covering the class of UDFA’s) were all signed by the team this past weekend.
Maybe there’s a change of heart, or the Eagles are simply placing more resources closer to home. Either way, it’s an interesting shift.
There’s still time…
“Talent-acquisition season has not ended.” Howie Roseman told reporters after the draft. “We have a long way to go before we play a game, and then we have a long way to go before the trade deadline. We’re not going on vacation now; we’re going to continue to try to do whatever we can to support Coach [Pederson] and his staff, and we take that part of it seriously.”
If you have any lingering concerns over this team’s needs, holes or areas that went untouched during the Draft, then this was Roseman’s statement that there’s life after the Draft.
Just look at when Jay Ajayi was traded for in 2017.
Look at the Jordan Matthews trade for Ronald Darby during Training Camp.
Remember the Golden Tate acquisition.
The Eagles, by their timeline…are only a fraction of the way into a window where finding the best value is everything. If Howie Roseman hasn’t given you a reason to doubt him yet, he certainly has not given one now.
Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
