The Super Bowl has come and gone and we can finally congratulate Andy Reid and LeSean McCoy on their first rings!
Ok, now time for Eagles content.
For many, it’s finally the start of mock drafts and free agency predictions. For some, including myself, it’s been that way since December. I’ve already blessed you all with my free agency scenarios that could impact draft plans, check it out here. Before I dive fully into a mock draft, join me in analyzing the college conferences that have been drafted by Howie Roseman and which have been the most productive in his tenure. (Excludes the 2015 Chip Kelly GM year)
*Bolded areas denote updated article as of April 2021 and paragraphs following may not reflect new updates
The ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference)
The ACC consists of:
- Boston College
- Clemson
- Duke
- Florida State
- Georgia Tech
- Louisville
- Miami
- NC State
- North Carolina (UNC)
- Pitt
- Syracuse
- Virginia
- Virginia Tech
- Wake Forest
Since 2010, here are the players selected by Howie Roseman:
- 2010: Ricky Sapp (Clemson)
- 2011: Dion Lewis (Pitt)
- 2012: Brandon Washington (Miami)
- 2013: Earl Wolff (NC State)
- 2014: Marcus Smith (Louisville)
- 2017: Mack Hollins (UNC)
- 2018: Avonte Maddox (Pitt) and Josh Sweat (Florida St.)
- 2020: K’Von Wallace (Clemson)
Eight players from the ACC under Howie Roseman.
Pretty bad luck from the conference until the 2018 draft. Maddox became a fixture in the secondary after a stellar rookie season. He regressed a bit in 2019 but, with Marquand Manuel as the new defensive backs coach, could be in store for big things again in 2020. Sweat appeared in nine games as a rooie in 2018 and registered one tackle. But in 2020, he had four sacks in 16 games while never playing more than 51% of the snaps in a game. The promise is there for the upcoming third year pro.
Big 12
The Big 12 conference includes:
- Baylor
- Iowa State
- Kansas
- Kansas St.
- Oklahoma
- Oklahoma St.
- TCU
- Texas
- Texas Tech
- West Virginia
Here are the players drafted from those schools:
- 2010: Keenan Clayton (Oklahoma)
- 2011: Danny Watkins (Baylor)
- 2012: Bryce Brown (Kansas St.)
- 2013: Lane Johnson and David King (Oklahoma)
- 2016: Wendell Smallwood (West Virginia) and Halapoulivaati Vaitai (TCU)
- 2017: Rasul Douglas and Shelton Gibson (West Virginia)
- 2018: Matt Pryor (TCU)
- 2020: Jalen Reagor (TCU) and Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma)
Out of the ten players selected, you could say six had prominent roles. Johnson is an All-Pro, Douglas is a fixture in the secondary, Vaitai is a SUper Bowl starting left tackle and very serviceable back up guard/tackle, Pryor stepped up to start for Brandon Brooks in 2019, and Smallwood was either a starter or RB5 for his whole career. Gibson was the burner that the Eagles wanted but he didn’t pan out. Brown had a couple of good years before being traded. Clayton had 43 tackles in two seasons. King never played a down for the team. We won’t get into Watkins.
Big East/American Athletic Conference
The Big East ended football operations in 2013, and schools transferred over to the American Athletic Conference. Those schools are:
- Connecticut
- Cincinnati
- UCF (Central Florida)
- Houston
- SMU (Southern Miss)
- Navy
- Memphis
- Temple
- East Carolina
- Tulane
- Tulsa
- South Florida
The players drafted to the Eagles from that conference are:
- 2010: Nate Allen (South Florida)
- 2011: Greg Lloyd (Connecticut), Jason Kelce (Cincinnati), and Jaiquawn Jarrett (Temple)
- 2020: Shaun Bradley (Temple)
Only four players since 2010 from that conference before and after the change. Nate Allen had five productive seasons before moving on to the Raiders. Greg Lloyd never played a snap for the Eagles. Jaiqwuan Jarrett had 17 tackles in two seasons. But the Eagles did get the league’s best center in Jason Kelce.
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference includes:
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Michigan St.
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Northwestern
- Ohio St.
- Penn St.
- Purdue
- Rutgers
- Wisconsin
The players drafted from the Big Ten are:
- 2010: Brandon Graham (Michigan), Mike Kafka (Northwestern), and Kurt Coleman (Ohio St.)
- 2011: Julian Vandervelde (Iowa) and Brian Rolle (Ohio St.)
- 2012: Dennis Kelly (Purdue) and Marvin McNutt (Iowa)
- 2014: Beau Allen (Wisconsin)
- 2017: Nathan Gerry (Nebraska)
- 2019: Miles Sanders (Penn St.), Shareef Miller (Penn St.), and Clayton Thorson (Northwestern)
Kafka played four games for the Eagles and is now a rising star in NFL coaching. Marvin McNutt played four games as a rookie and recorded two tackles as a wide receiver.
Clayton Thorson lol. (Sorry Liam Jenkins)
The jury is still out on Miller, as he only played two snaps on special teams all season (he was inactive for 15 games).
Coleman had two very productive years with the Eagles, including a 93 tackle campaign in 2012. His rookie year and final year left a lot to be desired.
Brian Rolle had a strong rookie season with 54 tackles in 16 games, but only played four in his sophomore season and was cut after.
Vandervelde spent five years with the Eagles as the backup guard and appeared in 17 games (14 in 2013).
Kelly is now known as the guy who spent three years with the Eagles, only to be traded for a failed wide receiver and has caught a touchdown pass in the playoffs. That sent off a storm of jokes and “hot takes” on Eagles Twitter.
Allen was a cog in the run defense for four years and was an important part of the Super Bowl run. He only missed one game in his Eagles career.
Gerry is entering the final year of his rookie deal after a career high in tackles with 72. He also mised 14 tackles.
Brandon Graham and Miles Sanders. Studs. Need I say more?
Conference USA
Out of the 14 C-USA schools, the one that matters here is Marshall.
Vinny Curry was selected in the 2012 draft from Marshall and spent six seasons with the Eagles before having a Tampa Bay year. He returned this past season and played in all 16 games and four of his five sacks within weeks 13-16.
(EDIT: 2020: Quez Watkins (Southern Miss))
Check out some more conferences on the page below.
