April 12, 2024
Bill Streicher/USA Today
Howie Roseman has always prioritized the trenches during the NFL Draft.
I could’ve sworn that it was just yesterday that the Eagles were in the middle of an all-time collapse, but, hey, the NFL Draft is only two weeks away.
It’s a good time to get some Eagles and draft thoughts off my chest…
Do you know why the Eagles have consistently been in the contention mix for the last 25 years? Offensive line play. Through four different coaching regimes from Andy Reid to Chip Kelly to Doug Pederson to Nick Sirianni, the Birds were considered to have the best OL in the league at some point during all four eras.
First-round whiffs like Danny Watkins and Andre Dillard have been crushing, but the massive success of the likes of Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson and many more showcase why this team-building method is worth continuing.
Taking offensive linemen will never be the most popular pick amongst the fan base, but it works.
The movement I’ve gotten behind for the first-round strategy this year is a lineman who’s the long-term heir apparent to Johnson at right tackle, but can also be a great right guard in the interim under the assumption that Cam Jurgens is kicking inside to center.
OTs like Alabama’s JC Latham and Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga fit that bill, though the Eagles may need to trade up to land them.
That’s where I’m planting my Day 1 flag.
The Haason Reddick trade harkens back to an older era of Eagles football. It may not feel that long ago, but 20-plus years ago when Joe Banner was running the show, the Birds were very much about letting a player leave one year too early rather than one year too late.
After a First-Team All-Pro nod in 2000 and Pro Bowl honors in 2001, the Eagles allowed Jeremiah Trotter to walk in free agency. Trotter ended up in Washington. Coming off three straight Pro Bowl appearances, Hugh Douglas left for Jacksonville in free agency during the 2003 offseason. Neither worked out in their new locales and both were back in Philly by 2004.
The Eagles are hoping the Reddick move is more akin to those ones as opposed to the disastrous Brian Dawkins decision after the 2008 campaign.
Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins is a popular mock draft pick for the Eagles in the first round. I don’t see it.
Wiggins may be too slender to be a physical presence at the next level. He’s in MockDraftable’s 18th percentile for cornerbacks in arm length, in the 27th percentile for wingspan and in just the second percentile for weight.
For a team that was allergic to tackling and physicality in 2023, I could see Wiggins being frustrating for Birds fans despite his clear-cut athleticism.
Wiggins also doesn’t have the requisite ball skills I want from defensive backs. I value that more than all, the ability to alter a game with a single play. He had three interceptions the last two seasons in the ACC. Conversely, look at someone like Iowa’s Cooper DeJean who has seven picks in that timespan in the Big 10. Given my trench play spiel, the Eagles going lineman feels more likely than defensive back for sure, but if they are going to go after a corner, I’d be lukewarm on Wiggins.
I don’t find it particularly likely, but if Howie Roseman was going to make one big unexpected swing, trading up for Georgia tight end Brock Bowers could be it.
This regime has become (rightfully) obsessed with big school players after the Jalen Reagor debacle in 2020. They’ve gone hard after Alabama and Georgia talent as of late. Roseman seems to value tight ends more than people think, too. The Eagles used a top-35 pick on Zach Ertz when Brent Celek was only 28. Ertz had just scored the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl LII when the team took Dallas Goedert with a second-round pick and employed a heavy 12 personnel scheme for several seasons. Given the team’s slot receiver woes, would they do that again with Bowers?
The history of first-round tight ends would give me extreme pause there. Philosophically, I would only trade up for QBs, trench players and wideouts as well.
If Roseman wants to zig while everyone else zags, however, perhaps this it.
I understand any Eagles fan who is upset that the Eagles’ Week 1 opponent in Brazil is the Packers. I get the NFL's rationale in doing so, showcasing two young quarterbacks in Jalen Hurts and Jordan Love in its big Friday Night Football programming, but Philadelphia has a rightful grievance. Green Bay is an NFC contender. A tiebreaker between the two teams could be huge for potential playoff seeding. It should've been an AFC opponent like Cleveland. Playing that game in South America rather than South Philadelphia is a rough turn of events.
The NFL is doing few favors to lessen Philly’s persecution complex with things like this.
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