Philadelphia Eagles to stick to their philosophy of
selecting talent over need in the NFL draft.“We want to retool. We don’t want to
rebuild when we have this amount of talent on our team
Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys 2019 ,” said Howie Roseman, the team’s executive vice president of football operations. “We don’t know what we’re going to need a
year from now, two years from now, and we’re trying to get long-term players on
our team.”Focusing on filling a hole at a specific position hasn’t worked out
well for Philadelphia. Two examples this decade were linebacker Marcus Smith
(No. 26, 2014) and guard Danny Watkins (No. 23, 2011). Smith never started a
game in three seasons and Watkins was gone after two.“I’ve been humbled by some
mistakes I made in terms of valuing a position over the best particular player,”
Roseman said. “That’s one of the things that’s exciting where we are right now.
We can go play right now. We think we’re a pretty good team. So we can go into
the draft knowing we don’t have anything we have to do or we have to fill at any
position, and we can base it on what’s best long term.”The Eagles acquired
speedy receiver DeSean Jackson from Tampa Bay and running back Jordan Howard
from Chicago, filling two needs last month. They also signed defensive tackle
Malik Jackson.They enter the draft with seven picks
Womens Shareef Miller Jersey , including No. 25 in the first round and Nos. 53 and 57 in the second. Roseman and Joe Douglas, vice president of player personnel,
can go in several directions. Trading down to stockpile more picks this year or
for the future is always an option. They also have enough assets to move up if
they wanted.“The higher you are in the draft the better your success rate,”
Roseman said. “We look at the 15-year history of our draft, and there is a
break-off on the talent level where you can get a difference maker in the first
round. There’s very few drafts where there are 32 legitimate first-round grades
on guys. And so for us, we just look at that opportunity in the draft to get a
difference maker each year — your homegrown difference maker, which is hard to
find.”Here are some other things to watch in the draft:THE PRIORITIESThe Eagles
value depth on the offensive and defensive lines. They could take a left tackle
to eventually replace Jason Peters, a run stuffer in the middle of the D-line or
an edge rusher. Among the players who made pre-draft visits were: Boston College
OL Chris Lindstrom, Oklahoma OL Cody Ford
Shareef Miller Jersey Color Rush , Louisiana Tech DE Jaylon Ferguson, Clemson DTs Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence, and Notre Dame DT Jerry Tillery.RUNNING
BACKAcquiring Howard won’t preclude the Eagles from drafting a running back.
Several mock drafts have Alabama’s Josh Jacobs going at No. 25, but that would
be a departure from an organizational philosophy. The team hasn’t selected a
back in the first round since Buddy Ryan chose Keith Byars at No. 10 in 1986.
LeSean McCoy was the last back the Eagles drafted in the second round. McCoy,
chosen No. 53 overall in 2009, became the franchise’s all-time leading rusher
before Chip Kelly traded him to Buffalo.ADDING VERSATILITYThe Eagles prefer
players who can play several positions, especially in the secondary and on the
offensive line. Avonte Maddox started nine games at cornerback and safety as a
rookie last season. Isaac Seumalo, a third-round pick in 2016, played everywhere
upfront before settling in at left guard.“We talk about position-less
players
Cheap Shareef Miller Jersey ,” Roseman said. “That’s a huge value in a league where you are going to have injuries. Those are traits that add to the value of
the player.”WHEELING AND DEALINGUnder Roseman, the Eagles have always been
active during the draft. Besides three picks in the top-60, the team has two
picks in the fourth round, one in the fifth and one in the sixth.“Try to
accumulate a lot of good players,” Roseman said. “There are a lot of good
players on both sides of the ball.”HOWIE’S HITSTrading up to No. 2 to take
Carson Wentz in 2016 remains Roseman’s best move. Other first-round hits were RT
Lane Johnson (No. 4, 2013) and DT Fletcher Cox (No. 12, 2012). TE Zach Ertz, a
second-round pick in 2013, also was an excellent pick. Which option do you like
best?"Are you willing to wager on who the Philadelphia Eagles will select in the
first round of the 2019 NFL Draft on Thursday night? If so
Shareef Miller Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys , you’re in luck. DraftKings Sportbook recently put out the following odds for Philadelphia’s pick:Josh Jacobs:
+600Marquise Brown: +800Deandre Baker: +1200Jeffery Simmons: +1400Johnathan
Abram: +1600Garrett Bradbury: +1600Dexter Lawrence: +1600AJ Brown: +1800For
those who don’t know what these numbers mean, allow me to explain. Let’s say
you’re among those who thinks the Eagles will take Jacobs at No. 25 overall. If
you dropped $100 on that bet and the Eagles actually drafted Jacobs in the first
round, you’d win $600. Not too bad.Of course, it’s hard to feel super confident
about who the Eagles will pick. It feels like they could go in a number of
different directions in the first round. It’s interesting to see that Jacobs is
listed as the option with the shortest odds. On one hand, there was that: “Don’t
be shocked if the Eagles take a running back in the first round. They really
like Josh Jacobs.” rumor from last month. The Eagles have also been showing a
lot of interest in Jacobs leading up to this year’s draft. He does have some
fans in the front office. On the other hand, it’s not easy to envision the
analytically-driven Eagles using a first-round pick at such a fungible position.
I wouldn’t feel so great about betting on Jacobs.Brown to the Eagles has been
gaining steam as we get closer and closer to the draft. Is that buzz real or is
it a smokescreen, though? It’s interesting that plugged in guys like Daniel
Jeremiah and Peter King have the Eagles taking Hollywood. Is that because they
truly know the Eagles’ intentions? Or are the Eagles feeding them misinformation
to create a smokescreen? Philadelphia HAS been doing a lot of homework on wide
receivers so it seems like they’re going to draft one at some point. Is it going
to be Brown?As I’ve said repeatedly leading up to the draft, I just don’t see
the Eagles taking a cornerback in the first round. I think it’s safe to not bet
on Baker. (Now watch them draft him.)Simmons, like Brown
Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys Stitched , is another player who has been more and more recently linked to Philly. I think that could be a smokescreen because the
Eagles could prefer some other team to take that risk while pushing another
player down the board. Or they could have me fooled and revisit the Sidney Jones
approach from 2017.Abram isn’t the kind of safety that fits what the Eagles
want. I don’t think a team that’s never drafted a safety in the first round is
going to make Abram the first one. Bradbury was the Eagles’ selection in the BGN
Community Mock Draft so you can read the case for that pick by [CLICKING HERE].
I think the Eagles would love to have him as a future Jason Kelce replacement.
We know how much this team loves to invest in the trenches. If you’re feeling
risky, you could bet $100 to win $1600 here. Lawrence would fill the Eagles’
need for a run-stuffing defensive tackle. I just don’t know that he fits their
ideal use of resources in the first round. The Eagles might feel he can offer
more pass rush ability than what he showed in college. Wouldn’t be the worst bet
with long odds here. Lawrence finished as the second most popular pick in our
latest mock draft roundup.Brown seems like an Eagles pick in a potential trade
down scenario. We know he’s on the team’s radar considering he had a pre-draft
visit in Philly. Still, I wouldn’t feel confident betting on this option.So,
what do you think? Which option do you like best?
