Howie the Genius

The Eagles don’t win the Super Bowl without the brilliant job that Howie Roseman did in 2016 and 2017. Heck, he drafted Brandon Graham in 2010 so you can argue that the key moves started all the way back then.

I have always appreciated Howie more than others. I didn’t care about the lack of a traditional football background all that much. Matt Millen had as good a football background as you could want and he proved to be a horrible GM. If Henry Knox could go from bookstore owner to key military adviser in the Revolutionary War, then Howie could become a GM without having played college or pro football.

A few people sent me a video to watch. This is someone praising Howie for how he built the Eagles into a Super Bowl roster and the lessons we can learn from him.

This guy might be Howie’s biggest fan. He showers him with praise.

The video is interesting and entertaining. My only complaint is that the guy starts with conclusions and works backwards. I don’t think he appreciates that things are more random than he has concluded.

Here are his big takeaways.

• Starting, backup and “currency” QBs are important
• Commit high value resources to the OL/DL
• Spend money at Safety, not CB
• Right tackle is the new premium OL position
• Be ready to change and adapt every season

The RT point I think is a false conclusion. The Eagles drafted Johnson to be Jason Peters eventual replacement. Johnson developed into a great RT and Peters is still playing. Last year the Eagles could have moved Johnson to LT after the injury to JP, but they decided to value continuity over that. If you put Johnson on the left side and Big V comes off the bench to play RT, you’re weaker at two spots. By leaving Johnson at RT, you keep him in a position he knows and a spot where he thrives. You can then focus on helping Big V on the left side.

Certainly the Eagles acknowledged that they were going to face a lot of good LDEs and having good RT play was going to be critical, but I think you are reaching if you say that Howie magically decided somewhere along the way that RT was the most important OL position.

I’m not sure about the S/CB point either. The Eagles struggled at S from 2009-2013. Then they signed Malcolm Jenkins in 2014 and he became the key member of the secondary.

The Eagles spent huge money at CB from 1996-2015. Since then, they’ve gone bargain hunting. They did talk to A.J. Bouye and tried to pay him big money, but he went to the Jaguars for mega-bucks. The Eagles wanted to keep Patrick Robinson, but just couldn’t afford him.

The Eagles were burned by some big CB moves so I think they are hesitant to go all-in on a CB. I also wonder if Jim Schwartz had an influence, preaching to focus on the DL and to throw a ton of bodies at the secondary.

I also think it is interesting that the Eagles have 237 CBs they like right now, but only two Safeties they truly believe in. After that, it is the land of UDFAs. Maybe they add Corey Graham or some other veteran, but the point is that the team continues to pour resources into CB. They have two good Safeties, but god forbid either one of them gets hurt.

There is no question that the video is completely correct about investing in the LOS and QBs. Howie has done a great job of that and those are definitive points.

I also agree he has adapted well in the last couple of years. Howie’s year of exile proved to be hugely important to him and the team. That’s just one more thing Chip Kelly got wrong, but somehow it ended up working in the Eagles favor.

It is cool to see Howie finally getting praise from all over. He did an amazing job in building the best roster in the NFL. The challenge is to see if he can sustain that.

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