Roster/Draft Talk
Posted May 3rd, 2021 | 6 Comments »Let’s talk some more about the Eagles draft class. One of the concerns coming out of the draft is the lack of defensive back picks. That was an area of need and the Eagles only spent a fourth round pick to help the group.
What gives?
1 – WR DeVonta Smith – Alabama – 6-0, 166
2 – OL Landon Dickerson – Alabama – 6-6, 333
3 – DL Milton Williams – Louisiana Tech – 6-3, 284
4 – CB Zech McPhearson – Texas Tech – 5-11, 196
5 – RB Kenny Gainwell – Memphis – 5-9, 201
6 – DT Marlon Tuipulotu – USC – 6-2, 307
6 – DE Tarron Jackson – Coastal Carolina – 6-2, 254
6 – LB JaCoby Stevens – LSU – 6-1, 212
7 – LB Patrick Johnson – Tulane – 6-2, 240
The Eagles went with the highest rated players on their board. Howie Roseman has admitted reaching based on need in the past. This is not the way you build a team. You must focus on who is available. The draft board doesn’t always fall the way you want it to.
Smart teams are disciplined. The Ravens have always done a great job of this. They add talent and then fill holes later on. Player acquisitions don’t stop until the trade deadline. Be patient. Don’t panic.
That’s easier said than done. What if the summer comes and goes, the trade deadline comes and goes and you can’t find any help? You have to trust the players on the roster to get the job done.
Luckily the Eagles have plenty of time to find solutions.
Back in August of 2017, the Eagles CBs looked like this:
LCB Jalen Mills
RCB Patrick Robinson
Slot Ron Brooks
Depth – Rasul Dougas, Jaylen Watkins
That is not a compelling bunch. Howie was able to pull off a trade in mid-August to bring Ronald Darby in.
LCB Jalen Mills
RCB Ronald Darby
Slot Patrick Robinson
That group was good enough to help the Eagles win a Super Bowl.
Right now we have:
CB Darius Slay ….. Michael Jaquet
CB Craig James … Zech McPhearson
NB Avonte Maddox
FS Anthony Harris … Marcus Epps
SS K’Von Wallace … Andrew Adams
I always leave Rodney McLeod off my depth charts because he got hurt so late and feels unlikely to play anytime soon.
That group isn’t compelling in any way, but Wallace, Maddox and McPhearson are young players with talent. They could be key parts of the secondary moving forward. Harris could be re-signed and play a few more years. Epps could develop into a good role player. We’ll have to see what the new coaches can get out of him.
There are some free agents who could be targets. Stevie Nelson is the primary guy there. His cost has to drop. There could be some CBs available via trade. We’ll have to wait and see what we hear over the next few months.
Next March the Eagles will have a lot of cap room. They can be aggressive in going after secondary help. The draft should be much deeper so they might have better options there as well. Howie and the front office know the secondary isn’t good enough. It is functional for now, but needs long term help.
*****
The front seven can help the secondary out by playing better.
DE  Brandon Graham …. Josh Sweat
DT  Fletcher Cox ……….. Milton Williams …… T.Y. McGill
DT Javon Hargrave …… Hassan Ridgeway…… Marlon Tuipulotu …….Raequan Williams
DE  Derek Barnett ……… Joe Ostman ….. Tarron Jackson
WB Eric Wilson ……… Davion Taylor …… JaCoby Stevens ……..Rashad Smith
MB T.J. Edwards ……. Shaun Bradley ….. Joe Bachie
SB Alex Singleton ….. Genard Avery …… Patrick Johnson
One thing all these guys have in common is that they are tough, physical players. None of them have great size, but you put on the tape and you see guys who play big. Some of them are gifted athletes, but all have good motors. All of them really battle. Johnson and Jackson consistently went up against OL much bigger than them and more than held their own.
Williams has legit starting potential. Tuipulotu might as well. The others are more depth pieces and that’s okay. One of the ways you have success up front is through depth. Nick Sirianni has preached the need for competition. The DL will have a lot of guys battling for jobs. That competition should help to bring out the best in some of the players. Those who struggle are just showing you they don’t have what it takes to play in the NFL.
*****
Here is a good piece on draft value. Arif Hasan puts together a value board by studying pre-draft rankings from a lot of sources. He builds this into a consensus draft board. He then measures who went where against where they were valued.
The Eagles came up 7th in this.
I know the Kenny Gainwell pick helped a lot. I’m guessing Milton Williams and Marlon Tuipulotu helped as well. They all went later than anticipated. This doesn’t mean they’ll pan out, but it is interesting to see how different teams fared based on perceived value.
*****
I need to write about the UDFAs. I’m waiting for the Eagles to officially announce the signings, in case there are any changes.
_
[…] Roster/Draft Talk […]
[…] Roster/Draft Talk – Iggles BlitzI always leave Rodney McLeod off my depth charts because he got hurt so late and feels unlikely to play anytime soon. That group isn’t compelling in any way, but Wallace, Maddox and McPhearson are young players with talent. They could be key parts of the secondary moving forward. Harris could be re-signed and play a few more years. Epps could develop into a good role player. We’ll have to see what the new coaches can get out of him. There are some free agents who could be targets. Stevie Nelson is the primary guy there. His cost has to drop. There could be some CBs available via trade. We’ll have to wait and see what we hear over the next few months. Next March the Eagles will have a lot of cap room. They can be aggressive in going after secondary help. The draft should be much deeper so they might have better options there as well. Howie and the front office know the secondary isn’t good enough. It is functional for now, but needs long term help. […]
[…] Roster/Draft Talk – Iggles BlitzI always leave Rodney McLeod off my depth charts because he got hurt so late and feels unlikely to play anytime soon. That group isn’t compelling in any way, but Wallace, Maddox and McPhearson are young players with talent. They could be key parts of the secondary moving forward. Harris could be re-signed and play a few more years. Epps could develop into a good role player. We’ll have to see what the new coaches can get out of him. There are some free agents who could be targets. Stevie Nelson is the primary guy there. His cost has to drop. There could be some CBs available via trade. We’ll have to wait and see what we hear over the next few months. Next March the Eagles will have a lot of cap room. They can be aggressive in going after secondary help. The draft should be much deeper so they might have better options there as well. Howie and the front office know the secondary isn’t good enough. It is functional for now, but needs long term help. […]
[…] Roster/Draft Talk – Iggles BlitzI always leave Rodney McLeod off my depth charts because he got hurt so late and feels unlikely to play anytime soon. That group isn’t compelling in any way, but Wallace, Maddox and McPhearson are young players with talent. They could be key parts of the secondary moving forward. Harris could be re-signed and play a few more years. Epps could develop into a good role player. We’ll have to see what the new coaches can get out of him. There are some free agents who could be targets. Stevie Nelson is the primary guy there. His cost has to drop. There could be some CBs available via trade. We’ll have to wait and see what we hear over the next few months. Next March the Eagles will have a lot of cap room. They can be aggressive in going after secondary help. The draft should be much deeper so they might have better options there as well. Howie and the front office know the secondary isn’t good enough. It is functional for now, but needs long term help. […]
[…] Roster/Draft Talk – Iggles BlitzI always leave Rodney McLeod off my depth charts because he got hurt so late and feels unlikely to play anytime soon. That group isn’t compelling in any way, but Wallace, Maddox and McPhearson are young players with talent. They could be key parts of the secondary moving forward. Harris could be re-signed and play a few more years. Epps could develop into a good role player. We’ll have to see what the new coaches can get out of him. There are some free agents who could be targets. Stevie Nelson is the primary guy there. His cost has to drop. There could be some CBs available via trade. We’ll have to wait and see what we hear over the next few months. Next March the Eagles will have a lot of cap room. They can be aggressive in going after secondary help. The draft should be much deeper so they might have better options there as well. Howie and the front office know the secondary isn’t good enough. It is functional for now, but needs long term help. […]
[…] Roster/Draft Talk – Iggles BlitzI always leave Rodney McLeod off my depth charts because he got hurt so late and feels unlikely to play anytime soon. That group isn’t compelling in any way, but Wallace, Maddox and McPhearson are young players with talent. They could be key parts of the secondary moving forward. Harris could be re-signed and play a few more years. Epps could develop into a good role player. We’ll have to see what the new coaches can get out of him. There are some free agents who could be targets. Stevie Nelson is the primary guy there. His cost has to drop. There could be some CBs available via trade. We’ll have to wait and see what we hear over the next few months. Next March the Eagles will have a lot of cap room. They can be aggressive in going after secondary help. The draft should be much deeper so they might have better options there as well. Howie and the front office know the secondary isn’t good enough. It is functional for now, but needs long term help. […]