Eagles Draft History: Who's Philly's Best Pick Ever?

A new piece on Sports Illustrated ranked the best draft picks from each franchise, including the Philadelphia Eagles.

Tim Kelly | Apr 12, 2023

Who is the greatest NFL Draft pick in Philadelphia Eagles history? Well, it depends on what criteria you use.

Sports Illustrated ranked "the best player ever drafted by a team" and gave this question a stab. The conclusion for the Eagles? Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik, who was the No. 1 overall pick by Philly in the 1949 NFL Draft.

"The Eagles have a fantastic history filled with historic names such as Brian Dawkins, Steve Van Buren and Harold Carmichael," SI wrote. "But Bednarik stands apart from them all.

"He played 14 seasons for the Eagles and was the last of football's 60-minute men. Playing both center and linebacker, Concrete Charlie won two titles while also being named a first-team All-Pro six times and a member of the 1950s All-Decade team. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in '67."

No disrespect to Bednarik, but the sport was drastically different during his era than it is now. It's almost impossible to compare Bednarik to Jason Kelce, especially given that there's very few people who have witnessed the entirety of both of their careers.

Over the last 40 years, Dawkins and Reggie White -- both Hall of Famers -- stand out as the best picks from here. Donovan McNabb, LeSean McCoy, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, DeSean Jackson, Tra Thomas and Brian Westbrook are some of the other great players that the Eagles have drafted and developed over that same period.

In terms of value, Kelce (a sixth-round pick in 2011), Jeremiah Trotter (a third-round pick in 1998) and Brent Celek (a fifth-round pick in 2007) come to mind in terms of finding diamonds in the rough.

Overall, it's hard to disagree with Bednarik as the best pick in franchise history. But for us, he would come in second to the aforementioned White, who was a first-team All-Pro six times in eight seasons with the Eagles.

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Published Apr 12, 2023

TIM KELLY

Tim Kelly is a contributor to SI's NFL team sites. Additionally, Kelly covers the Philadelphia Phillies as the Editorial Director for PhilliesNation.com. Previously, Kelly has been a producer at SportsRadio 94 WIP and a content producer for Audacy Sports, with written content syndicated to WIP, WFAN, WEEI and some of the biggest sports radio stations in the country. Kelly also has contributed to Bleacher Report, Just Baseball, Sports Talk Philly and Section 215, FanSided's Philadelphia affiliate. Kelly is a 2018 graduate of Bloomsburg University, with a major in Mass Communications and a minor in political science.