Eagles' Howie Roseman Details Philly's ‘Red Star' Players
PHILADELPHIA - Red flag is a description every NFL fan is familiar with when it comes to the draft.
But red star?
That’s a new one for most and it was unveiled in Philadelphia on Friday when the Philadelphia Eagles selected Illinois safety Sydney Brown with the 66th overall pick.
“Sydney Brown was a passion player for a lot of people in this organization, he was a red star guy, and I think just a tremendous person with obviously really good athletic tools, leadership ability, and for us, just excited to get him in the building,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said.
“Red star” is not a synonym for “blue chip” either, another term most are familiar with.
The Eagles had a small number of blue-chip players on their board this year with Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, a player they snagged by trading up one spot from No. 10 to No. 9, among them.
Red star players are different and they can come up and down the draft board.
“That's a guy who kind of exemplifies what it means to be an Eagle, so it's great character, captain, testing numbers, intelligence, plays the way it should be played, practices the way it should be played,” Roseman said when asked to explain the definition on a red star.”
It’s not easy to get the designation either.
“About 10, and they're all different levels of the draft,” Roseman said when asked how many players get the designation.
“They don't necessarily mean the first round. There are guys that are in the fifth and sixth rounds. There are undrafted free agents that are red-star guys. Sometimes the scouts, they understand the first-round picks -- the first-round picks are usually organizational decisions. [Red stars] are ones where everyone is involved in.”
Red-star players come into the process late as well.
“We sit there the day before the draft. … We go around the room, and we give every scout a chance to stamp their red star on guys,” Roseman said. “Goes back, it's a long tradition, not only here but a couple of other places that people have been, and when we're looking at the draft board we have a red star on the guys.”
Team owner Jeffrey Lurie is also involved by reminding his personnel staff about the red stars when the heat is on.
“Jeffrey a lot of times will go, ‘Hey, don't forget, and we're deciding between those two guys, that's a red star guy,'" Roseman said.
When red star meets blue chip or close to that kind of talent level, things can get special.
"DeVonta Smith would be a red star, Landon Dickerson would be a red star,” Roseman said of his current roster “I could probably go down 15 red stars. We like our red star guys because they're passion players for us.”
At the foundation of the system, however, is empowering the personnel staff.
“I think for us, it gives our scouts a chance to really put their name on guys, and that gives them a lot of pride,” Roseman said.
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
