Howie Roseman Has This Year's Draft Right Where He Wants It - As Usual
Howie Roseman has done this before, fortifying his roster at positions where depth was a question mark prior to the draft.
Last year, the Eagles' GM brought in Haason Reddick to bolster the pass rush in a draft heavy with pass rushers. He fortified the safety position two years ago by signing Anthony Harris and Andrew Adams.
This year, they lost Miles Sanders and added Rashaad Penny. They lost Javon Hargrave and brought back Fletcher Cox. They lost backup QB Gardner Minshew and brought in Marcus Mariota.
Even at safety and linebacker, where four starters left in LBs T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White and safeties Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps, Roseman has added some depth pieces in linebacker Nicholas Morrow and safety Justin Evans.
Those two most recent signings may not be household names, but they are players at a position of need.
Human spackle, if you will.
Spackling positions where depth is needed prevents Roseman from going into the draft desperate to take a player based on need alone. ATat can lead to a reach.
It's what led to the Great Jalen Reagor Mistake of 2020. The Eagles not only needed receivers that year, but they also wanted to get faster. Reagor's speed blinded them and they let Justin Jefferson pass them by to take Reagor.
Otherwise, Roseman has been very good at filling depth recently to avoid big reaches out of desperation, and that’s why it is always so difficult to predict what direction the Eagles will go in.
Everybody is thinking cornerback with the 10th overall pick.
Except the Eagles don’t take cornerbacks in the first round, though the 2021 draft could have been an outlier had Patrick Surtain or Jaycee Horn still been around by the time their turn to make a selection rolled around.
They haven’t taken a cornerback in the first round since Lito Sheppard in 2002.
So, now, maybe the thinking is the Eagles will take a safety in the first round.
Except the Eagles don’t take safeties in the first round, either. Never have. Hall of Fame safety Brian Dawkins came in the second round.
The last linebacker they took in the draft was in 2014 when they took Marcus Smith, who was listed as a linebacker but was more of an edge rusher who never panned out at either position.
They could go running back since Penny and Boston Scott are on one-year contracts and Kenny Gainwell has this year and next to go on his rookie contract.
Except the Eagles don’t take running backs, either, in the first round. Keith Byars in 1986 was the last one they took. Roseman was 11 back then.
That leaves the Eagles likely staring at the offensive and defensive lines on the draft's opening night if they keep both picks – Nos. 10 and 30.
They have yet to bring in any reinforcements in this free agency period so far to replace Isaac Seumalo and Andre Dillard.
The defensive line lost Javon Hargrave, though Fletcher Cox was brought back on his second straight one-year contract.
So, anyone thinking the Eagles are going secondary, running back, or linebacker when the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft begins on April 27, may want to rethink that position.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglestoday.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
