The NFL Draft is designed to help improve the bad teams in the league. It’s not supposed to oversee the best teams in the league getting better, but that’s what we saw last week, because of the amazing work of Philadelphia Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman and his staff. I think they had the best draft in the league, despite the fact that they had just made a Super Bowl appearance.
The Eagles were sitting at number 10 in the first round with hopes of getting a player who could play immediately. They knew they had significant needs on the defensive side of the ball, with 11 sack defensive tackle Jalen Hargrave having left for San Francisco via free agency and long-time Eagles great defensive tackle Fletcher Cox getting one year closer to the end of the road. The Birds had need of a sure fire starter in the middle of their defensive line with the first pick.
There had been plenty of talk about Howie Roseman and the Birds drafting Texas running back, Bijan Robinson with the first pick. I doubted it. I said no way because that hasn’t been the Eagles formula for building championship teams and getting to multiple Super Bowls in the last five years. They have emphasized building up, strong offensive and defensive lines, along with getting an outstanding leader and playmaker at the quarterback position.
Roseman and the Eagles were very fortunate because they were coming off of a Super Bowl appearance, but they had the tenth and 30th pick in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft thanks to Howie’s wheeling and dealing in previous drafts.
The guy considered to be the best player in this draft, who was a member of the two-time defending National Championship Georgia Bulldogs, defensive tackle Jalen Carter was still sitting their on the board with the Chicago Bears getting ready to select what would be the ninth pick in the first round of the draft. The Birds fearing another team might try to sneak up and grab Carter, wisely gave Chicago, a fourth round pick in the 2024 draft and moved up from their tenth position into the ninth spot and selected Carter.
There were off the field related reasons why Carter was still sitting there, despite being so highly rated by the scouts. He had pleaded to a misdemeanor charge for being involved in an auto race that took the life of one of his Georgia Bulldog teammates and also took the life of another member of the Georgia Bulldogs football organization. It’s why Carter was still sitting there on the board at the number nine selection.
There are plenty of football reasons why Roseman and the Eagles decided to draft Carter, who stands 6’3” and weighs a little over 300 pounds. I don’t know what’s going to happen with him in the future, but I know potentially that he could play at a consistent All-Pro level. He could be a dominating player in the middle of the Eagles defensive line. If he stays out of trouble, he could be a monster wreaking havoc in the middle of the Eagles defensive line because of his combination of power, explosiveness, speed, quickness and athleticism are rare for a person his size.
He’s too quick and athletic for NFL offensive linemen to block him one-on-one. He has the ability to get very low to the ground on his pass rush. At other times he can just explode with a fury and overpower the offensive lineman blocking him. Carter has great arm and hand quickness when using to them to get around a blocker.
Opposing offenses can draw up all kinds of effective passing and running plays, but if they can’t block Carter, they’re not going to be able to pass or run the football against the Eagles. The Birds already have Carter’s former teammate Jordan Davis, who is going into his second season. They’re expecting a big jump from Davis because he has enormous potential with tremendous, size, power and athleticism. Still remember that Carter was rated head and shoulders above Davis, so it’s going to be interesting to see them work and compete with each other. The winner in it all is probably going to be the Eagles.
With the football world still sitting with their mouths open because the Eagles had drafted Carter, the Birds scooped up another pass rusher from Georgia, when they selected Nolan Smith at the number 30 spot in the first round. The Eagles grabbed Smith who stands 6’3” and weighs about 235 to 240 pounds. He ran a 4.39 in the forty-yard dash at the combine.
He has the ability like his new teammate Haasan Reddick, who racked up 16 sacks during the regular season, to drive offensive tackles crazy with a combination of speed and power around the corner. Like Reddick, Smith can get low to the round and still flying a mach speed around the corner. They come in so low that all the big 310 to 350 pound offensive tackles have tremendous trouble trying to get down so low to block them.
I think Smith is going to have a better NFL career than his college career at Georgia, despite winning two consecutive National Championships. Remember this. Smith is faster than Reddick, and Reddick was unstoppable last year during season and post season, when he came around the corner on his pass rush. They’ll put Smith in the rotation to give Reddick and company a break when needed, but he will take over as an edge rusher for the Brandon Graham, who is about at the end of the road, despite getting 10 sacks last season.
With their third pick, the Eagles drafted Alabama offensive tackle and guard, Tyler Steen, who stands 6’6” and weighs about 320 pounds. He’s got great athleticism and good technique. He’s a talented young man, who will be enrolled in Stoutland University (Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland’s fictional university for offensive linemen) and be able to step in at tackle or guard, when the Birds need him. They think he’s good enough to compete for the starting right guard spot that has been opened by the departure of Isaac Seumalo, who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency.
With the fourth pick, 66th player and the first selection in the 3rd round, the Birds drafted Illinois safety, Sydney Brown. The Birds scouting department is especially excited about Brown because most Eagles fans don’t know very much about him. He plays with a passion. He’s a workaholic with great ball skills and tremendous instincts as was seen with his six interceptions last year at Illinois. He’s also a tremendous tackler with outstanding speed, he ran a 4.47 forty yard dash at the NFL Combine.
They expect him to immediately be competing for playing time because they think his football acumen is off the charts and going to allow him to play right away. He was a player who got a Gold Star from the Birds scouts because they believe he’s going to be special.
In the fourth round, the Birds selected another Georgia Bulldog. This time it was can’t miss cornerback Kelee Ringo, who has great speed and size. He ran a 4.37 at the NFL Combine and he stands 6’2”. The Birds don’t have rush him into the lineup because they have Darius Slay, James Bradbury and Avonte Maddox manning their cornerback positions. Ringo, who is another outstanding player at those great Georgia Bulldog defenses will be able to sit for awhile and learn from the Eagles Pro Bowl level cornerbacks.
The Eagles had already had a great draft up to this point but the acquisition of the D’Andre Swift, who is an outstanding running back from the Detroit Lions, put their draft up and over the top. Swift, who grew up in Philadelphia is only 24 years old and a seasoned NFL ball carrier, who is going into his fourth season after playing college ball at, you guessed, the University of Georgia.
The loss of Miles Sanders, who departed in free agency and signed with the Carolina Panthers, makes acquiring Swift a huge move for this year’s team. He’s expected to be their starter at the running back position. Swift is going to fit in great because he’s just as good of a receiver as he is a ball carrier. He’s got explosive speed and the size to pound inside on short yardage and goalline.
The Eagles grabbed quarterback Tanner McKee in the sixth round. He’s got a good arm with potential. He played and Stanford and they think he’s got talent and the potential to eventually be a pro quarterback. Of course, when you’re drafted in the sixth round, you are a long shot.
With the final pick in the seventh round, the Birds grabbed, Texas University defensive tackle, Moro Ojomo, who has great measurable, but like McKee he is a long shot.
You’ve got to give it to them. Howie Roseman and the Eagles put together another tremendous draft in 2023. We may look back and rate it as his best, but we’ll have to wait and see because he seems to be getting better with every move.
