It’s easy to look at things in the present with green-tinted glasses, but what the Eagles were able to accomplish should be very exciting for birds fans everywhere. You may be hard-pressed to find someone who will criticize the job that Howie Roseman and the front office did in this past weekend’s draft and many of the people around the league seem to agree with that sentiment.

To recap, the Eagles went into the draft with the 15th and 18th picks following a big trade with the Saints that gave them potentially an early pick in next year’s draft. Many thought it would be surprising if the Eagles would stand pat where they were, and that thought process was correct. The Eagles traded the 15th pick , a fourth round pick, and two of their three 5th rounders to move up to 13. They selected a mountain of a man in Jordan Davis, the defensive tackle from University Of Georgia. Davis is listed at 6 foot 6, 341 lbs. he is not someone who is going rush the quarterback often, but instead make it extremely difficult to do anything up the middle for opposing offenses. He should be successful at collapsing the pocket, which could open things up for the ends to get in the backfield as well. At his size, he ran a 4.7 40, which was jaw dropping for someone at his size. He was a basketball player in high school, so it’s safe to say he has athletic ability. He will more than likely be the replacement for Fletcher Cox, so the Eagles filled an important need here. With five defensive players going in the first five picks, Howie Roseman believed he had to move up a bit to get their guy, especially if the Ravens were eyeing him up.

What the team did next was shocking, stunning, and possibly franchise changing. They traded the 17th pick along with their 3rd rounder to acquire pro bowl wide reciever A.J. Brown from the Titans. With the Eagles track record of missing wideouts early in the draft (with the exception of Devonte Smith), this was a brilliant move. You already know what you are getting in A.J. Brown as opposed to one of the options coming out of college. He’s someone that is around 70 catches, 1,000 yards, and close to double digits in touchdowns per season. He catches most of what is thrown his way, has the moves and speed to make short gains into long ones, and give the Eagles an established option with Smith on the other side. At just 24, it’s almost like the Eagles drafted him. The team signed him to a contract extension, a four-year deal worth 100 million, so he will be a part of this offense for the foreseeable future.

In the second round, the team passed on a few options on the defensive side of the ball, namely linebacker or corner, to take Jason Kelce’s eventual replacement, center Cam Jurgens out of Nebraska. Jurgens, much like Kelce, loves to get downfield and knock people around. he is really good at pulling out to the outside on runs and screens. The one knock on him is that he plays a bit “hot”, where he gets caught up in the emotion of the game and will commit some silly penalties. Hopefully it’s something that will be corrected with maturity and coaching, however, we love fiery guys in Philly.

The Eagles then chose a guy that some would hope they would consider way back in the first round. With the 81st pick, the Eagles selected LB Nacobe Dean from UGA. According to reports, the reason why Dean slipped was due to an incorrect medical report that said he suffered a “severe pectoral injury”, but Dean has refuted that. He claims that he will ready to participate in mini camp, and if in fact he is healthy, this was incredible value for the Eagles. Dean was a monster at Georgia and can be an every down linebacker for the team going forward. He’s an tough, explosive player with quick feet and loves to tackle despite his “smaller” size. If he works out, this was an absolute steal. If not, it’s difficult to fault the team for taking the risk on him.

The team wrapped up the draft by taking another linebacker, Kyron Johnson out of Kansas. He ran a 4.4 in the 40, but is a bit undersized at 6ft, 235lbs. He may be a special teams player to start. The team then took a TE with pick 198 out of SMU. Grant Calcaterra has had a relationship with Jalen Hurts when they played together at Oklahoma in 2019 before he suffered a concussion. After the injury Calcaterra decided to call it quits. Last season he decided to try football out again, this time for SMU where he caught 38 passes for 465 yards. With the Eagles uncertainty at the position, he may find himself on the active roster behind Dallas Goedert if things go well for him in camp.

The goal of the draft is to come out feeling better about your team as you did when you went into it. Yes, there are unknowns, which is the case with every single player that comes out of the draft, but the needs that the Eagles addressed were big ones. Some may say they drafted out of need instead of “best player available”, and others may be bit underwhelmed that they did not take a cornerback, but it’s difficult to fill every hole in one shot. The Eagles bolstered both lines, they got Jalen Hurts a big weapon, and added a few linebackers. If you asked any Eagles fan what they wished for before the draft, they probably checked all of the boxes.

Grade: A