Philly Front Office

That draft heater I wrote about yesterday, well it wasn’t just for the offense. It’s the defense where Howie has really shined. The Eagles feature 8 of 11 starters (including Nakobe Dean) on defense drafted and cultivated in house. That’s right, the top defense in the league is 73% homegrown with most still on rookie contracts. Crazy. Crazier still is that none of these guys were stock picks or reaches. Each pick took its own set of maneuvering to put on midnight green.

How the Eagles Were Made Part 1: The Draft – Offense

DEFENSE

DT1 – Jalen Carter

Jalen Carter was the best player on the vaunted 2022 National Championship winning Georgia defense…as a sophomore. Watching that game, I was sure there was no chance we could ever get a talent like that. Over the next year, a set of circumstances both fortunate and horrible, changed all that.

Leading up to the 2022 Draft, the Eagles had three picks in the first round. One of those came from Miami (we’ll get to that) and the other came from Indianapolis because they thought trading for Carson Wentz was a good idea. It wasn’t. We packaged the Indy pick and our own to New Orleans for #19 that year (we’ll get to this tomorrow) and another in 2023 (and more, what a trade!). The Saints stunk it up the next season. It even looked like this pick might be Top-5 for a while, but settled at #10. Good, but not good enough for Carter. Then there was the street racing incident following the Bulldogs’ second National Championship that resulted in two deaths. Carter was arrested for his involvement and subsequently bombed his pro-day. All of a sudden, this star talent was damaged goods. Will Anderson went off the board at #3 and Devin Witherspoon at #5. Surely the Raiders would pick Carter at #7, right? Nope, Tyree Wilson. Then the Falcons picked a running back! Could it happen??? The Eagles traded up one spot to #9 and Carter was joining the Philly Dogs. The best talent in college for two years was an Eagle and is now on his way to being DPOY next year. By the way, the Bears used that 4th round pick we gave them to move up on a punter.

DT2 – Milton Williams

F*** Tom Donahoe. You might not remember that you hate Tom Donahoe, but I assure you, you do. Who is Tom Donahoe? He is the a-hole who was reluctant to dap up Howie Roseman after he selected Milton Williams in the 3rd round in 2021. Cameras caught the whole exchange. We had no idea who Milton Williams was obviously, but he was now Howie’s and our guy. One look at his spider chart shows what Howie saw in him and Williams has produced. He is about to get paid this spring.

DT3 – Jordan Davis

Remember how in 2022 we had 3 first round picks? One of those, #15, came from the Miami Dolphins. Way before the 2021 Draft, Miami traded up to #6 looking to get a receiver, a position the Eagles coveted too. The stud receiver of that draft was Jamar Chase. Howie looked at the draft board, realized there was no way Chase was getting past the Bengals at #5 (even though they absolutely should have taken Penei Sewell) and traded down, nabbing #12 and a future Dolphins pick in the process. Chase went to the Bengals, the Dolphins panicked and over drafted Jaylen Waddle, and we eventually snagged DeVonta at #10.

The next year, realizing Javon Hargrave could possibly leave and Fletch would retire soon, the Eagles needed to restock at DT. Jordan Davis, fresh off being named the defensive player of the year in college was still available at #13 after an earlier run on receivers, but Baltimore was sitting there at #14. Davis is exactly the kind of guy who falls to Baltimore. Howie jumped the Ravens by trading 3 later round picks to the Texans (who only had the pick because of the Deshaun Watson trade). Davis started the 2-year raid on the Bulldog defense. He hasn’t been quite stud we were promised, but he can still be a menace inside.

DT4 – Moro Ojomo

Why are we talking about our 4th string DT? Because he is improving every week and will be heavily utilized next year assuming Williams walks. If you need to be convinced, check out PhillyWannaBeGM who waxes poetic on Ojomo’s prospects here, here, and here. He also had his FIRST CAREER SACK AGAINST THE RAMS! That is a 7th round pick about to make plays for this defense going forward. Get to know him.

EDGE1 – Nolan Smith

Admit it, you thought he was a bust. I thought he was a bust. Hell, he was starting the final preseason game, did almost nothing last year, and WEARS GLASSES. That’s a bust. I don’t know what the hell happened, but Nolan Smith figured it out. He figured it out to the point that he has become one of the most feared pass rushers in football. He ruined Jayden Daniels’s day last week and has a chance to absolutely wreck the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. He was our second first round pick in 2023 and is on track to be part of one of the greatest first round pick tandems ever drafted (the Bucs drafted Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks in 1995). Because the Dolphins tampered with Tom Brady, they lost their first-round pick, allowing our post-Super Bowl team to select Smith at 30th overall. We were considering drafting him at 10! Despite being hyper athletic, teams thought he was too small, and he just kept falling. Never doubt those Bulldogs.

EDGE2 – Josh Sweat

I have a ridiculous friend who went to FSU and the minute we drafted Sweat in the 4th round of the 2018 Draft I received a text that just said “Baller.” No, people were not still suing that phrase at the time. When I don’t know who someone is, the first thing I do is check out their spider chart. WOW! Sweat was an athletic specimen. Wait, why the hell is he being picked in the 4th round? He was once considered the number 1 recruit in the country but tore his ACL as a senior in high school. His college production just never got back to his high school hype level. He still showed flashes though and had the best 40 yard time from any D-Ends at the combine. Baller indeed.

EDGE3 – Jalyx Hunt

The number 94 pick last year came out of…Houston Christian??? What in the world? After swiping Cooper Dejean 90 minutes earlier, Howie was feeling himself. The next day, while all of us were scratching our heads, reports came out that Jalyx Hunt not only had a fantastic name, but was a prospect everyone else was interested in and thought they could nab on Day 3. He was at a nothing school and only switched to D-End from safety in 2022, no one is jumping the gun on him, right? Enter Howie. As is the theme, he is VERY athletic. He was supposed to be a project this year but ended up playing extra reps when BG went down. He is going to break out next season.

LB1 – Nakobe Dean

Who didn’t feel for Dean on draft day? He was supposed to be a first-round pick, but his name wasn’t called. He was the undisputed leader of the best defense we ever saw and no one picked him. Rumor was that he was hurt and refusing surgery. For 50 picks (!!!) on Day 2 I thought his name would be called every single time. The Eagles passed on him at #51 and surely the dream of an elite Eagles LB was dead. Then at #83 it didn’t feel real. The never-draft-a-LB-Eagles just got the best one. It took a little while, but Dean shined this year. He’s a winner.

LB4 – Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

Kind of like Dean, I figured Trotter would be taken way sooner that he was. He was the best available LB for almost all of Day 3 last year and he just kept falling. I thought they even may have taken him where they picked Hunt. Surely the Eagles had to take the son of the Axe Man at #127? Nope. #152? No again. Then at #155 in the 5th round they made the call. Lurie cried. His dad cried. It was awesome. They are big shoes to fill, but Trotter will have his chance next season and may even get some run in the Super Bowl.

CB1 – Quinyon Mitchell

Of all the first and second round picks on this team, damn near every one of them came from galaxy-brained Howie moving all over the place, except Mitchell. We needed a CB desperately last year and Mitchell, Terrion Arnold, and Cooper DeJean were the best out there. We all figured these guys would be taken in the teens and we would have to settle for a second-tier guy if we didn’t pick an offensive lineman. Very strangely, no one was drafting defenders. The first one didn’t go off the board until #15. When the Rams took Jared Verse at #19, it was official, one of our guys would be there. We didn’t need to trade up, we didn’t need to do anything. For the first time, the board just fell to us and we took Mitchell; who along with DeJean ended up far and away the best DBs in this class.

The thing about Mitchell is that he is a loyal guy. Toledo offered him a scholarship when none of the big programs would. So, when Alabama came calling for him to transfer, Mitchell turned them down. The small school setting made scouts skeptical of his draft stock but after he showed out at the Senior Bowl, they were convinced. I don’t think anyone thought he would come on the scene like this though. No offense to Big Play Slay, but Quinyonimo Bay is CB1.

CB3 – Cooper DeJean

Getting Cooper might be the best move Howie has made in the draft. We were picking 50 and 53 in the second round (thank you again New Orleans!) and were enamored with the Iowa Swiss Army Knife. Had Mitchell not been available, DeJean likely would have been the pick at #22. Seeing the corner needy teams were picking in the early 40s, Howie had already been on the phone with Washington at #40 but figured he had to get to #39 from Carolina to have a chance at DeJean. The Rams outbid them, and the dream was dead. Howie and Lurie looked at each other and said, “that’s it.” The Rams selected Brandon Fiske. Howie jumped up, called Washington and slid into #40 to make the pick. The best part? Corners went #41, #42, and #43 right after. Howie knew exactly what he had to do, and he did it. Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell have been All-Pro level talents in our secondary this year and helped turn us into the #1 defense.

CB4 – Kelee Ringo

By Day 3 of the 2023 Draft, we were all still buzzing from the Eagles monster Day 1 and trading our 4th round pick for D’Andre Swift (another Bulldog). Unfortunately, that left us without a 4th round pick! Damn consequences. Little did we know that Howie was already planning on trading back into the 4th round to select ANOTHER Bulldog from that killer Georgia defense. Ringo is basically a special teams gunner with upside right now, but he is still only 22 with near Olympic level speed. He is the 5th member of that 2022 National Championship team on this defense.

BG1 – Brandon Graham

Did you think I forgot??? The hero’s journey that is Brandon Graham is nothing short of movie level amazing. There’s a chance he could make it back from a supposed season-ending injury to play in the Super Bowl. What a final act of a career? Could it be any farther from where it started? I would say this story outpaces the fans booing Donovan McNabb by now. The longest tenured Eagle came out of Michigan in 2010. There were two top safety prospects in this draft, Eric Berry and Earl Thomas. We had no shot at Berry who looked like a generational talent. The Eagles were picking #24 and had no shot at Thomas either. Then the Eagles logo popped up on the bottom of the screen with the 13th pick, we had traded up with Denver. OH MY GOD we were taking Thomas! “With the 13th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select…Brandon Graham.” I just about lost my damn mind. Who the hell was Brandon Graham and why the hell didn’t we take Thomas (who went next to Seattle and was amazing until he went insane)?

This undersized Michigan LB was off to a bad start with the fans, and things only got worse. He tore his ACL and had microfracture surgery as a rookie. Doctors don’t do that surgery anymore because it almost never heals right. He only played in 3 games the next year. in 2012 he only started 6 games. Total bust. Meanwhile Thomas was crushing it with the Legion of Boom in Seattle. After his 2014 season, Graham was a free agent and nearly signed with the Giants. Instead, he re-upped with the Eagles and took off under new DC Jim Schwartz the following year. Graham was an All-Pro in 2016. Then there’s the part of the story that will make grown men cry. In the Super Bowl, after all he had been through, with the Patriots shredding the defense and the Eagles clinging to a 38-33 lead, lined up inside BG got to Tom Brady knocking the ball loose. Derek Barnett picked it up. The Eagles had the ball and the lead with two minutes to go and my soul left my body.

Word just came out that BG practiced today, just 10 days before the big game. There is only one Brandon Graham. He’s the best.