The Philadelphia Eagles are at a very interesting point in their franchise history. Last off-season they traded a second round pick and Nick Foles to the Rams to receive Sam Bradford and a fourth round draft pick. Bradford looked to be their franchise quarterback for years to come and they paid him handsomely in free agency this off-season. Then they signed a backup quarterback in Chase Daniel who knows new head coach Doug Pederson well from their time together in Kansas City. Daniel would be a great resource for Bradford as he was learning the offense. Then, the Eagles traded up to the second overall pick and Sam Bradford wanted out of Philadelphia because he didn’t want to be a lame duck quarterback. The Eagles also had other needs to pick with their eight picks and they feel as if they did a good job of filling those needs.
Philadelphia Eagles 2016 NFL Draft Selections
1st round (2nd overall): quarterback Carson Wentz (North Dakota State)
3rd round (79th overall): center Issac Seumalo (Oregon State)
5th round (153rd overall): running back Wendell Smallwood (West Virginia)
5th round (164th overall): offensive tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai (TCU)
6th round (196th overall): corner back Blake Countess (Auburn)
7th round (233rd overall): safety Jalen Mills (LSU)
7th round (240th overall): defensive end Alex McCalister (Florida)
7th round (251st overall): inside linebacker Joe Walker (Oregon)
Eagles 2016 NFL Draft Grade: 6.5/10, C
Philadelphia Eagles 2016 NFL Draft Review
The Best Player: This honor has to go to first round pick Carson Wentz. He is a pick made mostly for potential and, at this point, the future. But he is still the best player they drafted this season. He likely will not be the opening game starter. And depending on how the Eagles season ends up going, particularly if they keep Sam Bradford, he might not start at all this year. There is a chance that he does start this year and he’ll get to show his athletic traits that led to him rising up draft boards and become the highest a non-FBS quarterback has been drafted since Terry Bradshaw was taken first overall in 1970. The last FCS quarterback to be taken in the first round was Joe Flacco who was able to start right away as a rookie. The Eagles likely hope that Wentz can be like Joe Flacco was to the Ravens in 2008, so he can be on the road to being a franchise quarterback.
The Head-Scratcher: The Eagles have Ryan Matthews as their starting running back. They have Darren Sproles as their third down running back. Also on the roster is Kenjon Barner who was used sparingly on offense last season but looks to have a bigger role this upcoming season. Then the Eagles decided to take a running back in the fifth round whose skill set is very similar to that of both Sproles and Barner in Wendell Smallwood. He was the Eagles’ third selection in this draft and the Eagles had bigger needs at several positions such as corner back, linebacker, along the offensive line, and at wide receiver. I wouldn’t call Smallwood a bad selection for the Eagles, but it is a head-scratcher due to the other holes they could have filled on their roster at that spot.
The Surprise: Last season, the Eagles pretty much declared that they no longer wanted short corner backs on the team when they traded away star slot corner Brandon Boykin to the Steelers for just a conditional fifth round selection. Now, that was under a different general manager and head coach in Chip Kelly. But Howie Roseman had been a part of that thinking as well. He let go of long-time Eagle Asante Samuel before the 2012 season which was around the time where he started to have more influence on player personnel decisions.
Now in this draft, they took Blake Countess from Auburn who isn’t even 5 feet, 10 inches. He is a very competitive cornerback and he’ll likely be given a chance to be the Eagles’ slot corner back starting this season. But from their recent train of thought his selection at his height is definitely a surprise.
The Steal: A Jim Schwartz defense is reliant on a great pass rush to disrupt the quarterback. He uses a lot of wide nine schemes to create one-on-one situations for his defensive linemen to more effectively rush the passer. In today’s NFL, teams enjoy using a defensive end as a pass rusher on passing downs, but the Eagles didn’t have enough to move one of their defensive ends inside yet. Now with Alex McCalister they do.
McCalister doesn’t have the weight you want in a three down defensive end, but he and his 6’6″ frame is ideal for a situational edge rusher. His selection should allow Vinny Curry to slide inside during passing downs and give the Eagles one of the more potent third and long pass rushes in the league.
Most Likely to Turn Heads in Training Camp: Jalen Mills was always more of an athlete than a true football player in the secondary at LSU. He has all the physical tools anyone could want in a safety and he’ll show those tools in camp. His athleticism had some people rate him as high as a potential third or fourth round selection, but his rawness and some off the field issues led to him falling to the seventh round. His fall probably was the best thing for him so he won’t be expected to compete for a starting job early on and he should be allowed to learn how to really play the safety position in the NFL.
The Rest: Issac Seumalo was a good pick for the Eagles in the third round. He has experience playing everywhere on the line in college so he is a very versatile piece for the team to have. There is a good chance he can claim one of the starting offensive line jobs this season which also gives him the best chance to be their only rookie to start every game this season. Halapoulivaati Vaitai is a good depth draftee along the offensive line and he should start being groomed to take over one of the tackle positions once Jason Peters leaves as Peters is already 34 years old. Joe Walker will be given a chance to compete for one of the backup linebacker positions, but will likely spend this season on the team’s practice squad as the third to last pick in the entire draft.
The Bottom Line: This draft seems like it is more about the future for the Eagles than it is about the present. Only their third round selection Issac Seumalo has a clear path to becoming a starter as a rookie. Carson Wentz is a true gamble on their coaching staff to help a quarterback develop into his full potential. Everyone else in this draft class is right now for depth purposes and sub packages only. It is hard to give this draft a good grade when right away it looks like they’ll only have one major contributor for the upcoming season. This is one of the most easily flexible grades in the draft due to potential future contributions, but it can also end up becoming one of the worst drafts the team has had if more of their boom or bust prospects end up busting out of the league.
