PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - PHLY Eagles Podcast | Philadelphia Eagles draft review: Was this Howie Roseman’s best-run NFL Draft?
Episode Date: April 29, 2024The Eagles left draft weekend with a new pair of secondary players to build around in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Jalyx Hunt offers pass-rush upside and day three brought a slew of players who... profile as potential contributors, including Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Did Howie Roseman work the board better than ever before? Zach Berman review the weekend, call out their favorite and least favorite picks, and discuss the signing of Mekhi Becton to fortify the tackle depth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
H-L-Y Eagles show presented by ButcherBox.
Butcher Box is offering our listeners an amazing offer where new users can get free meat,
plus $20 off your first box.
Join today using our link at butcherbox.com slash p-H-L-Y and use code P-H-L-Y to receive this exclusive offer today before time runs out.
Welcome to the show, Bo Wolfe, Mr. Beep himself, Zach Berman, Zach, how was your day off?
Long time, no C, Beau.
How you doing?
One time I don't see, Julia.
Buckle-in.
We're going eight hours today.
Yes.
I'm great.
I'm excited for the show.
Excited for a week ahead.
We got 12 weeks until the start of training camp.
12 weeks of...
We're going to pass that time is what you're thinking to.
Yeah, I was going through the show.
This week will be easy.
We'll have a mini-camp week.
That'll be easy.
But those other...
I was doing some brainstorming of different topics that we can explore.
How quickly did nudity bubble to the top?
Never. That was not a part of it. Nope. But, no, excited to get into this.
I'm excited to get into it as well. I went to the Sixers game last night or yesterday after the moon.
Did the game time. You don't count us as a New Yorker. You're a Philly guy.
Well, I did think it was interesting that all these New Yorkers came in and they were so vocal and every single one of them was just at the top of their lungs going, Zach! Zach! Zach! Zach Randolph doesn't play for the Knicks anymore.
Yes.
But the demand has been made, the people want it.
We're going to try to work on a Zach, Zach, Zach, Zach banner t-shirt at some point here.
So let's get that for the sickos.
I hope my wife buys it.
I hope so, too.
She was so impressed with you.
She kept saying Bo's creativity.
I showed her the banner.
She didn't say, oh, that's so nice about this.
She's like, Bo is so creative.
So that was her big takeaway from that.
Zach, Zach.
Yeah, let's go.
All right.
We have a lot to get to today, Zach.
We are at the top.
I want to talk a little bit about the Mackay-Bectin signing for the Eagles.
But before we get to that, or after we get to that,
we wanted to sort of go through, take a scope out of the big picture process,
everything that the Eagles did over the course of the weekend,
go pick by pick, maybe look at where those guys came on the consensus big board,
some options that, like, let's say, if they didn't go with these picks in the first three rounds,
they could have had these picks.
What sort of looks better to you and just sort of run through the draft?
class as a whole. But first, the Eagles did make some news yesterday. Tell us about the news and
what we know about it. Yeah, it came out last night. Adam Schefter from ESPN reports that
Mackay Beckton is coming to Philly today. He has agreed to terms on a deal pending the physical.
And pending the physical is, it does carry some weight there. Sure. But a one-year deal.
He carries a lot of weight, that's for sure. A one-year deal up to $5.5 million.
Mackay Beckton was a first-round pick by the New York Jets four years ago.
He started 31 games in the league, left tackle, right tackle.
Big prospect, like physically, big prospect in terms of the draft.
I mean, he, and as it was interesting, Adams reporting on this, said this is one Jeff Stoutland was pushing for.
Second McKay on the roster now.
What's that?
Second McKay on the roster.
That's true.
If you remember, for our loyal viewers and loyal listeners, I'm sure you do, but when I, after free agency, did.
or after the first wave of a free agency did like second wave.
Yeah.
I done a second wave signings that make sense.
And both singled out, Mackay Beckton.
And I love the idea then.
You talked about him this weekend.
Yeah.
And look, he's my type.
Anyone who watches this knows a former big time first round pick, right?
I like these reclamation projects.
If you're of the, I imagine most people watching this are of the opinion that Jeff Stoutland,
when he gets a player,
he can try to maximize
whoever's in that player's body
to use the football term there.
And that's what this is.
I thought coming out of the draft,
outside of right guard,
a big area of focus for the Eagles
was backup tackle,
was the swing tackle spot.
If Lane went down,
if Jordan Milata goes down,
who steps in?
We said Fred Johnson's the top player there.
Fred Johnson...
Basically the only player.
Yeah, and he had a nice camp last year,
preseason. Tyler Steen as well.
Tyler Steen as well. If he doesn't win, you know.
Sure. Sure. But Mackay Beckton, like,
physically is what you look for.
Now, he was a left tackle,
got moved the right tackle. I know there was
some resistance on his part being moved to the right side.
I would imagine after a free agency
cycle that he was not
signed. He
understands what the role would be. I think
even the reporting included that he wants
to play for Stalatland, so he probably understands
what this could do for his career.
This is the perfect swing for
the Eagles to take for a backup tackle.
Now, do you think he could factor into guard or just physically, is he too big for guard?
I think that's probably overstated.
Like, you know, he's 6-7-363, right?
I mean, that would be a big old honking guard.
But if you're talking about like worst care or emergency situations, I think he could be a
factor there.
You know, we asked Howie Roseman the question in the post-draft press conference.
Like, would you have been surprised five days ago?
We'll say we, you.
You.
fine, you know, to not come out of the draft with an offensive lineman earlier than the fifth
round. And he said, absolutely. I mean, they signaled that with the guys who they brought in for
pre-draft visits, which we know, looking at the class, those were serious players that they were
considering. So I'm sure that this was something that you get through the second day of the draft
and you're like, we haven't added an offensive lineman yet. Let's get Mackay Beckton's agent on the phone
and tell him this is a thing that we're interested in. Probably good job by Beckton to wait out the
draft to see where the opportunity lied. But, you know, from an upside standpoint, he's only 25 years
old. You know, this is probably a short-term marriage, but there is a possibility that if he does
become the player that, you know, he looked like he was as a rookie under Jeff Stoughtland,
that this could be a longer-term thing. And, you know, as opposed to, and we'll go through the draft,
how it laid out, it did just sort of turn out that when the Eagles were picking, it happened to be in
these like gulfs of when the offensive linemen were going, right? And so there wasn't a time
necessarily where it made sense to push a guy to the top of the board. So knowing you had this
as a backup, makes sense. I think this goes to what we will talk about that I think generally
speaking, process-wise, this was a really, really, really good job by Howie Roseman all weekend long.
Yeah, I agree with you there. And I think the way you summarized it with Bechtin makes sense
that this was probably their backpacked idea, their backpacked idea.
For this kind of move that happened on the Sunday night after the draft shows you, all right, if we don't get this tackle and this round, then this is the path they would go.
They see the same thing we do in terms of back up swing tackle.
They know the importance of that spot.
This is not us, like, enlarging a problem.
That's that's not there.
They know the value of that spot.
They wanted tackles, like you said.
It didn't work out that way.
And so with Beckton, the reason I said the physical is important, he did take a thing.
visit to Cincinnati earlier this year. He did not sign. You don't know if it was money.
You don't know if it was physical. He missed all of the 2020 season. He had, he's had some
injuries in the past. The Jets did not pick up his fifth year option. That's, that's why he's a free agent.
Only played one game in 2021 as well. Yep. So this is the type of thing where the, the, look,
I don't want to overstate it because when there's a 25-year-old offensive tackle with 30-plus
career starts who his 6-7, 350, 360, was a first round pick, and he's available on April
28th, which was last night.
Then, like, either he's looking for too much or the league doesn't think he's a starting
player.
Either way, I don't think the Eagles are bringing him in to be a starting guard.
That would surprise me, I think it's to be their top backup tackle.
Yeah, I mean, the middle outcome here is that he, like, never plays a game for the Eagles,
potentially, whether that's for injury or doesn't make the roster or whatever it is.
But the upside here is that he is a starting caliber backup tackle who has played on both sides
of the ball.
And so he's already showed that side flexibility.
Yeah.
And look, I don't need to tell you this.
Hallie Roseman would tell you this.
Eagles won a Super Bowl with a backup left tackle, right?
That's an important spot.
And so they've, when they haven't had an adequate replacement for Lane Johnson in the past,
They've struggled in games.
Now, I'm not saying Mackay Beckton is, you know, there's a delta between Johnson and Beckton.
But I would feel more comfortable with Bechtin out there at this point than Fred Johnson.
Now, I think if you and I had done this exercise immediately after the draft, we would have said and went through the depth chart.
Where are they weakest?
Where do they most need help depth-wise?
We would have said tackle, I think.
Absolutely.
Now, with this done, where does your attention go?
What still needs to be done, do you think?
Well, it depends what you think of linebackers.
Like if you think Devin White, if you're confident in Devin White for this year,
and if you think Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Bed Van Sumer and Oren Burks are fine there, right?
Then, yeah, it's just the way the Eagles view linebacker.
I don't think they were going into this draft looking for starting linebacker.
So linebacker is probably their weakest spot.
I would say, I think right guard is their biggest.
need. I asked Towie Roseman after the draft about the outlook at right guard. He mentioned
Tyler Steen, but he certainly did not endorse Tyler Steen as like the no-doubt starter. He said
they brought in some guys who played. That's basically just Matt Hennessy. Right. And then he said,
they're always looking. He said they're not sitting at the pool this week. They're going to be
looking. So maybe it's a Dalton Rizner type, right? Maybe they do something like that.
Maybe they're scanning the trade market or they just want to see how Steen looks this offseason.
I've been wrong in the past with, you know, last year I thought there was going to be a competition with Juergens and Steen.
There was not a competition with Jurgens and Seen.
Jurgens was the guy from day one and he never relinquished that.
I would imagine going in the camp that Steen is the big-time favorite.
Yeah.
But that it's not as set in stone perhaps as Jurgens was last year.
Now, when I did that 15-step guide to Howie Rosman's off-season, and one thing I said is
give Steen an opportunity to win that job.
And I think you should.
He was a third round pick.
All the reasons they liked him a year ago should, in theory, still be applicable.
Now, they saw him as I trust Brandon Thorne with this stuff far more than my own judgment.
Brandon Thorne said, when we spoke to him, left tackle to right guard, in particular, is a big transition.
But he also said, like, he didn't see something on film last year to say that, all right, Steen,
should be the guy. So that to me is the biggest spot on the roster where they could use help.
Now, we will spend a day later this week sort of going through the undrafted players who the
Eagles have reportedly brought in and we'll sign later this week ahead of rookie mini camp next
week. But some interesting names there. We can talk a little bit more about them as the week goes on.
But they've addressed some of those positions where you might think that they need some competition
depth-wise. I do think linebacker is probably the answer. And it's kind of why.
I think that, like I think Jeremiah Trotter is going to start games for the Eagles this year.
Based on talent or based on injury?
Both.
Okay.
And we'll get to that.
I know you are dying for a Devante Parker replacement.
No, no, no, no.
Here, let me ask you this, though, because do you think, and I know we're going to get to it,
but because you brought it up, of those fifth round picks,
Trevor Keegan or Jeremiah Trotter, who's more likely to start this year?
Jeremiah Trotter.
Okay, you don't think Trevor Keegan can push to be the right guard?
I mean, I think he could.
But you think Trotter is a better entry point.
But I think you're right that both of those guys have potential shots.
And we'll see how it goes.
All right.
We're going to get into the pick-by-pick analysis here.
But before we do that, it's time to talk about our friends at Bet Parks.
Now, Sixers, I think five and a half point favorites heading into the game last night.
Hopefully you didn't bet on them.
But there's another game coming up tomorrow night.
Maybe you believe in them more than most.
Maybe more than they deserve to be believed in.
But, you know, there's a game.
way. You can get the Bet Parks app and get in the zone with the Bet Parks Sportsbook app because the money is
in the moments. Win big with all day action and you can win your first $10 bet and earn $125 in sports bonus
bets. You play for fun. You love to win. You bet. Download the app and play along with us. Must be
21 or older. Please gamble responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help,
call 1-800 gambler.
I've been hearing about some of our colleagues here who are doing some great social media posts about Oli-pop.
And I got to tell you, I'm spending my time trying to get the best gut health I can.
So I'm not on social talking about it.
I'm drinking it because it's the world's first functional soda with a classic soda taste and the benefits of plant-based fiber.
You're about walking the walk, not talking to talk.
Prebiotics and other botanical ingredients to support gut.
health. Alipop is a new kind of soda with only two to five grams of sugar and nine grams of
fiber per can. I'll be transparent with the audience. I'm not typically a big soda guy, right?
Maybe when I was younger, but not typically a big soda guy. But I was in the mood for soda the
other day and I was thinking about like a diet root beer. And then I said, you know what?
I can just have an olipop because olip has the like classic root beer type, uh,
taste. They have so many
types of good flavors. Vintage
Coa, classic root beer, orange squeeze,
classic grape, strawberry vanilla, cream soda,
and cherry coa. They also
have a Dr. Pepper type that's called
Dr. Goodwin and a brand new sprite
type with lemon lime flavor.
Use the code, PHLY, for
20% off your next
your next Alipop order. The discount
only applies to one-time
orders, not to subscription orders.
Alipop is sold online, drinkoilipop.com,
or you can go to
Amazon. And it's available in almost 30,000 retailers nationwide, especially Wawa, but also Target
Sprouts, Wegman, ShopRite, and Goopuff.
Hey, Zach, before we get into the Quinnion Mitchell pick, what were your takeaways from the
press conference on Saturday night? Because, you know, we talked for about 13 hours,
but we were done before that press conference.
Yeah, first thing that's worth discussing is what happened before it, because it was intentional,
right? And it was a nice gesture by Howley Rose.
that how he always starts is Saturday press conferences,
when I say Saturday, Saturday night of the draft press conferences
by saying, I just want to thank everyone here,
all the scouts, all the coaches, all the analytics, administration,
the kitchen staff, he'll mention, you know,
they're all here, and they're the ones who are all kind of behind the scenes.
So how he's done this for a long time,
and what he did was he brought everyone down to the auditorium
for one big photo op, right now,
was it
I don't know what the right word is here
it's certain you know it was
performative in the sense like
he wanted everyone to see that
right but I thought it was a nice gesture
and especially
look we talk about like the scouts
we talk about the assistant coaches
but there are you know the
you got to think like the kitchen staff
they're there all hours
working there right the security staff
you know I'm leaving our show at 1130
or whatever driving to
NovaCare, I can't just get in, right?
There's security people working there
throughout all around the clock.
So there's a lot of people that...
The PR staff.
The PR staff, exactly.
This is, there's a lot that goes into it
besides Howie and Nick who are on that,
who are on the lector.
And so, so two things there.
I thought it was a nice gesture by how to do it.
But also, when you just see the volume of people,
it really brings home
how much goes in to the draft,
like how many people are involved in this.
Yeah, that was nice.
Yeah, I mean, it was a massive humanity up there on the stage.
Now, if I can kind of pick your brain here a bit.
Okay, pick away.
We have said this.
In a previous, previous life, you worked for the team.
I did.
And you were there on draft days.
And from my understanding, okay,
because we mentioned the kitchen staff,
that the draft night meal is one of the best meals on the calendar.
Is that, can you kind of...
It's actually what I looked forward to more was the Saturday morning brunch spring.
You're a big breakfast guy, okay.
I'm a breakfast guy, but that was a better, you know, they had a nice locks set up.
Yeah, the lobster and steak is more for the drafter room itself, not for everybody.
Okay, okay, all right, fair enough.
Okay, all right, because I've always heard, like, the Thursday, you know, the Thursday,
night. Yeah, that's more for the real people making decisions, not for everybody.
Well, in any, I thought that was a nice call out to the kitchen staff. Okay. So as far as the
actual press conference, shout out to our listeners and viewers of the sickos out there. In the chat,
someone said, who are the Red Star players this year? Or did they draft any Red Star players?
So a question straight from the chat to Howie Roseman. Did you?
Yeah, last year you made a big deal about the Red Star players. Last year, you made a big deal about the Red Star players.
stars, did anyone fit that description this year? And he actually pulled out a text from his college
staff, and he counted it there. They had five players that were Red Star players, as Bowes described
in the past. This is their Red Star is someone who they think exemplifies what they look for.
There's different, it's kind of ambiguous, but they say team captain, football character,
measurables like performance, you know, a few different factors.
And what the Red Star is basically is they all kind of put, I think, every scout or as the room, they pick one guy out, right?
And that's their Red Star.
Excuse me.
So he said they had five this year.
He did not name who.
I tried asking who.
He said, come on.
But in his answer, he talked about Will Shipley, the 4-0 GPA.
So I imagine Will Shipley was one of them because he was in the answer.
So they drafted five Red Stars.
And the story behind this is how he said
and it's a convenient narrative
but after the way last year ended
one thing that they were really
focused on this season, this offseason
was like this football character
the chip on their shoulder, a certain type
of personality. So it sounded
like that was an emphasis of theirs.
Yeah, do you find that as an overcorrection
or trying to like
retrofit a narrative too much?
Maybe so. I mean, clearly
I'm not saying there was an issue in the locker
room last year, but when you hear
Nick Siriani talking about
like there's a core value that they
kind of got away from. And then you hear
Hallie Roseman say they're really emphasizing
football character.
You think that the way last season
ended, maybe they wanted
a little more
like
accountability or dog and you know,
they did a good job not drafting
Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator this weekend.
I think they
look, I don't want to overstate it, right?
Because like you said, it is a convenient narrative.
But I guess the one sentence and summation is I think they want people who might be a little more pissed off.
If that makes sense.
Because you know it's always...
It's better to be pissed off than pissed on.
Thank you very much.
I've worked with you for five years now.
I know that expression well.
Anything else from Nick and Howie that stood out?
Well, they went player through player, which we can talk about when we discuss the players.
we mentioned the right guard
as far as
was there anything else that
because there's a lot of the play with players
Yeah the offensive line thing was
The big takeaway to me
But we already talked about that
Yeah I thought it was
I thought it was okay
Yeah
I asked Howie like if he learned anything about
Vic Fangio and
Kellyn Moore since we still haven't spoken to him
Like going through this process with them
And he really didn't he was just like
I mean I know these guys like I've been around
Well, yeah, but that's the whole point is you knew them from afar.
Now you went through this actual real process with them.
Did you learn anything?
No, nothing.
I also think your question that Nick about learning anything in the basketball, it was a good question.
But it was kind of, it was the final confirmation for me that was something that I'm kind of ruling or that I miss.
And that storyteller Nick has kind of gone out the door again.
Yeah, Nick's first and second year.
Interesting.
He was big-time storyteller mode.
He loved telling stories.
And now, look, I get along great with Nick.
He's been browbeaten, you think.
But Nick is kind of more into, like, generic coach mode now.
And it's kind of been the past year and a half that you've seen that.
There's been fewer of these stories and more of the generic coach talk.
Why do you think that is?
Probably the criticism that he might have endured, or maybe they're, I don't know,
Maybe they say you give too much.
I don't know.
I actually don't think he gives too much.
But I think, like, part of Nick likes to say he's a good storyteller, right?
You're getting fewer and fewer of these storytellers.
He used to regale us with some of these storytellers, with some of these stories.
We didn't talk about this as a show prep thing, but I want to ask you about it.
I love, and we talk about, like, we're analyzing the process from the team standpoint.
But we like the celebration of the players is really great, and they have all worked so hard to get here.
And I will soak up and watch every single of the phone call videos from around the league.
Love them like the Rams one where Jared Verst comes in.
Yes.
For Brin Fiskey, I'm crying.
That's great.
All that good stuff.
What was your favorite of the Eagles versions?
Got to be Trotter, right?
Yeah.
Well, look, Jeffrey Lurie calling or speaking to Jeremiah Trotter saying, you know, how long have I known you?
I mean, two, three, four years old and then said, congratulations.
to your father and I loved your mother.
And that was touching.
And he was getting choked up, sure.
I mean, that's, for those who don't know, we said it on the show,
Jeremiah Trotter's mother, Tammy, passed away last year in February of 2023.
So, yeah, so that was touching to see because it was, I do think it was genuine.
And, like, Jeffrey, I mean, the owner part aside, he does know these guys.
especially someone like Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
Oh, I'm sorry, someone like Jeremiah Trotter,
who is an Eagles Hall famer,
or was in the organization for a long time.
And it is something that you kind of forget, like, you know,
someone has a kid when he's on the team with you,
and then you see that person grow up.
Sure.
It's kind of like, in a certain respect,
you think of like your friends growing up
and their parents and now they see you now in, like,
the roles you have.
It's like when I'm covering the Eagles in 20s,
25 years and Reed Berman is the GM.
No, but like I have, you know, some of the, you know, some of the people who I went to high school with, like, you know, their parents, when they watch my stuff, like, they read my stuff.
Like, you know, shout out to Mr. Vernon, right?
Like, it's, it's, I appreciate, you know, you appreciate because they, they saw you when you were, you know, eight years old, 10 years old, 15, 18, right?
And so, so similarly, Jeffrey Lurie's like seen Jeremiah Trotter Jr. from the time this guy was three years old.
and now he's drafting him.
It's a pretty special moment.
And that's why I talked about, like,
there is that sentimentality attached to some of these kids,
and you have to remove that.
But then when it does happen,
you can't ignore it.
You can't just say, like, oh, this is the player.
This is prospect number 54, right?
No, this is a person with a background and a family.
My favorite subtle moment of, like, maybe half comedy of the videos
was the Johnny Wilson call.
and Howie's on the phone with Johnny Wilson
he's like, you remember me?
He's like, yeah, he's like, and what did we do together?
And I'm like, I'm waiting for this.
What is this?
Like, you know, where they play in basketball
or are they like rolling dice or whatever?
And Johnny Wilson's like, we walked around the field?
Like, oh, okay.
And then there's another, in the Ania Smith video,
he references it too.
Like we're going to have more walks around the field together.
Yes.
Okay.
Tra la la la.
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah.
Now what did you
Now you were kind of undersold about the Will Shipley call?
Yeah, I would say as a connoisseur of these videos
and like being willing to be bought in on any,
any player based on their reaction,
the Will Shipley video was probably the least inspiring of any that I've ever seen.
I, um, I can't disagree with you.
I'm empathetic there because I actually do the same,
like I do the same thing where I always introduce myself.
Like, hi, I'm, you know.
And so, Howie Roseman calls, and he says, hey, this is Harry Roseman.
He said, hi, this is Will Shipley.
And how he's like, I know I called you.
And I'll do the same thing that like if I'm, you know, if I'm meeting someone.
Or if, yeah, I'll always like introduce myself.
Yeah.
And the person's like, yeah, I know who you are.
Yeah.
So.
Well, that's okay.
And it was beyond that.
It was just like I didn't, there wasn't like excitement, personality.
Like, yeah, people are talking about that what up big pimping.
Oh, yes.
Yes.
Yes.
I didn't get it from Mr. Shipley.
Okay.
That's okay.
Very professional, very buttoned up.
Yeah.
Sir, yes, sir, Mr. Ducksworth.
Okay.
Great Maddie Ducks reference there.
There you go.
All right, let's talk about how the weekend unfolded.
And obviously it started at 22 with Quinnian Mitchell.
Now, pick 22.
This was the number 11 player on the Arefasan Consensus draft board.
The number 11 player on Dan.
Brueglars board, the number 12 player on Daniel Jeremiah's board.
So if you're looking at like percentage of where it came, it's the Eagles best value of the draft.
Okay.
And I think that everything that Harry Roseman was able to do over the course of the weekend,
the maneuvering, which we can talk about, which I think probably was his best maneuvering of the draft board that I can remember,
began with him being patient enough to stay at 22 and not move up
because that allowed him to then trade up for Cooper to Jean after that.
And so from a process standpoint,
it sounds probably harder,
or it sounds easier than it probably was for him to just be like,
oh, you sit at 22 and you can do the math
and see that these guys are coming and that's easy.
But we know that he's got an itchy trigger finger.
He probably wanted to move up.
And maybe it would have been for Quinnian Mitchell.
But I think staying there, staying patient was the key to everything
that followed. And then in terms of the actual player, we can talk about that in a second,
him versus Terry and Arnold. But from a process standpoint, I think it all started there.
I would agree with you, although what it suggests to me is that they didn't feel there was
much of a difference between Quinnion and Mitchell or Terry and Arnold. I agree with you. They would
have been happy with either one of them. I agree with you. Yeah. So that, and that's the only
reason you do it. If you think one is clearly better, then you're saying, yeah, we'll attach a fifth
round pick to move up two spots, right? Or a spot or something like that.
Like they did with Devante Smith or like they did with J.O. and Carter.
You flip a second for a third.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I do think the process was sound there.
Now, the rest of the league helped, but Howie didn't just trade for the sake of trading.
It wasn't like how he said, we need to get player X, and we will do what it takes to get player X.
So I agree with you there in terms of the process.
But I do think it's instructive, like you just said, that they didn't view Quinnyi Mitchell as necessarily a tier above.
Exactly.
Terry and Arnold, maybe even Cooper DeGene, maybe even Troy Fautan, maybe Tyler,
and that would be sort of what I would guess was their level there.
Yeah, because we did, appropriately so, make the distinct, like they chose Quine and Mitchell over Caring Arnold, and they did, and those two will be linked.
But they didn't think one was clearly superior to the other or else they would have moved out to get one.
Now, from a offensive line, like, we'll do this for the first few picks because them not coming out of the draft with an offensive lineman in the first four rounds, who could they have taken?
the next one here for the Eagles, I think, would have been Tyler Guyton.
You're fine with them, obviously, passing on Guyton in favor of Quignan.
I am, yes.
And that, too, goes back to my thought.
And I'm not an all-line expert, but that Tyler Guyton is a tackle-only prospect.
And I would have liked more the tackle guard versatility in the first round, unless it was MIMS.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right.
So, you know, we've talked about Quignan Mitchell.
So we'll, I'm sure, talk plenty more about him in the months ahead.
But let's get to number two, Cooper DeGine.
The Eagles trade up to 40.
And Cooper DeGine, by the consensus, big board, number 23 overall.
So that's a 17-pick advantage.
He's 27 on Dan Brugler's list.
24th on Daniel Jeremiah's list.
The guys who go after him are Koolaid McKinstree, Jackson Powers Johnson,
Edgerman Cooper, I think, would have been the players
the Eagles might have been interested in.
from an offensive line standpoint, this was sort of a, like they had missed the run,
and then there was another little run that was to come.
So it's Jackson Powers Johnson.
Zach Frazier goes a little bit later, Patrick Paul later than that.
So they're not going an offensive line there, and obviously they trade up for Cooper Dejean.
Dijon?
Dijon?
I think Deijon is what you said.
D.
I think it's a D.
D.
Yeah, Dijin.
We're going to have to get this sorted out.
Okay.
This is tough.
Anyway, this is what it's all about.
We'll talk about all these other players, but the draft is going to hinge on how this duo performs in the secondary.
And I do think that you would probably rather have two players graded as first-round players on your board and a late third rounder than a first-rounder and two players who are graded as second-rounders on your board.
I agree with you there.
One thing we did was our favorite pick and our least-favorant pick, right?
And the gene was my favorite pick because of the value that you were getting.
I think I thought he would have been a worthy pick at 22.
Some people were talking about it was a potential like few pick trade down.
I thought he was value at 22.
So to get him where they did, I liked it.
The alternative that I looked at is, all right, 50 and 53 or too valid, you know,
they moved up in the second, moved down in the third.
What would it have been if they stayed at 50 and 53?
And honestly, I'm not sure that I love.
It didn't turn out to be a really good board there.
Exactly.
Kingsley would have been someone that I would have considered, but there wasn't really, look, if McKincher had fallen.
If I had to guess, if they had just stayed.
Now, I don't think they would have stayed, like how it would have just moved up a little bit further for somebody else.
But judging by what the board would be at, I think you're looking at, you know, Quinionn Mitchell, Cooper DeGine, and Jalx Hunt, or Quinionnichael, and I would say Michael Hall and either Roger Rosengarten or Kingsley Sua Mattee.
Now, the one caveat there, or like the nuanced part of this is by trading down from the third, they were able to get the assets to use.
Absolutely.
So you can't, if they drafted at 50 and 53, then yes.
But I imagine even if they stuck at 50, they would have traded down from 53 to try to get the flexibility.
I think you're right.
So that I...
In which case, it probably would have been Rosengarten or Sue Montaia.
Yes, I agree with you there.
And that would have been a worthy discussion because tackle's important.
But I just think the value of the gene's too strong.
I'm high on the gene, higher than my brother Alex, for sure.
What does Alex not like about him?
I don't want to speak for Alex here, but Alex is just curious whether he can play like an outside corner.
Is it, it's not a race thing?
No, definitely not a race thing.
Well, no, I don't think it's a race thing.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right.
Jalick's Hunt.
Well, you know what?
Before we get to that,
let's talk about the other sort of sliding door scenarios
because that's one is if they don't move up from 50-53.
Another is if, what if they had moved up for Dallas Turner?
If they hadn't been patient to sit at 22
and had moved up to call it 16 for Dallas Turner,
you're then looking at something like,
and I'm guessing that would have taken a second,
the trade that you had proposed,
a second for a third, basically,
to move up.
So would you rather have what the Eagles ended up with in the first three rounds?
Or would you rather have, call it Dallas Turner, Roger Rosengarten, and if you're lucky,
Andrew Phillips.
And if you're unlucky, it's probably like Kyrie Jackson or somebody like that.
Yeah.
Because the corner run, they would have really missed that on the corner run.
I got to tell you, like, I think Dallas Turner can be a special player.
I do love Dallas Turner.
I probably would lean toward Dallas Turner.
I think that.
But I like getting two.
first rounders instead of one
because if you consider Mitchell and DeGine both first rounders
but your bets better I think with a top 10 player
compared to two top 20 players maybe
I don't fault them for it but
being aggressive for Turner is a
move I probably would have wanted to make
okay one more for you let's say they had moved up to 19
to take Troy Fautano so let's and then again
it's just a small slide down in the second round
So what the Eagles ended up with or Troy Fautano, and I'm going to attempt you here because I'm going to say Mike Santer still and Jonah Ellis.
I like what the Eagles ended up with because I really like the gene.
Like when we were talking about that slight trade up, I didn't think the gene was going to be available early second round.
So it goes back to your initial question.
By them being disciplined with Mitchell, they're able to get the gene.
If they trade it up for, they're not going to trade up.
I shouldn't say never.
But if they trade up in the first round, I don't think they trade up in the second as well.
First off, you're operating with a dearth of picks at that point, and you just have less flexibility.
So I like the Mitchell, the gene combo, especially compared to a slight trade-up for Fatano.
Okay.
Although I do wonder if you knew you were getting a corner round too.
I like double-dipping on the defensive acts.
and I think the gene's versatility helps you there.
But if you knew you're getting a corner round two,
do you want to be a little more aggressive round one?
Do you, what signal do you take of DeGine getting to 40 in the first place?
Good question, because the league's speaking there.
And, you know, I don't think, I don't put too much on it
because there weren't corners really taken over him, right?
So if it's a situation where there's like three or four corners who you think DeGine's better then,
who are taken over him, then that would make me worried.
I think it's pretty much just at the end of the first round, Baltimore, taking Nate Wiggins.
Yeah, exactly.
So at that point, no, I think it was just the way the board fell.
I thought he was going to go earlier in the second round.
What it did surprise me, if I'm being honest, is that, is that.
teams didn't feel compelled to trade up from the second round. Now, maybe there were fewer teams
willing to move out of their spots. Certainly, the Eagles had more ammo. Being able to offer
50 and 53 is better than a team, you know, offering a second and third or something like that, right?
But I didn't read as much into it as I would with a player falling in other guys being drafted above him.
Like A.D. Mitchell, for instance, when you see a handful of other receivers taken above him,
then you start you know keon on coleman's taken above him um latin conkey yeah Ricky
persell right then you're yeah so then you're saying like all right is there is there something here
that we the public doesn't know but in Cooper de jean's case that's i didn't find that to be and somebody
brings it up in the chat you know Nolan smith we probably had the exact same conversation about them
getting him at 30 last year and i do think that's a fair comparison yeah it's a very similar
situation. I think you hope it turns out a little bit better in year one, but there's reason to
be clear-eyed about the fact that you didn't just get another first-round pick. I agree. But I think
it makes a lot of sense for this roster in particular. Agree. Now, the one thing I'll say is
the Gene had much better college production than Nolan Smith. I think Nolan Smith, you were betting
on traits more so than you were with the Gene. Even though the Gene, even though the
Gene's considered a really good athlete.
One of the knocks on him is does he have like the hip flexibility, for instance, to, you know, play on the odds, to play man-to-man coverage, that kind of thing, right?
So I think with Nolan Smith, you're betting on the athlete a little more than with Nook with Cooper DeGine.
You're betting a little more on the player.
Well, the Eagles are, Zach, trying to build a nice foundation in the secondary with Cooper DeGine and Quinnionn-Mitchell.
And I'll tell you what, if you want to build yourself a nice foundation with a new home,
well, you're going to need a mortgage.
And who's going to help you out with that?
Our friends at Mortgage CS.
Mortgage CS, offering refinancing options, including rate and term refinances for a rate or payment reduction
or cash out refinances to tap into home equity, making it a smart choice for those with high-interest debt
or funding home projects or education.
The spring purchase market, it's basically here, people, and it's heating up quickly.
So so many of their clients are reaching out.
They say they want to be ready for when the rates drop.
But this is what everybody is doing, given limited inventory and strong demand.
Competition will remain extremely fierce this year.
So get in touch with our friends at Mortgage CS to help prepare you and ensure that you will be able to stand out and make the strongest offers possible.
Mortgage CS, what does that CS stand for?
Cooper Sharp.
Oh, come on.
No, it's concierge service because it's white glove service.
they're going to walk you through every single step of the mortgage process
and their licensed coast to coast from California, Colorado, D.C., Delaware, and Florida
to Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington.
When you hear the word mortgage, think of mortgage CS.
Think of Ben and Alec.
Say Ben's telephone number 267391-745 to your phone.
Email Ben at men at MortgageC.com.
Call or text him any time.
of day or night. Talk Philly Sports if you want. See what he thinks of the Cooper Dijine pick. Check out
Mortgagecs.com slash p.hLY to get started. The advertisement is not a commitment to lend or
extend credit. Mortgage CS is an equal housing opportunity mortgage broker. All loans are subject to
credit approval. Certain restrictions may apply. Company NMLSID 146-4766. Visit mortgagecs.com
for more information. When I get home today, there's going to be a box waiting for me on the
doorstep, and it's going to be from Butcher Box. I got the email last night that it's coming
today, and I can't wait, because Butcher Box, you get incredible deals on premium cuts from Butcher
Box, deals that are good, they're so hard to come by at the grocery store. You can get
high-quality meat and seafood that you can trust, 100% grass-fed beef, which is what I'm getting.
There's free-range organic chicken, pork-raised, crate-free, and wild-caught seafood. You mainly
raised no antibiotics or added hormones. And I mentioned the convenience. It's delivered right to your
doorstep. Free shipping always curated to customized box plans. And I talked about the incredible
value. There's a variety of high quality cuts at that value. Exclusive member deals,
recipe inspirations, guides, tips, and hacks. Butcher box is offering our listeners
an amazing offer where new users get free meat plus $20 off your first box. Join
using our link butcherbox.com slash p hl why news code p hl why received this exclusive offer today
before time runs out all right zack round three the eagles trade down a few times and this is their
their biggest reach against the consensus board yeah jelix hunt at 94 on the consensus board was
139 that's exactly where he was on dain brugler's board now danieler jeremiah had him at 64 on his
So I'm willing to buy the idea that he was lower on the consensus boards because he's a guy from a small school.
I don't think it's materially different, but that's where he goes by just pick number and also by the percentage.
This is their biggest reach of the draft against the consensus board.
You're looking at other players who went in their range after that who might have appealed to the Eagles,
DeWain Carter, the Duke defensive tackle, Peyton Wilson they could have taken.
in the North Carolina State linebacker,
Troy Franklin, the wide receiver from Oregon,
Jatavian Sanders, the tight end from Texas.
And then if you're talking offensive line,
like, could this have been the time when they addressed that?
Tanner Bordellini goes, you know, about 15, 20 picks later,
the Wisconsin Interior Offensive lineman,
Layden Robinson from Texas A&M,
Javon Foster, the tackle from Missouri.
What do you make of the Jalix Hunt process?
Yeah, this was my least favorite pick,
and I like the process involved
because I like the multiple tradebacks.
The multiple tradebacks allowed them to be in position to get a three, four, and five in 2020, which I thought was outside of the draft picks.
Like, I thought that was the big story of this draft was the Eagles getting those picks for next year.
And it just gives them flexibility in terms of not just picks next year, but if they want to make trades.
Now they have more.
I think that's an important point.
Yeah, now they have more options to trade.
And they wouldn't have been able to do it if they just stuck in pick, whether it was at 53 or even when they traded back.
Right?
They traded back twice in the third round in order to get those.
assets in the fourth round at the dust trading and so how he did a good job navigating it now you
mentioned the guys who were on the board i i love edge rushers i've mentioned that before and i see
the upside with hunt but like i said on the show the other day i'm not i think that's a bet that
i would rather take in day three then i still think you can get a guy in the third round who has
upside it can also help you sooner so position agnostic there Troy franklin and Josh sanders are two guys
like I said that that night, if I was done the shadow draft like you were,
that's what would have jumped out to me.
From an offensive line perspective, Tanner Bordellini,
I would have wished there was more tackles there that would jump.
It was just a tough time for tackles.
But I would say Bordellini, Franklin or Sanders, that said,
and I'm guilty of this.
The small school guys, I don't know as well.
I tend to lean toward bigger school players.
If I'm taking someone from Houston Christian,
I probably want to see, like, you know,
13, 15 sacks as opposed to seven and a half sacks, right?
But I see the tools.
I see the appeal, and there's people who really know this,
who, you know, pushed him up their board because of these traits.
And like how we said, they didn't know if he was going to get to them.
The last thing I'll say on this is, just like Professor Selman says,
this wasn't the only year to get an offensive tackle.
Like if you're looking for that edge rusher who's going to contribute in 2025 and 2020,
next year's a loaded
edge rusher class. You're going to start to
see mock drafts for
2025 and you're going to see
sometimes edge rushers projected
number one. You might be seeing
seven, eight edge rushers in the first round.
I think that they'll be able to get someone
over a hunt pretty
quickly here. So,
but that's
kind of my objection to the pick.
I think this is probably the pick
with the widest range of outcomes, right?
I mean, there is a real chance
that he is just a special teams player for three years
and doesn't even make it through the end of his rookie contract.
That's a possibility for a 23-year-old who has, as you said,
doesn't have a ton of sack production in his two years
as a pass rusher at Houston Christian.
You would have liked to see a little bit more.
You can also buy the narrative of why there's more to come here
because he's new to the body, it's new to the position,
past rush refinement will go a long way.
Like there is not a track record, a ton of guns.
guys with his wingspan, with his measurables, like, you buy it.
There's also the upside of, like, if he turns into the third best pass rusher on your team
as a third round pick, that's a great outcome.
And that's not crazy to expect.
And we talked about over the course of the weekend, like the timeline here for him fits well
with the timeline that the Eagles need because they give him a year of development when you don't
need him to be a part of the defensive rotation.
Then maybe next year he can join that rotation when they're presumably losing.
Josh Sweat and Brennan Graham, and you can still draft a guy ahead of him, but he would still
be in the rotation at that point, right? So I get it. I think it's an interesting pick. It would not
have been the pick I would have made on, you know, in the shadow draft, but I get it. What do you
make of the, basically the entire draft guys who they already signaled their interest in, like
the lack of obfuscation from the Eagles throughout the draft process, like Jalick's Hunt,
Ania Smith, Johnny Wilson, these are guys they brought in for pre-draft visits.
It's same with the first two picks.
What do you make of that from a process standpoint?
Well, that they weren't more clandestine about it.
Yeah.
I mean, that's, I always like when things are transparent.
They're giving us, yeah, it's like an open book test.
Sure.
But by rule, like I like getting more information on players, guys that you like.
You know, there are some guys who they talk to them, like, your boy, Don't McMahon.
They spoke to at the Shrine Bowl.
they haven't spoken them since, right?
So there you're kind of just going based off tape and a profile.
There's two ways of looking at it.
Maybe you get overly influenced when you bring someone in.
Sometimes there's a reason whether it's injury or off the field.
But yeah, you want to make informed bets.
So I don't object to it, but I see your point about you're kind of signaling to the league.
Like the league knows now X percent of your draft picks were guys you brought in.
Yeah.
I think I have come around on the hunt pick a little bit more than I did on draft night.
just because, like, the other options there,
those guys probably don't offer as much upside as he does,
especially position-wise,
but we will see how it turns out.
It's definitely the biggest bust is too strong of a word,
but the biggest chance of not hitting its pick equity.
All right, round four, we know that they traded two picks,
get a first-round pick.
I mean, that's a great process.
It really is.
They deserve credit for that.
But the actual pick itself, Will Shipley,
127 overall. He was 124 on the consensus board.
118 for Brugler, 92 for Daniel Jeremiah.
So value-wise, it makes sense there.
Next few picks, this was sort of in the middle of a run on running backs.
Ray Davis, Isaac Arendo, Braylon Allen, all go in that range.
Jared Wiley, the TCU tight end, Jaden Hicks, the safety from Washington State.
And then offensive line, this was again in the middle of like a chasm of no offensive linemen going.
and Cedric Van Pren Granger and Hunter Norzad
are like the only two that got picked in the next 30 picks
so if you want to say they should have taken an offensive line
and they probably wasn't coming here.
Shipley is probably my least favorite pick.
I don't necessarily love the Trevor Keegan pick either
but because it comes later and they needed offensive line.
Just from a, there were running backs that I liked more.
I don't love the player as much
but he's a young player.
He fits a specific girl for the outside.
offense. I get getting talked into it. I don't hate the pick. It's just from a, from a,
I would have rather had other running backs than him. Sure. Look, and that's a matter of taste there.
I like Braywin Allen more. I said that the one, my one concern with, with Braylon Allen, like I said,
is his, his production waned, his third year when he went into more of a shotgun offense,
right? And you just, I shouldn't say waned, it just wasn't as much production. But, but, you know,
Was he the right fit here for the Eagles?
I think Shipley is going to be their number two running back this year over Gainwell.
Really?
Yeah, I mean, just...
Have you met Nixiriani?
Quite a bit, yeah, met Nick Sireani.
And I like Gainwell, but I think what you're hoping Gainwell was going to be,
I think Shipley could give you that.
In particular, I think Eagles fans are going to see when he's catching the ball,
that he's more, I thought Gainuel was going to be more of a threat
catching the ball out of the backfield than he's become.
I think Shipley can be that.
You mentioned the age with Shipley.
Like, this was a three-year guy who was productive.
You had the great stat about production relative to the other backs on Clemson.
For those of you who weren't watching all weekend,
I like to separate out yards per carry for the player
versus the yards per carry of all of his running back team.
who have gotten at least 30 carries over the course of their career.
And he's like the only one of the top 10, 15 running backs in this class who was exactly the same as his other teammates.
And so there was no differentiation when he had the ball versus his teammates.
And I don't love that.
And just to be fair, like having gone through all the pro bowlers over the past 12 years, it is rare that those guys turn into that level of player.
They're only a handful.
Okay.
And look, that's a fair point.
I just think Shipley, I think he can play.
and I think he can help you in different ways
and I think he's a guy who can have a role in the backfield
because of the different ways you can use him.
He was so effective as a return guy.
That's not a reason that you take someone.
But to me, that shows athleticism, that shows vision.
I think there are tools that you can work with with Chipley
and he's 21 years old.
So I like that pick more than most.
Brayle now and I like more as a running back,
but I do think scheme might have factored into that.
Now, we'll talk about the shadow draft on tomorrow's show, but for this pick, I would have had Austin Booker, and I think it's an interesting comparison of Austin Booker in the fourth versus Jaylex Hunt in the third because they're similar type players, projects on the edge.
Booker's two years younger.
You know, he had eight sacks at Kansas in one year there versus, you know, seven and six and a half sacks at Houston.
Has measurables?
The measurables are extremely similar.
Booker's six, four and a half, 253.
and J. Alex Hunt is 6.3 and 3 quarters, 252.
Now, Jailix Hunt has longer arms.
That's really the big difference.
But I would like that bet on Booker there rather than Hunt in the third.
I would not object.
All right.
We're getting towards the end here.
So let's go a little bit quicker towards the rest of these picks.
Shows go fast.
These shows do go fast.
I mean, when you don't have eight hours to get through.
There's so much.
Fifth round, Ania Smith, Jeremiah Trotter, Trevor Keegan.
By the consensus picks.
Aeneas Smith was a bit of a reach.
He goes 152 versus 174 on the consensus board.
Jeremiah Trotter is a big steal, relatively speaking.
155 is his pick.
66 or sorry, rather 89 on the consensus big board.
So that's a difference of 66, a percentage of like 42.6, which would be the second
biggest to Quinnion Mitchell in the draft class.
And then Trevor Keegan goes 172 overall relative to 194 on the consensus board.
so a 22-pick quote-unquote reach,
but obviously the later you go,
the less those numbers matter
because, you know, A Reef doesn't have all these draft boards.
Not everybody goes 300 deep.
It's a little bit different.
And the later you go,
everybody's boards are going to look different.
Yeah, so in this group, Smith, you're really gambling.
It seems like he's someone that they liked a lot, right?
And hearing Nick Siriani describe it,
Siriani gave the anecdote.
I suppose he does tell stories sometimes,
where he watched it for the first time,
went to Howie's office and he'd like this player.
He doesn't jump out to you from a measure.
He doesn't jump out to himself.
I can't wait to walk around the field with that guy.
He doesn't jump out to you from a measurable perspective.
Doesn't jump out to you from a big time production perspective.
I think that, I mean, you referenced Malik Washington.
There are other slots there who might jump out.
You're kind of judging their ability to evaluate wide receivers.
But I was a little underwhelmed by that pit.
We were in a 4-5-5, it is pro date, right?
So that's the question.
Is it, does the explosiveness on tape, is it actually going to look that way in the NFL?
That's the bet they're making.
Sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, obviously they loved the guy.
Yeah, exactly.
I would bet that he was maybe one of the Red Star guys just because of the degree to which they were attached to him throughout the pre-draft process.
You know, I would have preferred Malik Washington, but you're picking nits.
And in terms of like the positions you're adding, the role you're adding, they needed a wider, they needed some competition at wide.
receiver. I would say one knock on him from the Eagle standpoint is, like, offensively, is this
like, if he's a Lomadez Akeas, is Jillyn Hurts ever going to throw him the ball? Like this
type of player, right? So just a thing to think about. Fair enough. And then, I mean, Trotter.
Yeah. I think that's probably, you know, Quinny Mitchell and Cooper DeGio, are the more important
picks. They're their best picks. But like, process-wise, value-wise, I think Jeremiah Trotter has a chance
to be the best pick beyond the same.
around for them. Yeah, I mean, I think if you talked about Nicopa Dean, T.J. Edwards, that type of
comp. If you're telling me, you're getting a smart, productive player who, yeah, it's 21 years old.
And if the knock on him is that he doesn't have the size or speed, we discussed it as a linebacker.
I care a lot about, like, proven production at that position, and he has proven production at that position.
And then Trevor Kagan, just from a, I think that Trevor Kagan has a good.
chance to be the
and no shot on Julian
Vanderbilti who had a good career
but the Julian Vandervaldi
to Dylan McMahon's Jason Kelsey
not that McMahon is going to be Kelsey
but just he was taken ahead of him at the same
position and I have higher hopes for McMahon with the
Eagles than I'll get to that with McMahon in terms
of the position you expect in the play
I actually think Keegan
you're getting your
suo Opeta here right you're getting
your backup guard
if you start three years on Michigan's offensive
line that says something to me right
I didn't do a lot of work on the day three guards,
but I like the profile.
I think if you're just expecting a solid backup with,
now the one thing,
and this goes to your criticism of Fuega,
when Howie spoke about him both to us,
and then on the call, the term how he used his mentality, right?
Well, the fifth round, that's different than in the first round.
Sure, no, I'm saying.
It shouldn't be a differentiating factor at the top of the draft,
but I think that's fine.
But that's like, I think,
You know, they see someone who has like that, that Michigan nastiness on the offensive line.
But the other part, too, is you hear this a lot with Alabama players that they're coached up by the time you get them, right?
And someone who starts three years at Michigan, it's probably coached up by the time you get them.
Like, Stalin's not working his magic on Keegan.
Exactly.
Yeah, I don't know that there's too much upside left for Trevor Keegan.
And this is like a philosophical thing, like on day three, is it a good bet to take a guy who is a,
a known commodity from a big school, especially at Guard, where it tends to be kind of a different
profile. Sometimes guys can come from non-power five schools. It's part of the reason I don't love
to pick, but at the same time, you know, Jeff Stoutland, I'm sure, is picking which offensive
linemen they're taking in this range, and I guess who am I to doubt him? But I would have liked a
more traitzy player here than King. Well, your traitzy player came in the sixth round.
That's right. Sixth round. Last round. Last.
two picks, Johnny Wilson, again, another
player that they were linked to throughout the pre-draft
process, and then Dylan McMahon, the
NC State Interior Offensive lineman, had the
great short shuttle, which you love from
an offensive lineman. Johnny Wilson goes
185 overall versus 105
on the consensus big boards, so another
quote-unquote steal for the Eagles,
and then McMahon goes 190, and he
was 224 on the consensus
big board. So just very quickly, in
terms of whether the Eagles took guys
versus value on the consensus big board,
five of them were for
of them were quote-unquote reaches. Yeah, so this is my bid on Johnny Wilson because he's someone who I
think people are saying, wow, they might have gotten a steel here, right? And this goes to the Cooper
DeGine question that you had for me. If you have a 6-6, 235-pound receiver who ran a 452,
who went to Florida State in Arizona before that, who had 17 yards reception in his career,
and he's there, like, it's not like the Eagles discovered Johnny Wilson, right? So the league, you know,
the comparison was made to Marquis Colston.
Markees Colston went to Hofstra.
I don't want to say the Saints discovered him,
but he was not someone who,
there were more questions there.
Johnny Wilson was on an offense that was on that everyone knew about.
Everyone knew about Johnny Wilson.
So the fact that he's there in the sixth round makes you wonder,
like, you didn't necessarily outsmart the league with Johnny Wilson.
But if you just talk about traits, I mean, there's a lot to work with there.
Yeah, I think that's right.
Yeah, it's the same thing.
Like all of these day three picks, you know, Nate Gary was a good pick by the Eagles.
So fifth round linebacker who, you know, you didn't love when he was on the field, but he started, you know, for two seasons, basically.
For all of these guys, if they turn into contributors on the team.
Now, Howie Roseman said the thing on Saturday night that, like, we're not drafting these guys to be contributors.
Like, we draft guys because we see starting upside.
That's the whole point.
Like, we can find special teamers later.
So that's an important thing to keep in mind.
But if between Will Shipley, Ania Smith,
Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Trevor Keegan, Johnny Wilson, and Dylan McMahon,
two of them turn into starters,
that is a, that's a home run.
Yeah.
Right?
Like, you've got to be realistic about it.
And I think the process over the course of the weekend was really, really good.
I agree with you there.
And it's a situation, you know,
I think back to like Jacoby Stevens was someone when we talked about that pick coming
out of the draft.
You say, all right, I can see the upside here.
year, right, a contributing player, the national champion, as speed, you're moving on him,
the linebacker. And they got him to camp, and they saw that he wasn't someone who was going
to contribute on the team. He didn't make the 53, right? And so with these guys, you certainly
don't want to overstate it. What you're trying to do is you're trying to make informed
bets. And I think in a lot of these cases, you can understand the bet they were making.
It's different for Jail-O-Ton. It's different in the third round. But when you get to Johnny
Wilson, when you get to Dylan McMahon, you're looking for a trait. You're looking for something.
that makes you think they can stick around.
I think Johnny Wilson a good name for just like a made-up person.
Like, you're going to get my Johnny Wilson in here.
Fair enough.
Johnny Wilson's don't come around every day.
It's like Bill Belichick used to say like Johnny Foxborough, I think.
Oh, there you go.
For the quarterback.
I like Joe Person.
Joe Person's a good guy.
Joe Person's a great guy.
Great dinner companion.
Ah, flex.
You were at the same dinner with Joe Person.
I know, I'm just saying Flex.
Sell me real quick on McMahon.
Well, just from a guy that I want to get into Stadlin University, as it's called, because of the short shuttle and the athletic testing, you know, he's a little bit undersized at 6-3-299.
He has played both guard positions.
So you know he's got the theoretical versatility, but I think with that body type, he's a center only here.
Sure, exactly.
I think there's real upside here.
You know, a lot of starting experience that the tools in his body, quote-unquote.
He's just a guy who I'm excited to see with Stalind,
maybe what he can do with him.
Sure.
And I don't want to make the Jason Kelsey comp,
although I suppose I'm giving you this,
is that he was picked one pick apart from Jason Kelsey.
He had the athletic testing that makes you think about Jason Kelsey
in terms of the short shuttle.
And then also here's a little nugget.
He's co-represented by Jason Kelsey's agent.
Co-represented.
Yes, there are two agents.
there.
Dylan McMahon's so good, he needs two agents?
There's two agents on the listing.
I always go through the draft picks and look at the agents.
And Jason Bernstein's one of them.
So overall, these nine picks, what do you give the process of the weekend for the Eagles
from a draft grade standpoint?
Oh, I give the process an A or, yeah, I mean, it's hard.
Look, I start teaching in two weeks.
I should know the difference between an A and a B, right?
But I think how he did a great job this draft.
I don't think there were, I would have,
like them to come out of it with better help on the offensive line. We talk about that on the top
of the show. But I think a huge part of this is getting that third, fourth, and fifth next year.
They were operating from a pick deficit. The fact that they were able to trade a fourth for a third,
which they were on the other side of that deal last year with the Ringo, but they only get
that fourth because they trade back in the third round. I thought how he navigated that really
well. He traded up when he needed to. We traded back when he could have. He stayed put in an
inappropriate way. So I give
Howie a lot of credit
and Howie kind of talks about how
experience is a great teacher. I do
think the more he's done this,
you can see he has a sense
of how to navigate a draft.
Super chat from Zach wants to know where
the Zach banner is. It's in the next room
rolled up and folded away nicely,
but hopefully we're going to get the
Zach Banner T-shirt
headed your way soon on the
PHLLLLACR. You can become a diehard.
I thought that question
when I first saw it, I'm not being facetious here,
was where Zach Banner, like the former offensive tackle
from the Pittsburgh Steelers?
And I was like, they're bringing in Becht in.
You want Banner too?
Yeah. So.
There you go.
All right.
That'll do it for this episode of the P.H.L.Y. Eagles podcast.
A little programming note, we are at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon, not at noon.
So we look forward to that.
Going to talk some shadow draft and some other things going on with the Eagles,
maybe get into the undrafted guys on Wednesday.
and then Wednesday and Thursday, both at new no show on Friday this week.
So Julia deserves the time off.
What are we talking about?
All right.
That'll do it for this episode.
Thanks to everybody for listening for all of us here at PHLY.
Thanks for watching.
Thanks for listening.
We'll talk to tomorrow.
And as always, we love you.
