The NFL draft is a crapshoot. Nobody knows for sure who will end up panning out, even if they’re first round picks. So, this article isn’t meant to beat myself up. Rather, this is meant to look back at what I got right, how much I ended up getting right against an organization with all the resources in the world. Meanwhile, I don’t even have any premium memberships to sports websites.
Classification and Scoring Breakdown:
- All-Pro: +5
- Pro-Bowler: +4
- Immediate contributor: +3
- Backup (2nd stringer): +2
- Special Teamer: +1
- Backup (3rd+ stringer): +1
- Practice Squadder: +0
- Injured: +0
12. My Pick: Devonta Smith
Trade (12+84->10) Eagles Pick: Devonta Smith
If a first and a third round pick was the price to pay for a true #1 (something the Eagles have lacked since 2014 when DeSean Jackson was traded to Washington), I don’t toy with trade scenarios too much, but as is, I’m fully okay with taking Devonta Smith instead of a gamble in the third round.
My Verdict: Contributor (+3)
Eagles Verdict: Contributor (+3)
37. My Pick: Asante Samuel Jr.
Eagles Pick: Landon Dickerson
I actually think that I had a better pick than the Eagles. To be fair to Howie & Co., this was supposed to be a rebuilding year, and there was uncertainty surrounding how much longer Jason Kelce would play. This might turn into a Jason Peters situation where Kelce plays for two or three years despite Dickerson being his heir apparent, but there was an immediate need in the secondary. Call it nepotism, but the prospect of the son of an Eagles legend playing for Philadelphia for most, if not all of his career, was a possibility that was too good to pass up, and though Dickerson will probably be great, I’d take Samuel again.
My Verdict: Contributor (+3)
Eagles Verdict: Contributor (+3)
70. My Pick: Josh Myers
Trade (70->73+191), Eagles Pick: Milton Williams+Tarron Jackson
There isn’t even much to say for this one. Myers was taken eight picks before the Eagles even had a chance to get him. I have mentioned elsewhere, however, that I am quite satisfied with the Milton Williams pick, and have been consistent in my praise of Williams’ unforeseen level of production. Meanwhile, Myers has apparently struggled with injury this year. No matter how you look at it, there’s no way I can say I was right here, even if Myers was still available. Advantage, Howie.
My Verdict: Injured (+0)
Eagles Verdict: Williams Backup (+2) Jackson Special Teamer (+1)
84. My Pick: Spencer Brown
Since this pick was traded in a package to move up to draft Devonta Smith, I believe it’s worth talking about. Realistically, if we don’t trade up, the Giants take Devonta Smith and the Eagles take Kadarius Toney. So yes, while I didn’t have the Eagles trading down, Devonta Smith was the right pick. For anyone curious, Brown is doing well, starting 12 games for the Bills his rookie year. While I don’t necessarily think I was wrong, I’m very satisfied with Smith in his stead.
My Verdict: Contributor (+3)
Eagles Verdict: N/A (+0)
123. My Pick: JaCoby Stevens
Eagles Pick: Zech McPhearson
This is to say, I drafted him way too early. I was right in the sense that the Eagles ended up drafting him, but I was wrong about when. This may be a self-fulfilling prophecy, but McPhearson saw the field far more than Stevens. In fact, Stevens spent most of the year on the practice squad. Frankly, if my team took a fourth round pick that spent most of the year on the practice squad, I would be mad. I got angry when it turned out Clayton Thorson was a failed experiment in 2018, so by my own standards, this pick is pretty cut and dried, given where I had him going
My Verdict: Special Teamer (+1)
Eagles Verdict: Special Teamer (+1)
150. My Pick: Patrick Johnson
Eagles Pick: Kenneth Gainwell
Everything that I just said for Jacoby Stevens can be copy-pasted onto my Patrick Johnson pick: right guy, wrong place. Similar to Williams, Gainwell exceeded his draft stock. A fifth round pick is lucky to contribute to any degree, but Gainwell was a surprisingly large part of our game as a pass-catching back, giving credence to the idea of Memphis being Running Back University. Again, the Eagles ended up drafting Johnson later in the draft, but I’d rather have Gainwell as a pass-catching back than Johnson as a special teamer.
My Verdict: Special Teamer (+1)
Eagles Verdict: Backup (+2)
189. My Pick: Jermar Jefferson
Eagles Pick: Marlton Tuipulotu
The Kenneth Gainwell pick somewhat renders this pick moot, but I was resolute that the Eagles needed a power back prior to the draft. Technically speaking, he’s a shifty SOB, so one would have him more pegged as a speed rusher, but most of his highlights have him running horizontal, not vertical. Plus, it’s evident that he’s not afraid of contact. I didn’t anticipate us resigning Jordan Howard for cheap. In both scenarios, my functional scenario and what actually happened (Johnson/Jefferson, Gainwell/Tuipulotu), the Eagles only got one impact player, and from what I can tell, Gainwell as a more impactful player this year, so Howie got it right again. On the bright side, in this timeline, the Eagles finally got a player with the initials J. Jefferson.
My Verdict: Backup (+2)
Eagles Verdict: Backup (+1)
224. My Pick: Carlo Kemp
Eagles Pick: JaCoby Stevens
Carlo Kemp is a case of me over-drafting players. Kemp ended up becoming an undrafted free agent, which tells me that he would end up being a low-end backup/practice squad contributor. Seeing as Kemp didn’t make the final roster for the Packers, it seems my evaluation is correct. Unfortunately, this assessment came around eight months after the draft and I have the gift of hindsight. The only question that remains is whether Jacoby Stevens fared any better. Well, to this point in his career, Stevens was released by the Eagles before final cuts but spent the year on the practice squad. Technically speaking, the only difference between the two is that Stevens is still with the team that drafted him.
My Verdict: Practice Squadder (+0)
Eagles Verdict: Practice Squadder (+0)
225+240 My Picks: KJ Britt+Shaun Beyer
Trade. (225+240->2022 Fifth Rounder) Eagles Pick: TBD
Britt was drafted in the fifth round of the draft, so clearly I underestimated his draft stock. Then again, he had seven total tackles on the year, so maybe not. Meanwhile, Beyer was an undrafted free agent and later cut by the Denver Broncos, whom he signed with before the regular season. The Eagles have had a small amount of recent success taking practice squad players from GB, but I can’t make any assumptions regarding his degree of success. Whoever we get next year, it’ll probably be better than who we actually took. As for KJ Britt, he actually did find himself on a team after being drafted by the Buccaneers in the fifth round. Most of his time was spent on special teams, but that’s at least something.
My Verdict: Britt Special Teamer (+1); Beyer Practice Squadder (+0)
Eagles Verdict: TBD (+0)
234 Eagles Pick: Patrick Johnson
I take some comfort in that the Eagles selected a player that I predicted they would. On the downside, I overestimated where he would be drafted and had him going a couple of rounds earlier. This sadly seems to be a theme with my selections, even if the Eagles did see something in Johnson, the same as I did.
Eagles Verdict: Special Teamer (+1)
237. My Pick: Feleipe Franks
On one hand, I see this as the sort of guy that the Eagles should have drafted if they truly intended to use two-QB packages (which never work anyway), but the reason that I had my eyes on Franks was that he’s a low-cost backup for Hurts. Albeit, Franks had zero touchdowns and one interception in 2021, and those aren’t good enough numbers for a backup QB. Those are the numbers of a quarterback you hope never sees extended playtime. And yet, this QB was the second-best option for the Falcons with AJ McCarron on IR. Technically, Franks was a backup, but only by default, so I’ll give myself a point and a half since he’d be QB3 if McCarron was healthy.
My Verdict: Backup (+1.5)
My Grade: 15.5/55 (28.1%)
Eagles Grade: 14/45 (31.1%)
Proof I didn’t pick names out of a hat:
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Dylan Patrowicz is a featured writer at The Birds Blitz. For more from Dylan, check out his archive and read through our Eagles articles for the latest news about the Birds.
