The Philadelphia Eagles gave up three disappointing draft picks Saturday afternoon to Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas and Shareef Miller. I wanted to take the time to focus on each of them as they left.
SIDNEY JONES
Hopes were high when the Eagles selected Jones for 43rd in the 2017 NFL Draft. Many believed the Eagles were getting a steal since Jones was supposed to be a first-round pick before sustaining an Achilles injury on his matchday. professional. Howie Roseman said the Eagles rated Jones as one of the top 10 talents.
Sadly, the injury issues didn’t end for Jones. He was limited to appearing in just 23 of 54 possible games in his first three years.
There was hope this year would ultimately be different for Jones after making some really big plays in the home stretch in 2019. Some thought he was close to winning the starting cornerback spot in front of Darius Slay.
But it never even nearly happened. Jones didn’t even take first team reps at training camp; all went to Avonte Maddox. Jones struggled in two practices before missing the rest of camp this year. He clearly hasn’t done anything to justify a place out of 53 this year. Especially in light of Craig James having a solid summer and already being a big contributor to special teams.
Jones is only 24, so it’s not like his NFL career is over. Another team will likely try to shoot him and he might even be successful there. But his time was clearly up in Philadelphia. I can’t wait forever on its “potential”, especially when it won’t even be reliably available.
For those who say Jones’ choice was worth the risk … I can’t agree. And it’s hardly hindsight. Check back to this BGN post from Dave Mangels in March 2017 (a month before Jones wrote): The “medical redshirt” is a waste of choice. As well:
I think far too many people think there is a 100% chance that Sidney Jones is doing totally well.
– Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) May 1, 2017
RASUL DOUGLAS
Douglas gave the Eagles a decent production for the No.99 overall pick. He made 18 starts in 46 games played and recorded 118 tackles, 25 defenses and five interceptions.
But Douglas was also never able to play a full-time starter role. He was just too likely to be thoroughly beaten, as we have recently seen on several occasions during the 2019 season (Week 1 game in Washington, Vikings game etc). Maybe the Eagles regret writing a corner that runs a 4.6-40-yard dash? Douglas also doesn’t offer positional versatility, which made it more difficult to keep him.
Another team will likely take a chance on Douglas and maybe he will be successful in a different system.
Pretty disappointing that neither Jones nor Douglas turned out to be solutions from a draft class considered deep in the corner. The mistakes made here prompted the Eagles to trade their future draft assets for Darius Slay and make him the highest-paid corner kick in the NFL.
The remaining players in the Eagles’ 2017 Draft class ahead of the 2020 season:
BY Derek Barnett
LB Nathan GerryEnd of list.
Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas, Mack Hollins, Donnel Pumphrey, Shelton Gibson and Elijah Qualls are all gone. https://t.co/C6hIWbFdLm
– Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) September 5, 2020
SHAREEF MILLER
Speaking of not capitalizing on deep draft classes, I’d like to pick up on a tweet from the 2019 NFL Draft:
Ahead of the 2017 NFL Draft, Howie Roseman said it was a historic RB class. Ended up writing Donnel Pumphrey in the 4th round.
Ahead of the 2019 NFL Draft, Roseman said it was a historic DL class. Ended up taking Shareef Miller in the 4th round.#Eagles
– Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) April 27, 2019
Pumphrey didn’t end up playing a single snap for the Eagles. Miller played two special teams shots last year and that’s it.
Roseman deliberately avoided talking about the quality of wide receivers in the 2020 NFL Draft. That strategy may have paid off given early positive feedback from Jalen Reagor (pre-injury), John Hightower and Quez Watkins.
But back to Miller, it’s a shame the Philly native didn’t work in his hometown.
