We said last season that the Eagles they had built their attack and defense in a different way: the attack was practically contractually tied (and now much more with the renewal of Jalen Hurts), almost all of its starting players coming from elections in the draft (except AJ Brown, although his signing was a consequence of the draft). While the defense was the result in its vast majority of signings in free agency. Bulldogs
What we fans feared has happened, and there has been a certain rout of defensive players: cinco titulares, Gardner-Johnson, White, Edwards, Hargrave y Epps They have left the team. And the front office has decided to rebuild the defense primarily with players from the University of Georgia, NCAA champions in 2021 and 2022. It must be said that in the draft In 2022 this university had fifteen selected players, and in 2023 there have been ten more players. These twenty-five picks in two years is an NFL record. Of them the Eagles They have chosen five, being the first time that such a circumstance occurs.
We are going to briefly analyze the selected players, and what this unusual fact means for the franchise.
First I want to make it clear, as many of you who read me and follow me online already know, that I do not see College football. My player feedback is the result of articles, guides, videos, podcasts, and chats with fans. And that I have a cautious reservation about NFL rookies in general, after more than thirty years as a spectator. I’m not riding the wave of hype. Just the fact of playing a Super Bowl it is already very complicated.
THE HARVEST OF THE EAGLES IN THE DRAFT
Let’s briefly study pick by pickand we will value with the American system (A outstanding, B notable, C+ good, C sufficient, D insufficient, F very deficient) the selected players:
#9 Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia (A+): Probably one of the best players in the draft for pure talent. Fletcher Cox y Brandon Graham they will have extra work to get a player whose greatest weakness is from the neck up. It is true that his immaturity is a worrying issue. However, the Eagles they have the right traits to correct it: an established winning culture; a group of excellent trainers; veterans with a lot of weight in the locker room; and companions of Georgia to clothe him jordans davis he is her best friend and a responsible boy, her “good company.”
#30 Nolan Smith, DE, Georgia (A): A player with a profile similar to Reddick and from whom you can learn a lot. will stand behind Graham y Sweat surely, trying to compensate in a different way for the loss of Hargrave. If he hadn’t had an injury for the whole season, they would surely have chosen him higher. Again the environment is essential in the case of this player. Even so, he has to prove that he can play edge in the NFL.
#65 Tyler Steen, G, Alabama (B+): You will probably be able to compete with Jurgens for the position of guard what leaves Seumalo More wood for the trenches. He is a versatile player who can play almost any of the five forward line positions. Still, my bet is that Jurgens will be the guard headline ahead of you.
#66 Sydney Brown, S, Illinois (B+): Very athletic and explosive, he will have his chance to fight for the title, given the situation of the position. Very versatile, he can play in the slot or in the box, and can defend very well tight ends. Last season he had six interceptions. With Desai and its packs of big nickel can contribute almost instantly.
#105 Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia (B): los Eagles they went up for him in exchange for a third round. Explosive and very fast, sometimes he tries to be too physical. He has the tools to become a cornerback solid in the NFL, but could play even strong safety. ended up going down in the draft because attitude problems are rumored.
#188 Tanner McKee, QB, Stanford (B): let them explain it to me. A quarterback in the mold of pocket passer traditional, straight out of the NFL time tunnel of 30 years ago. Large (1.98 meters and 105 kg), to develop and become a solid substitute in principle.
#249 Moro Ojomo, DT, Texas (B): and defensive tackle to develop, but be careful with him, because he is one of the five covered that Ray Didinger he liked them for Eagles. Many mocks they placed him between rounds four to six.
IS THERE A PREMEDITED STRATEGY?
The strategy of Eagles On paper it seems clear: select the best players from the best defense in the university league of the last two years. Last year they elected jordans davis in the first round and I’m Dean in third.
However, I agree with Fede Schuin, I don’t think it was a premeditated strategy. there are no Philadelphia Bulldogs. are individual cases: Smith y Dean they fall and you choose them; yes they have gone up for jordans davis last year, and this year for Ringo. Carter It is a mixture, as you go down you go up one position for him.
Besides, it must be added that, in a move similar to that of AJ Brown in the past draft. Los Eagles they have signed the running back D’Andre Swift of the Lions, delivering a fourth round of the year 2025, plus the pick 219 of 2023, and Detroit Send to Philly on 249 in 2023. Given his injury history, there’s some risk, but you can’t argue with the cost. Swift It supposes only 1.7 million against the cap in 2023. While healthy he is a tremendous asset, both passing and rushing (5.5 yards per rush avg and 8.1 pass per catch, with eight touchdowns). It fits perfectly into a rider committee system like that of Eagles (in addition to Swift, Penney, Scott y Gainwell).
Furthermore, as he states Oscar Budejen, Swift He’s a thinking head: He’s a guy with a very well-furnished head, who has gone to a very good school and who is very mature for the NFL, which is a factor to consider. And his age, only twenty-four years.
ANALYZING THE PHILADELPHIA BULLDOGS
The fact that the Eagles have selected five players from the best defense in the NCAA and double national champions (plus running back D’Andre Swift, who also went to that university) has generated some controversy. My dear friend Alberto Zaragoza He commented on his program La Guarida that it is a risky option, and that it can go well or badly.
I disagree, apart from the fact that I think it is an unintended coincidence. I think it doesn’t make much of a difference whether these players come from the same college or from different colleges, in the sense that they are rookies coming into a league like the NFL. It is not about importing the defensive system of Georgia to the Eagles, rather it is the opposite. They are players who are going to a place where there is an established winning culture, a different system to which they will have to adapt, and a much more demanding competition.
I’ve been watching the NFL for thirty years, and I think I’ve said it a few times already: I’m deeply suspicious of rookies. We can see, for example, the draft of 2020, in its first round along with cases such as Jefferson, Herbert o Burrow we have the others of Jalen Reagor, Jeff Okudah, Jedrick Willis Jr., Javon Kinlaw, CJ Henderson or Isaiah Simmons. You will never see me on the boat of excessive enthusiasm. He draft It is a lottery in the strict sense. The environment, the injuries, the system, using the player in his proper position, the speed of the NFL, those are complicating factors. Nobody guarantees anything.
THE POSITIVE ASPECTS
That being said, I do think there are positive aspects to drafting players from the same university. In my seventeen-year experience as a youth basketball coach, bringing in players who have played together before always helps a lot in adapting to a new environment. The chemistry between them, the mutual support, are factors that help a faster integration into an unknown and new environment for them. Much more if they come from a winning program, national champions the last two years.
In addition, for the new ones it is positive in my opinion that Jordan Davis and Nakobe Deanformer colleagues in Georgia, already have a year of experience in the system and in the organization of Philadelphia. Success or failure is completely unrelated in my opinion to the fact that they come from the same university.
CONCLUSIONS
I think the management of draft of Howie Roseman it has been ten The fact of going up to nine to choose Carter I think it’s a good move. The Eagles they started the draft with six picks, and they end up with seven players selected plus four top-hundred picks in 2024 (10 total) and seven picks by 2025. And after signing the rookies of this year, the cap Estimated is about fourteen million dollars. with what you will earn Miles Sanders in Carolina the salary of the four is paid running backs of the Eagles of the current roster.
Finally, the strategy of the contract of Jalen Hurtswith very little impact on the cap the first three years, allows you to compete again to reach the Super Bowl. I agree with Jimmy Kempski in which there are positions in which it would be necessary to try to add someone via free agency, such as linebacker, slot cornerback y wide receiver. While in the position of safety I don’t think we are going to add anyone else, having Reed Blankenship, Terrell Edmunds, Justin Evans, Sidney Brown y K’Von Wallace. However, I am missing a linebacker and a safety guarantee veterans, especially the first one.
In conclusion, they have filled almost all the gaps, especially in defense, and the addition of D’Andre Swift (native of Philly In addition) it has been a very good agreement, in exchange for almost nothing. I think that Eagles without a doubt they are one of the winners of this draft.
¡Fly Eagles Fly!
2023-05-07 10:05:02
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