Crossing Broad
The draft is over and I sense that Eagles fans are mostly satisfied with the job that Howie Roseman and company did this year. 10 observations:
1) A few years ago, we all asked ourselves a simple question. Why don’t the Eagles draft the best players from the best conference? There were jokes about Howie Roseman ignoring the All-SEC player right in front of him and going for some random PAC 12 guy instead.
That led to capitulation, and a wave of draft picks that included DeVonta Smith, Landon Dickerson, Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, and even Jalen Hurts, who played more SEC football than Big 12 football. Four of the seven were slam dunks, though the jury is still out on a handful of the UGA guys drafted in the last two years.
That said, it was interesting to see Howie switch things up this year. He drafted a first round corner from Toledo, traded up for an Iowa DB, and then took a project EDGE who started at Cornell before making his way to Houston Christian in the Southland Conference.
That’s not to say they’re the wrong picks. Quinyon Mitchell was the consensus top corner on the board, and Cooper DeJean a first round talent. Maybe it signals an end to the “we’re just gonna draft the best UGA and Bama players” wave, though Roseman noted in his Friday press conference that “these were kind of two extenuating circumstances because of the particular guys… probably wouldn’t say it’s going to be a trend.”
2) Why did Mitchell stay at Toledo for his entire career? He was clearly a Power 5 talent and could have transferred:
“…just coming out of high school I had some grade issues and stuff like that, and Toledo just stuck with me through the whole process. Gave me a fair chance to play ball when nobody else wanted to.
So when the time came around, it was a no-brainer. I wasn’t going anywhere, I wasn’t leaving, no matter how much money or who came to offer. That’s why I went to Toledo and that’s why I stayed.”
All good. He stuck with the team that gave him a chance. And high school grades are meaningless now. He’s here to break up passes and take interceptions to the house. He’s not here to study engineering.
3) Jalyx Hunt played absolutely nobody in college. Here’s the schedule from HCU’s 2023 season:
The Southland Conference stinks and so does the Ivy League.
Does it matter? Well, hopefully not. Brian Westbrook came out of Nova and Hugh Douglas Central State, and it worked out alright for them at the NFL level.
Said Roseman of Hunt:
“He’s got freaky tools in his body. He’s an explosive guy. If you watch his best plays, he’s doing things that are unique. He can bend. He can close. He can finish. He’s long. He’s an extremely smart kid obviously coming from Cornell.
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