What they're saying: The Eagles won the 2024 NFL Draft

All across the NFL media landscape, writers are impressed by Howie Roseman and the Eagles' 2024 haul.

BY EVAN MACY
PhillyVoice Staff

KATE FRESE/FOR PHILLYVOICE

PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 14: A photo of Howie Roseman from the Philadelphia Eagles game against the Minnesota Vikings on September 14, 2023 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Photo by Kate Frese/PhillyVoice)

Howie season is a real thing. If you don't believe me, look around — nearly every website that covers the NFL and the NFL draft is calling the Eagles front office big winners (in some cases the biggest) after they made a record-tying eight trades while adding nine rookies via the event this weekend.

Here's a quick look at why numerous outlets are head over heals for the Birds' body of work — and you should be too:

Best class

Jordan Reid and Matt Miller | ESPN+

Over at the Worldwide Leader, their experts broke down their favorite picks in each round, favorite QB landing spots and a handful of other superlatives. They anointed the Eagles group of nine as the best draft class of the 32 NFL teams:

In the 2002 NFL draft, the Eagles used three early picks to remake a bad secondary. It changed the defense immediately. That's what GM Howie Roseman must be thinking in 2024. The additions of Quinyon Mitchell in Round 1 and Cooper DeJean in a Round 2 trade up will immediately boost a secondary that looked old, slow and banged up during the team's collapse late in 2023. The late part of Round 3 was a solid place to draft developmental pass-rusher Jalyx Hunt from Houston Christian too. He's the type of player who could be a massive steal if the Eagles can tap into his raw potential. [ESPN.com]

Zigging when others zag

Will Brinson | CBS Sports

The praise train continues at CBS, where Will Brinson was impressed more with how Roseman used his Day 3 picks. 

... Clemson running back Will Shipley was a steal in the fourth round. Dipping back into Death Valley for Jeremiah Trotter Jr., is just good for business, even if it's largely an emotional pick. Johnny Wilson in the sixth round?!?! NC State's Dylan McMahon (aka "Baby Jason Kelce") later in the round?? Just elite stuff from Howie late in the draft. Maybe most impressive: he traded out of spots a ton and acquired extra picks for next year. The drop-off in talent in this class (largely due to NIL trickle down) made moving out of the seventh round and improving your 2025 ammunition. [CBSSports.com]

Highway robbery

Austin Gayle | The Ringer

Get ready for a whole lot of Howie Roseman love over the next few entries. Over at The Ringer, just how Roseman was able to nab the Eagles essentially the two best cornerbacks in the draft class seems confounding. More from Austin Gayle:

How does Howie Roseman just keep getting away with this?! Drafting cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, two top-25 players on the media consensus board, at pick no. 22 and no. 40 (respectively) almost feels too good to be true—and downright disrespectful to the rest of the league. The trade up for DeJean on Friday evening diminishes some of the value of the selection, but both Mitchell and DeJean have all of the tools necessary to be long-term starters at outside cornerback on a team that desperately needs to get younger in the secondary. Plus, DeJean has inside-outside versatility and could make the switch to safety if necessary. [TheRinger.com]

A safety net?

Mike Jones | The Athletic

Was Roseman operating under the assumption that the alleged tampering his team did during free agency to woo running back Saquon Barkley will yield a punishment? If so, surmises Jones, he was able to add a bunch of extra picks for the 2025 draft as a buffer just in case. Oh, and also, he said the Eagles won the draft:

The Eagles received some good fortune, as cornerback Quinyon Mitchell fell to them in Round 1. Then Roseman pulled off a trade that positioned the Eagles to take another cornerback, Cooper DeJean, in Round 2. From there, Roseman and company continued to improve the depth of their roster while also stockpiling picks for 2025. For now, the Eagles have nine picks in next year’s draft. That gives Philadelphia a cushion in case the NFL’s investigation of potential tampering with Saquon Barkley reveals any wrongdoing and the Eagles are docked a pick or two. [TheAthletic.com]

On a different level

Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz | USA Today

Remember last year, when the Eagles got two of the best defensive linemen in the same draft? And also essentially acquired running back De'Andre Swift for nothing? Roseman was operating at a different level — and at USA Today they're accusing the GM of doing the same thing this offseason too. He added a ton of ammunition to the stockpile for 2025 and that was not by accident:

He extracted some substantial additional value for the future by doing so, including a 2025 third-round pick thanks to his willingness to part with a fourth-rounder this year. And his Day 3 picks themselves were solid, too, with fourth-round running back Will Shipley, fifth-round receiver Ainias Smith and sixth-round receiver Johnny Wilson all looking capable of aiding the passing game through specific roles. The speedster Smith also could yield big value as a returner in the aftermath of the league's new kickoff return rules. [USAToday.com]

https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-nfl-draft-howie-roseman-winners-losers-analysis-news-latest-class-2024/

I do love these initial draft reactions. Some teams won, others lost. All before the players even report to OTAs. 

I think Howie had a really good draft. On paper we added some good players and we traded some picks for 2025 picks. He makes a lot of moves and is very active during the draft weekend so credit to him for that.

And he’s addressed some issues on this roster. Going back to back DBs with the first 2 picks was a surprise but probably a necessary move. And it looks like he’s got real value with some of his late round picks so that’s also great.

But to declare any team as winning the draft right now? Way too early for that.

Check Pittsburgh - looks like Andy Weidl made an Eagles type draft. 

The 4th for a 2025 3rd (to Miami who’s pick will likely also be higher than our in the 3rd) was key - that’s what the Patriots always did in their hey day. We should do that every year since it’s the only way a top team, with low picks and expensive contracts, can stay competitive.  

13 hours ago, eggs said:

The 4th for a 2025 3rd (to Miami who’s pick will likely also be higher than our in the 3rd) was key - that’s what the Patriots always did in their hey day. We should do that every year since it’s the only way a top team, with low picks and expensive contracts, can stay competitive.  

Yes that was brilliant.  Next year's draft is rumored to be a much deeper class so having an extra day 2 pick is huge.  And getting that 4th from Detroit was huge too since we gave up that 2025 4th in acquiring Swift last year (so we had none in rd 4 ... now we do again).  

This analysis is on the money about Howie. 

https://twitter.com/FreeGjr/status/1785077058441261564/video/1

10 hours ago, Road to Victory said:

This analysis is on the money about Howie. 

https://twitter.com/FreeGjr/status/1785077058441261564/video/1

Meh, I disagree with Tom Green there. I don't think it's a bad thing that Howie and our scouts come up with draft boards that are similar to other people's who do this for a living. The alternative

2 hours ago, Kz! said:

Meh, I disagree with Tom Green there. I don't think it's a bad thing that Howie and our scouts come up with draft boards that are similar to other people's who do this for a living. The alternative

But he makes a great point. Of course, the media is going to love Howie’s draft if he has the same projections as them. 

It still fees like Howie is playing fantasy football with the Eagles organization. He doesn’t truly understand the X’s and O’s of football. 

The only thing that got me was the tampering issue. That's not over and done with? 

Barkley denied it. I'm sure Howie will say it didn't happen. This is just the NY GM making it up because he couldn't resign him. Spite.

I will be bummed if we lose picks next year.

 

Washington, Arizona, Pittsburg, and Philadelphia rated as the top classes

20 minutes ago, Road to Victory said:

But he makes a great point. Of course, the media is going to love Howie’s draft if he has the same projections as them. 

It still fees like Howie is playing fantasy football with the Eagles organization. He doesn’t truly understand the X’s and O’s of football. 

Meh, he's helped build a SB champion, a SB runner-up, and a perennial playoff contender. We could do a lot worse.

10 minutes ago, Kz! said:

Meh, he's helped build a SB champion, a SB runner-up, and a perennial playoff contender. We could do a lot worse.

Yeah, overall he’s done a good job but he’s not great at identifying talent in the draft. He’s better at building through trades and free agency which is not ideal. 

Time will tell.