10 big-time colleges the Eagles never drafted a good player from

They drafted Lane Johnson, Keith Jackson and Tommy McDonald out of Oklahoma. Brent Celek, Jason Kelce and Trent Cole from Cincinnati. Brandon Graham, Al Wistert and Randy Logan from Michigan.

Last April, we wrote about the colleges that have produced the most draft talent in Eagles history.

We figured we’d turn it around this year and take a look at the big-time college football programs that have produced the least Eagles draft talent.

There’s only one rule: No player from these schools ever became an above-average full-time starter for the Eagles. Several went elsewhere and became decent players. Which really makes it even worse. 

Auburn

Best Player: OL Jack Driscoll, 4th round, 2020. The Eagles’ draft history from Auburn is horrifying. Driscoll at least has shown promise playing both guard and tackle the last two years. Most of these guys never showed anything. 

Most Recent Player: OL Jack Driscoll, 4th round. See above.

Biggest Bust: OL Frank D’Agostino, 2nd round, 1956. I feel bad about this one because Frank was a Philly guy, a Northeast Catholic graduate. But he was the 16th overall pick in 1956, and his Eagles career consisted of two starts in 1956. He played two games for the AFL New York Titans in 1960 and that was his career. Fourteen games, four starts. When the Eagles released him on Sept. 4, 1957, he didn’t even get his own headline. "Eagles Release Wegert, 2 Others,” the Inquirer’s two-paragraph story read.

Others: B Walt Gilbert [4th round, 1937], Monk Gafford [3rd round, 1943], E Hindman Wall [27th round, 1958], T Ken Paduch [16th round, 1959], E Leo Sexton [28th round, 1959], G.W. Clapp [16th round, 1961], DB John McGeever [6th round, 1962], G Ben Tamburello [3rd round, 1987], G John Hudson [11th round, 1990], RB James Joseph [7th round, 1991], G Rob Selby [3rd round, 1991], DB Corey Barlow [5th round, 1992], OT King Dunlap [7th round,  2008], CB. Blake Countess [6th round, 2016], OT Prince Tega Wanogho [6th round, 2020].

Baylor

Best Player: WR Ron Goodwin, 16th round, 1963. Goodwin spent six years with the Eagles, catching 78 passes for 1,078 yards and nine TDs.  Despite starting 43 games, he only had more than 41 yards five times. 

Most Recent Player: OL Fireman Danny, 1st round, 2011. The Fireman was the 23rd overall pick and was handed a starting job as a rookie but never had any real interest in playing football. He started 12 games as a rookie and six more in 2012 before quickly fading out of the league

Biggest Bust: OL Fireman Danny, 1st round, 2011: See above.

Others: G Emmett Kriel [10th round, 1938], G O’Dell Griffin [15th round, 1942], T Bill Stephens [31st round, 1947], T Buddy Tinsley [7th round, 1948], B Dud Parker [30th round, 1950], B Frank Boydstun [7th round, 1951],  OT Bob Knowles [17th round, 1954], B Charley Smith [26th round, 1954], OT Billy Kelly [18thround, 1957], OT Dick Stevens [13th round, 1970], RB Cleveland Franklin [8thround, 1977], DE Thomas Brown [11th round, 1980], DB Howard Fields [12thround, 1980], LB Doak Field [7th round, 1981], QB David Mangrum [12th round, 1983].

Brigham Young

Best Player: DT Steve Kaufusi, 12th round, 1988. Kaufusi was a rotational lineman in all 32 games over the 1989 and 1990 seasons, which is enough to earn him the distinction of greatest player the Eagles have ever drafted out of BYU.

Most Recent Player: G Scott Young, 5th round, 2005. You probably remember Young for his 4th-quarter offsides penalty against the Saints in the 2006 playoffs at the Superdome. Guess what. I’ve watched it 1,000 times and it wasn’t a penalty.

Biggest Bust: T George Horne, 11th round, 1962. Young has taken enough criticism over the last decade and a half for that bad call, so I’m not going to pile on and call him the Eagles’ biggest bust out of BYU. So it goes to Horne, who never played in the NFL.

Others: None.

Iowa

Best Player: CB Damien Robinson, 4th round, 1997. The Eagles released Robinson at the end of training camp his rookie year to make room for waiver claim Blaine McElmurry (who they released four days later). Robinson wound up playing six years for the Bucs, Jets and Seahawks, picking off 13 passes. 

Most Recent Player: WR Marvin McNutt, 6th round, 2012. Played in four games with the Eagles and got 14 snaps on offense and 22 on special teams. Played in one game with the Panthers in 2013 and never played again.

Biggest Bust: OT Frank Rigney, 4th round, 1958. Rigney was the 43rd player taken overall in the 1958 draft but never played for the Eagles (or anybody else). 

Others: E Bob Lannon [7th round, 1938], B Glenn Drahn [25th round, 1951], LB John Nocera [16th round, 1957], C Bill Lapham [14th round, 1958], C Bill Van Buren [17th round, 1958], T John Burroughs [18th round, 1958], G Curt Merz [3rd round, 1960], E Don Norton [5th round, 1960], T Bob Hain [19thround, 1960], HB Willie Fleming [14th round, 1961], DT Joe Schuster [10th round, 1988], S Sean Considine [4th round, 2005], OL Julian Vandervelde [5th round, 2011].

Kansas

Best Player: RB Billy Campfield, 11th round, 1978. Campfield was a backup running back during the Dick Vermeil years, averaging 130 rushing yards and 321 scrimmage yards per year. He averaged 3.9 yards per carry as an Eagle.

Most Recent Player: CB JaCorey Shepherd, 6th round, 2015. Released after his rookie training camp. Played in 11 games with the 49ers and averaged 21.7 yards on 21 kick returns. Never played again.

Biggest Bust: DE Mitch Sutton, 3rd round, 1974. Sutton only played 18 games in the NFL, starting seven as a rookie. He had an unofficial 2 ½ sacks as a rookie and one more in 1975 and never played again.

Others: B Bill Bunson [14th round, 1940], T George Mrkonic [4th round, 1953], B Hal Patterson [14th round 1954], E John Anderson [21st round, 1955], RB Donnie Shanklin [10th round, 1969], DB Skip Sharp [5th round, 1977], RB Norris Banks [5th round, 1978].

Maryland

Best Player: TE-FB Dick Bielski, 1st round, 1955. Bielski spent his first five seasons with the Eagles, starting 27 total games. He caught 62 passes and rushed for 229 yards with six total TDs. He averaged 184 scrimmage yards per season as an Eagle before finishing his career with the Cowboys.

Most Recent Player: LB Moise Fokou, 7th round, 2009. Fokou started 22 games over three years for the Eagles before finishing his career with the Colts, Titans and Saints.

Biggest Bust: LB Bob Pellegrini, 1st round, 1956. Pellegrini was the fourth player taken overall in 1956, five spots ahead of Hall of Famer Lenny Moore, 16 picks before Hall of Famer Forrest Gregg, 26 picks before Hall of Famer Sam Huff, 177 picks before Hall of Famer Willie Davis and 196 picks before Hall of Famer Bart Starr. Pellegrini started 39 games over five years for the Eagles.

Others: B Bill Guckeyson [6th round, 1937], C Don Brougher [15th round, 1955], G George Palahunik [26th round, 1955], C Dave Crossan [1963, 3rd round], B Ernie Arizzi [14th round, 1964], LB Dick Absher [5th round, 1967], DB Ken Schroy [10th round, 1975], R Bruce Perry [7th round, 2004].

Oregon

Best Player: QB A.J. Feeley, 5th round, 2001. No offense to A.J., but slim pickings here. Feeley went 4-3 in seven career starts over two stints with the Eagles – five in 2002, two in 2007. One of only five quarterbacks drafted by the Eagles to have a winning record with the Eagles (along with Donovan McNabb, Randall Cunningham, Carson Wentz and Nick Foles). 

Most Recent Player: LB Joe Walker, 7th round, 2016. Walker started three games for the Eagles in 2017 and is still in the league, in his second stint with the Cards.

Biggest Bust: WR Josh Huff, 3rd round, 2014. He did have a couple kick return touchdowns, but Huff only caught 48 passes 482 yards in 2 ½ seasons with the Eagles. He finished his career playing a few games in Tampa but was out of the NFL before his 26th birthday.

Others: E Frank Emmons [5th round, 1940], B Marshall Stenstrom [11th round, 1941], T Don Stanton [16th round, 1948], B Bob Sanders [3rd round, 1950], E Darrell Robinson [19th round, 1950], B Jack Crabtree [12th round, 1958], QB Dave Grosz [12th round, 1960], DT John Wilcox [15th round, 1960], QB Bob Berry [11thround, 1964], OT Curt Dykes [8th round, 1990], TE Jed Weaver [7th round, 1999], OT Fenuki Tupou [5th round, 2009], LB Casey Matthews [4th round, 2011], DE Taylor Hart [5th round, 2014].

Virginia

Best Player: Dave Graham, 13th round, 1960. Graham started 31 games over six years, mainly as a backup.

Most Recent Player: WR Billy McMullen, 3rd round, 2003. McMullen only caught 22 passes for 294 yards and one TD in three seasons with the Eagles. He spent two more years with the Vikings and Seahawks and finished his career with just 52 receptions.

Biggest Bust: DE Jon Harris, 1st round, 1997: The 25th pick overall 25 years ago, Harris had two sacks in two seasons with the Eagles, who traded him to the Packers for their own 1st-round bust, Jon Michels, before the 1999 season. Harris never played for Green Bay, and Michels never played for the Eagles. 

Others: B John Duda [14th round, 1945], C Lockwood Frizzell [22nd round 1948], T Joe Mehalick [13th round, 1954].

Virginia Tech

Best Player: DT, Don Oakes, 3rd round, 1961. Oakes is the best Virginia Tech player the Eagles have ever drafted by default. He spent the first two years of an eight-year career with the Eagles, starting six games at defensive tackle.

Most Recent Player: Victor Harris, 5th round, 2009. He went by "Macho” Harris, and at some point during his rookie year Eagle special teams coach Ted Daisher was asked about Harris and made sure to call him Victor instead of Macho. Asked why, he said, "I’m going to call him Victor until he makes a play.” He never did make a play. He lasted one season with the Eagles and one with Washington and was out of the league by 2011.

Biggest Bust: See above.

Others: T Jim Burks [26th round, 1959], G William Boatwright [7th round, 1992].

Washington

Best Player: OL Ray Mansfield, 2nd round, 1963.  Mansfield started as a rookie but lost his job the next summer to rookie 1st-round pick and future Hall of Famer Bob Brown, so the Eagles sold Mansfield outright to the Steelers, where he went on to play 13 years, starting on two Super Bowl championship teams in the 1970s. 

Most Recent Player: CB Sidney Jones, 2nd round, 2017. Jones had some flashes in his three years with the Eagles but after he blew out his Achilles at his pro day in the spring of 2017 he just was never the same player. He is still in the league and currently on the Seahawks’ roster.

Biggest Bust: FB Chuck Newton, 2nd round, 1939. Jones was disappointing, but Newton was the 14th pick in the 1939 draft, and his NFL career lasted 12 games. He had one career rush for no yards, although he did catch 10 passes. 

Others: FB Chuck Newton [2nd round, 1939], B Don Jones [9th round, 1940],  E Earl Younglove [6th round, 1942], FB Jack Stackpool [10th round, 1942], Walt Harrison [7th round, 1943], T Bob Friedman [18th round, 1943], B Sean Robinson [8th round, 1945], B John Wingender [13th round, 1946], G Jim Skaggs [10thround, 1962], LB Rick Redman [10th round, 1965], DB Ron Medved [14th round, 1966], G Omar Parker [11th round, 1967], DE Daniel Te’o-Nesheim [3rd round, 2010], DT Elijah Qualls [6th round, 2017].

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/nfl-draft-2022-10-big-time-colleges-eagles-never-drafted-good-player