If you can do it over, would you have drafted Devonta?

[opa-opa]

Don't get me wrong Devonta is amazing, but if you factor in everything that has happened since we drafted him, was it the best thing we could have done for this team?

Would we be a better team now if we drafted Micah Parsons? And still had AJ Brown, plus maybe another FA WR, or even Zach or Quez as our #2?

Does having Devota as our #2 have a greater impact on this team as having Parsons would have, right now?

If I have to be honest with myself, I would say no. I think if we had Parsons instead right now, we would have a better chance of winning the Superbowl.

But of course hindsight is 20/20 and you can never tell the future.

But it's obvious that this team with Jalen at QB was never going to be the next greatest show on turf. As good as Devonta is he may never reach his full potential playing on this team.

In fact he isn't even on track to do better than his rookie season. He hasn't regressed but AJ is clearly Hurts favorite target now.

I think we can all see that Hurts clearly has much better chemistry with AJ, and it seems like maybe this offense would work just as well with just AJ + 2 or.3 other OK receivers.

 

 

[mihailo]

Having a defense that has to account for Smith as well opens up the offense for players like AJ. Smith has shown that when they give him a lack of respect, he will tear them up. 

[time2rock]

I'm going to go ahead and just say it ... if we had Parsons instead of Smith we'd be better than 7-0!

[Cochis_Calhoun]

3 hours ago, opa-opa said:

Don't get me wrong Devonta is amazing, but if you factor in everything that has happened since we drafted him, was it the best thing we could have done for this team?

Would we be a better team now if we drafted Micah Parsons? And still had AJ Brown, plus maybe another FA WR, or even Zach or Quez as our #2?

Does having Devota as our #2 have a greater impact on this team as having Parsons would have, right now?

If I have to be honest with myself, I would say no. I think if we had Parsons instead right now, we would have a better chance of winning the Superbowl.

But of course hindsight is 20/20 and you can never tell the future.

But it's obvious that this team with Jalen at QB was never going to be the next greatest show on turf. As good as Devonta is he may never reach his full potential playing on this team.

In fact he isn't even on track to do better than his rookie season. He hasn't regressed but AJ is clearly Hurts favorite target now.

I think we can all see that Hurts clearly has much better chemistry with AJ, and it seems like maybe this offense would work just as well with just AJ + 2 or.3 other OK receivers.

 

 

This is just mathematically wrong, he's on pace for a thousand yards, plus he only has 1 less reception than Brown.

Jesus Christ we have the most complete Receiver room we've had in f'ing decades in an offense that can do pretty much everything at a high level, plus not to mention we have the best linebackers we've had in at least 10 years and there are still people looking to nit pick about it.

Some of our fans are mindblowing.

 

 

 

[brkmsn]

What position would Parsons be playing in Gannon's defense if we had drafted him? As a rookie, injuries kind of forced the cowboys to use him as an edge rusher. We were looking for LBs that excel in coverage and Gannon rarely blitzes. 

If you just want to compare production between Parsons and Reddick, it's pretty even if you do it on a per snap basis (Parsons has played 456 snaps to Reddick's 315 snaps).

[rrfierce]

I'm not so sure - theres too many variables.

Had we not drafted him we may have gone for totally different players and not being 7-0. 

Not sure why anyone would want to change that - you can't get any better!

[jojodancer]

No. Brilliant job by Howie in reading the room and catching a falling Devonta Smith, who he probably would have taken at 6 anyway and grabbing another valuable 1st round pick. Which enabled the proceeding Saints trade to happen to fetch more picks.  All a part of the luxury of being able to later trade a #1 pick for AJ Brown and quickly correcting the franchise gaffes of drafting Reagor and Whiteside. Besides, got Reddick after all of this, to not miss Parsons pick too much. In whole, Eagles dominated here in grabbing Smith, (Hurts' Bama connection) and everything else. So no, wouldn't change a thing here. Also, disagree about AJ and 2 other ordinary receivers being sufficient. The 3 Batmans & Pascal compliment each other perfectly along with Goedert. We have waited decades to have this dominant of a receiving core. Even better than the core that had TO in 2004. Younger as well. I will say, the fact that Parsons, a Philly native, went to the arch rivals makes this a discussion that would probably be different if he had gone, let's say to the Texans. There are some FOMO like feelings there and wanting the local phenom to be on the home team.

[JP HOF]

Hell yes, he's going to the HOF eventually.

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Reagor would be our starting outside receiver right now, Jalen would have had no one to throw to his second year and may have been benched, suddenly Desmond Ridder is our starting QB today, we never traded a 1 for AJ because Hurts tells him this place sucks, we never sign Reddick because they effectively play the same position, and on top of all that there’s no guarantee Micah responds to Gannon the way he has to Quinn anyway. Gannon doesn’t blitz a lot so we probably try and make him a cover linebacker to middling success.

In that alternate scenario, this thread says, "If you could do it over again, would you have still taken Micah? NYG’s DeVonta Smith looks like he’s going into the hall by the end of year 2.”

The butterfly effect is real

[jojodancer]

Just to add. In this Gannon coached Eagles defense, Parsons would maybe play 65% of snaps as they love to rotate, while Devonta plays just about all of the snaps on offense. Also, let's not underestimate how he just opens things up for AJ underneath on those crossing routes. This offense is dynamic now with all the playmakers. 

[Vlad67]

No, because the only reason Cowboys swapped pick with us so we could get Devonta was that we weren't going to draft to defense so that is about it...

[315Eagles]

Devonta is not a #2.  He's a #1 in my opinion.  I really feel like we have two #1's.

If we didn't take him he'd be a NYG right now.

[Talonblood]

There's a reason other receivers get open. Opposing teams have to respect Devonta's speed at all times. Plus he is just getting started. It was the right pick. 7-0 
8-0 isn't good enough? 🤣

[ManchesterEagle]

1 hour ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

Reagor would be our starting outside receiver right now, Jalen would have had no one to throw to his second year and may have been benched, suddenly Desmond Ridder is our starting QB today, we never traded a 1 for AJ because Hurts tells him this place sucks, we never sign Reddick because they effectively play the same position, and on top of all that there’s no guarantee Micah responds to Gannon the way he has to Quinn anyway. Gannon doesn’t blitz a lot so we probably try and make him a cover linebacker to middling success.

In that alternate scenario, this thread says, "If you could do it over again, would you have still taken Micah? NYG’s DeVonta Smith looks like he’s going into the hall by the end of year 2.”

The butterfly effect is real

This. Who knows what would have happened with Hurts if he didn’t have Smith last year. 

Eagles have 3 really dangerous weapons in Brown, Smith and Goedert. Add in Sanders and Hurts being able to run and they are so difficult to defend. Smith is a big part of that!
 

 

[Mike030270]

Having Smith makes this offense that more deadly

Brown, Smith, Godert, and Watkins is damn good

Honestly don't think the offense has reached its potential 

[SkippyX]

There are LJ over Witten terrible picks.

There are Graham over Earl picks where both teams win a Super Bowl.

I'm guessing that Parsons has the better career but I love the pick of Smith and he will have more team success.

[Eagles1960]

Parsons is the best defensive player in the league.  And he wouldn't be on Dallas.  If it could be done over I would definitely take Parsons.

[kiwinavega]

Smitty all day long and twice on game days.

[PoconoDon]

When a defense wins, most often it doesn't equal points, it equals punts.

When an Offense wins, it most often equals points, and points win games.

I love defense, but a juggernaut offense is greater than a juggernaut defense, especially with the current rules as they are.

I take Smith 100% of the time.

[opa-opa]

6 hours ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

Reagor would be our starting outside receiver right now, Jalen would have had no one to throw to his second year and may have been benched, suddenly Desmond Ridder is our starting QB today, we never traded a 1 for AJ because Hurts tells him this place sucks, we never sign Reddick because they effectively play the same position, and on top of all that there’s no guarantee Micah responds to Gannon the way he has to Quinn anyway. Gannon doesn’t blitz a lot so we probably try and make him a cover linebacker to middling success.

In that alternate scenario, this thread says, "If you could do it over again, would you have still taken Micah? NYG’s DeVonta Smith looks like he’s going into the hall by the end of year 2.”

The butterfly effect is real

Ok, but what if we didn't draft DeVonta and got Parsons, wouldn't Howie have gotten a big name FA WR last year anyway? Maybe not someone as good as AJ, but I'm sure he could have found an upgrade over Reagor. 

I know we're all just making guesses here, nobody knows what would have happened and if we would have the same team right now if DeVonta wasn't drafted, but I'm just saying honestly with hindsight now, it looks like Parsons was a better pick in terms of value, at least.

[Guest]

13 hours ago, opa-opa said:

If you can do it over, would you have drafted Devonta

 

If I could do it all over, the Eagles would have Metcalf, Jefferson and would have drafted Micah Parson instead of Devonta.

Then I would have drafted Trevon Walker and Tariq Woolen with the picks used to acquire AJ Brown.

[brkmsn]

 

[kiwinavega]

1 hour ago, opa-opa said:

Ok, but what if we didn't draft DeVonta and got Parsons, wouldn't Howie have gotten a big name FA WR last year anyway? Maybe not someone as good as AJ, but I'm sure he could have found an upgrade over Reagor. 

I know we're all just making guesses here, nobody knows what would have happened and if we would have the same team right now if DeVonta wasn't drafted, but I'm just saying honestly with hindsight now, it looks like Parsons was a better pick in terms of value, at least.

To be fair, bud - I would have been an upgrade over Jalen Reagor by that time, and I'm a middle-aged man with an impressive paunch

[GroundAttack]

8 hours ago, JP HOF said:

Hell yes, he's going to the HOF eventually.

ooff. don't know if you're being sarcastic or not but let's slow down with that. I know you said eventually but kid has a long way to go.

[Boogyman]

1 hour ago, downundermike said:

 

If I could do it all over, the Eagles would have Metcalf, Jefferson and would have drafted Micah Parson instead of Devonta.

Then I would have drafted Trevon Walker and Tariq Woolen with the picks used to acquire AJ Brown.

Why stop there? Go back a few more decades and build a super dynasty, the likes of which this planet has never seen!