A Guide To Not Screwing Up This Draft For Howie Roseman
By Dylan MacKinnon
Even though Eagles fans mostly do not like Howie Roseman right now, the majority of us do want him to do well. Howie’s biggest haters are likely the ones who would be the most happy if he managed to nail the draft this year. Sure there are some who are actively rooting for him to fail so he will be fired, but they are the minority, even if they are also some of the loudest voices.
The problem is statistically, it’s more likely this draft won’t go well for the Eagles. By now we all know the stat that since regaining his job he has only drafted one pro bowler, and they traded him to the Colts. But maybe last season’s disaster taught him a lesson. Perhaps two years in a row seeing people draft much better players at the same position after your pick made Howie learn the error of his ways. Just in case he hasn’t though, here are are the draft rules for dummies, so he can avoid the mistakes that cost him the last few years.
1) You Aren’t the Smartest Guy in the Room
This might not be easy to hear, but it is something you need to hear. You do not know better than the rest of the NFL. You have tried to make the pick that flies in the face of public perception, and it has never worked. You took Jalen Reagor, when the majority of the NFL Community favored Justin Jefferson and so far it hasn’t worked. You took JJ Arcega-Whiteside over DK Metcalf, and it didn’t work.
A lot of times when an athlete is struggling, they may alter their game to be more of a team player until they can snap their cold streak. But what you have been doing is the equivalent of continuing to jack up 3s despite the fact you aren’t even hitting the rim. So until you can fix your broken shot, maybe settle for some easy ones. Take the guy everyone in the NFL is high on, save the sleeper picks for your fantasy football league.
Just think of how good you would look now if you were the guy who drafted Metcalf and Jefferson.
2) Close the QB Factory
This is not college. You don’t need the next best QB in the wings ready to step in when your current guy leaves. And drafting a guy just to later trade him isn’t really a feasible idea. There is not a long history of that move panning out. Usually you will at best get equal value, and how will you sell a guy who is sitting on the bench. if they never play, their value can’t grow.
That’s not to say you can never take a QB, but don’t take a guy in the first 3 rounds unless intend to play him. You don’t have the luxury of taking a flyer on a guy with that high of a pick. This team has to many needs to take a guy in the first two days who may never see the field. So unless the guy you are taking is who you intend to make your next franchise guy, don’t take him.
You spent a 2nd on Hurts, give him a chance to prove he was worth it. Don’t put him in the same position you put the last guy in. Show a little faith in a guy you clearly valued before the draft. If you don’t have that faith, why did you spend a 2nd round pick on him to begin with?
3) Trust your Scouts
Let me give you another hard truth Howie, your scouts know more than you do. Scouts know more than pretty much all GMs. That is the way it should be. They simply spend more time watching these players. So why not trust them? You hired them, so their success will be your success. If they are going to tell you Player A is the best, but then you will take Player B anyway, what exactly are you paying them for. Is that just you being charitable with Jeffrey Lurie’s money? Either you trust them, or you don’t. And if you don’t trust their advice, you need new scouts. But based on all the leaks, your scouts have been right, and you were just ignoring them. They liked Jefferson.
You aren’t putting the time in breaking all these players down. You have other things to worry about. So trust the people who did put in that work. I know the spread sheets may say something different, but those spread sheets haven’t netted you many star players. Just this once, to mix things up, stick to the board the pros you paid put together. It might pay off. And you will still get all the credit.
This goes double for you Lurie. You definitely don’t know enough Football to over rule what the scouts say. So on draft night you need to sit back, and let the actual Football experts try to fix your team.
