Philadelphia Eagles: Grading the first round picks of the NFC East
And last, but not least, with the 32nd pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens selected Lamar Jackson, quarterback, Louisville.
Wait, what?
That’s right, after waiting three and a half hours for the Eagles to eventually go on the clock, Howie Roseman made a total Howie Roseman move and shipped Eagles’ 32nd (and 132nd) overall pick to Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens for the 52nd overall pick, the 125th overall pick and the team’s second-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
A potential franchise-altering move for the Ravens, but a fairly uneventful one for the Eagles.
While it’s nice that the team was able to turn one premium pick into two, and move up a few spots in the fourth in the process, it would have also been nice to see the Eagles add a starting caliber player like fan favorite Derrius Guice to their offense and hear the boos ring out through AT&T Stadium as a result.
Though the response so far on social media to the team’s decision to trade down appears to be mildly negative, as highlighted by a quick Twitter search, this move was very on brand for Roseman, even if some fans would have liked to receive a two Day 2 draft picks in 2018, as opposed to one in 2018, and one in 2019. The level of talent available at 52 won’t be too far off from that at 32, and with Wentz on his way to a major payday very soon, adding future, cost-controlled picks is never a bad thing
Next: Final Eagles-only mock draft
With Eagles fans now waiting patiently for their next chance to add a player at 52, only time will tell if this move was good, bad or inconsequential in the long run but at this moment, it appears as though the move was the right one.
Grade: B+