Philadelphia Eagles: Former Philly target Derrius Guice tears ACL
After being the apple of many Philadelphia Eagles fans eyes during the pre-draft process, Derrius Guice will miss the 2018 NFL season with a torn ACL.
As the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft crept closer and closer to the 32nd overall pick, many Philadelphia Eagles fans grew more and more excited that their favorite player, Derrius Guice somehow was still on the board.
While it wasn’t too surprising to see Saquon Barkley, Penn State‘s potential all-pro prospect, go second overall, it was a bit unexpected to see other runners, like Sony Michel and even Rashaad Penny, selected within the first 31 spots.
But that didn’t matter to Eagles fans. No, for the majority of the team’s fanbase, Guice seemed like a perfect fit for Doug Pederson‘s scheme, a tough, one cut rusher capable of taking over the game inside and out.
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In many fans’ eyes, Guice could have been the Eagles franchise running back for the next half decade, a perfect fit alongside Carson Wentz for the foreseeable future.
However, apparently, no one told the Eagles.
That’s right, as the pick slowly inched closer and closer, Howie Roseman was apparently on the phone looking to trade the pick for future draft capital, and did just that by flipping the pick to the Baltimore Ravens so the team could secure their own future franchise player, Lamar Jackson, as the final first-round pick of the Ozzie Newsom-era.
The Eagles would not make their first selection until the second round when the team traded up to select Dallas Goedert 49th overall, 10 spots before Guice was ultimately selected.
Though this move initially wasn’t popular with the fanbase, as very few fans in the 215 had watched much of the South Dakota State Jackrabbits over the last few years, it made sense, especially after news broke about Guice’s relationship with the team during the pre-draft process.
According to Ian Rapoport, Guice got into a heated shouting match with Eagles’ assistant head coach/running back coach Duce Staley and Roseman during a pre-draft meeting that likely caused the talented, yet troubled running to slip from a first-round lock to the 59th overall selection, where he will be able to terrorize the Eagles twice a year for the next four years as a member of the Washington Redskins.
Well, make that three years.
During the Skins’ first preseason game of the year against the New England Patriots, Guice, unfortunately, tore his ACL on a long run that ended up being called back due to holding.
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Though there’s no way of knowing if this would have happened had the Eagles selected Guice at 32, or even 49, it’s never nice to see a player lose his rookie season due to an injury, even if he plays for a rival club. With a year to brush up on his off the field acumen, this may be a great opportunity for Guice to develop into a more well-rounded player, and for the Eagles to once again run the NFC East.