The Eagles have reached the Super Bowl in two of the last three seasons, and have made the playoffs in four straight seasons in large part because of general manager Howie Roseman’s draft picks.
That will be put to the test at the NFL draft from April 24-26 as the Eagles have eight picks in the seven-round draft − all coming in the first five rounds.
Roseman has thrived even though the Eagles have had just two top-10 picks in the first round since 2020 − wide receiver DeVonta Smith at No. 10 in 2021 and defensive tackle Jalen Carter at No. 9 in 2023.
That means Roseman has found value both towards the end of the first round, and in later rounds.
Those hits are essential in building a Super Bowl-caliber roster. Sure, free agent signings like running back Saquon Barkley and linebacker Zack Baun have paid off, along with trading for wide receiver A.J. Brown.
But the core of the Eagles’ roster has been built through the draft. That includes the entire offensive line, quarterback Jalen Hurts, Smith, tight end Dallas Goedert, Carter and fellow defensive linemen Nolan Smith and Jordan Davis.
It’s also like that in the secondary, led by Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, now that cornerback Daris Slay was released and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was traded.
Celebrate the Eagles’ Super Bowl win with our new book
But it doesn’t just happen.
“There’s so much work that is done for the draft, and (Roseman) does a great job of using everybody,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “We obviously talk a ton, and we think back to all the players that we’ve drafted here over the past four years. Like, ‘Hey, remember the conversation we had about this player or that player?’ Those are awesome conversations.”
Here are the Eagles’ 9 best draft picks since 2020, ranked in reverse order. More weight is given to late-round picks who flourish as compared to first rounders who are expected to be good:
THROWBACK: #Eagles GM Howie Roseman and scout Tom Donahoe disagreed in the draft room after the team drafted Milton Williams.
Roseman wanted Williams and Donahoe appeared to have wanted a DB.
Williams has turned into a superstar and a Super Bowl champ. pic.twitter.com/TvN0kSHtgy
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) February 13, 2025
9. Milton Williams, 3rd round, 2021
Position: Defensive tackle
Key stats: Williams had 11.5 sacks and 132 tackes (25.5 for losses) in four seasons, as he became a key part of the Eagles DT rotation before leaving in free agency.
Comment: Remember the viral video of Roseman getting a lukewarm fist bump, at best, from veteran scout Tom Donahoe when Williams was selected? Well, Williams turned that into a career-best 5 sacks last season, plus 2 more in the Super Bowl, and a four-year, $104 million free agent contract with the Patriots. Not bad at all.
8. Moro Ojomo, 7th round, 2023
Position: Defensive tackle
Key stat: Ojomo played 37% of the snaps last season, the same amount as 2022 first-round pick Jordan Davis, and had 22 QB pressures.
Comment: Ojomo will most likely slide into Williams’ role as the first defensive tackle off the bench in the rotation. Ojomo is still looking for his first regular-season sack. But he had one in the playoffs against the Rams.
7. Cooper DeJean, 2nd round, 2024
Position: Nickel corner
Key stat: DeJean had 50 tackles, 6 passes defensed and 0.5 sacks after becoming a starter in Week 6.
Comment: DeJean will be much higher on this list in a year or two, further justifying the Eagles’ decision to move up from No. 50 to No. 40 to get him. DeJean got his first NFL interception in the Super Bowl, which he returned for a touchdown.
6. Reed Blankenship, undrafted, 2022
Position: Safety
Key stat: Blankenship has 7 interceptions the last two seasons, starting every game he played in.
Comment: Blankenship is the ultimate success story, going from undrafted out of Middle Tennessee State, to starting 5 games as a rookie, to possibly getting a multi-million contract next year when he hits free agency.
5. Quinyon Mitchell, 1st round, 2024
Position: Cornerback
Key stat: Mitchell had both of his interception in the playoffs, and became the first Eagles rookie with a postseason INT since Roynell Young in 1981.
Comment: Like DeJean, Mitchell could move up on the list in the next few years. Mitchell became a starter Week 1 and played 91% of the snaps. He had 12 passes defensed during the regular season, and 4 more in the playoffs, including 2 INTs.
4. Cam Jurgens, 2nd round, 2022
Position: Center
Key stat: The only one that matters: Jurgens played in 16 games last season, sitting out only the meaningless finale
Comment: Jurgens, replacing legendary center Jason Kelce, was selected to the Pro Bowl in his first season as a starter at center. Kelce didn’t make his first Pro Bowl until his fourth season. The Eagles are trying to sign Jurgens to a long-term extension.
3. Landon Dickerson, 2nd round, 2021
Position: Left guard
Key stat: Dickerson has been selected to 3 straight Pro Bowls, tying him for the most selections by an Eagles guard in team history. Brandon Brooks also was selected to 3.
Comment: The big question for Dickerson coming out of college was health. That’s why Dickerson fell to the second round, following surgeries on both knees and ankles. Dickerson, drafted as a center, became a starter at left guard as a rookie, and has starred there ever since.
2. Jalen Carter, 1st round, 2023
Position: Defensive tackle
Key stat: Carter played at least 90% of the snaps in 8 of the 19 games he played in last season, more than Fletcher Cox ever did in any of his 12 seasons.
Comment: Carter is just starting to scratch the surface on how dominant he can be. Teams will no doubt double-team him even more. It goes well beyond his sack totals. Carter had 6 as a rookie and 4.5 last season. He had 45 QB pressures and 5 passes defensed.
1. Jalen Hurts, 2nd round, 2020
Position: Quarterback
Key stat: Hurts was named the MVP of Super Bowl 59, and would have been the MVP of the Super Bowl two years earlier had the Eagles not lost on a last-second field goal.
Comment: It’s almost hard to fathom that the Eagles used Hurts as a gadget QB as a rookie until Carson Wentz was benched late in the season. In 2024, Hurts had a career-high passer rating of 103.7 and completed a career-best 68.7% of his passes. Oh, and Hurts also has scored 29 rushing touchdowns in the last two seasons, the most in the NFL.
Honorable mention: WR DeVonta Smith (1st round, 2021), LB Nakobe Dean (3rd round, 2022), Edge Jalyx Hunt (3rd round, 2024).
Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Eagles draft: Ranking Howie Roseman’s top 9 picks; where’s Jalen Hurts?
The Eagles have reached the Super Bowl in two of the last three seasons, and have made the playoffs in four straight seasons in large part because of general manager Howie Roseman’s draft picks.
That will be put to the test at the NFL draft from April 24-26 as the Eagles have eight picks in the seven-round draft − all coming in the first five rounds.
Roseman has thrived even though the Eagles have had just two top-10 picks in the first round since 2020 − wide receiver DeVonta Smith at No. 10 in 2021 and defensive tackle Jalen Carter at No. 9 in 2023.
That means Roseman has found value both towards the end of the first round, and in later rounds.
Those hits are essential in building a Super Bowl-caliber roster. Sure, free agent signings like running back Saquon Barkley and linebacker Zack Baun have paid off, along with trading for wide receiver A.J. Brown.
But the core of the Eagles’ roster has been built through the draft. That includes the entire offensive line, quarterback Jalen Hurts, Smith, tight end Dallas Goedert, Carter and fellow defensive linemen Nolan Smith and Jordan Davis.
It’s also like that in the secondary, led by Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, now that cornerback Daris Slay was released and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was traded.
Celebrate the Eagles’ Super Bowl win with our new book
But it doesn’t just happen.
“There’s so much work that is done for the draft, and (Roseman) does a great job of using everybody,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “We obviously talk a ton, and we think back to all the players that we’ve drafted here over the past four years. Like, ‘Hey, remember the conversation we had about this player or that player?’ Those are awesome conversations.”
Here are the Eagles’ 9 best draft picks since 2020, ranked in reverse order. More weight is given to late-round picks who flourish as compared to first rounders who are expected to be good:
THROWBACK: #Eagles GM Howie Roseman and scout Tom Donahoe disagreed in the draft room after the team drafted Milton Williams.
Roseman wanted Williams and Donahoe appeared to have wanted a DB.
Williams has turned into a superstar and a Super Bowl champ. pic.twitter.com/TvN0kSHtgy
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) February 13, 2025
9. Milton Williams, 3rd round, 2021
Position: Defensive tackle
Key stats: Williams had 11.5 sacks and 132 tackes (25.5 for losses) in four seasons, as he became a key part of the Eagles DT rotation before leaving in free agency.
Comment: Remember the viral video of Roseman getting a lukewarm fist bump, at best, from veteran scout Tom Donahoe when Williams was selected? Well, Williams turned that into a career-best 5 sacks last season, plus 2 more in the Super Bowl, and a four-year, $104 million free agent contract with the Patriots. Not bad at all.
8. Moro Ojomo, 7th round, 2023
Position: Defensive tackle
Key stat: Ojomo played 37% of the snaps last season, the same amount as 2022 first-round pick Jordan Davis, and had 22 QB pressures.
Comment: Ojomo will most likely slide into Williams’ role as the first defensive tackle off the bench in the rotation. Ojomo is still looking for his first regular-season sack. But he had one in the playoffs against the Rams.
7. Cooper DeJean, 2nd round, 2024
Position: Nickel corner
Key stat: DeJean had 50 tackles, 6 passes defensed and 0.5 sacks after becoming a starter in Week 6.
Comment: DeJean will be much higher on this list in a year or two, further justifying the Eagles’ decision to move up from No. 50 to No. 40 to get him. DeJean got his first NFL interception in the Super Bowl, which he returned for a touchdown.
6. Reed Blankenship, undrafted, 2022
Position: Safety
Key stat: Blankenship has 7 interceptions the last two seasons, starting every game he played in.
Comment: Blankenship is the ultimate success story, going from undrafted out of Middle Tennessee State, to starting 5 games as a rookie, to possibly getting a multi-million contract next year when he hits free agency.
5. Quinyon Mitchell, 1st round, 2024
Position: Cornerback
Key stat: Mitchell had both of his interception in the playoffs, and became the first Eagles rookie with a postseason INT since Roynell Young in 1981.
Comment: Like DeJean, Mitchell could move up on the list in the next few years. Mitchell became a starter Week 1 and played 91% of the snaps. He had 12 passes defensed during the regular season, and 4 more in the playoffs, including 2 INTs.
4. Cam Jurgens, 2nd round, 2022
Position: Center
Key stat: The only one that matters: Jurgens played in 16 games last season, sitting out only the meaningless finale
Comment: Jurgens, replacing legendary center Jason Kelce, was selected to the Pro Bowl in his first season as a starter at center. Kelce didn’t make his first Pro Bowl until his fourth season. The Eagles are trying to sign Jurgens to a long-term extension.
3. Landon Dickerson, 2nd round, 2021
Position: Left guard
Key stat: Dickerson has been selected to 3 straight Pro Bowls, tying him for the most selections by an Eagles guard in team history. Brandon Brooks also was selected to 3.
Comment: The big question for Dickerson coming out of college was health. That’s why Dickerson fell to the second round, following surgeries on both knees and ankles. Dickerson, drafted as a center, became a starter at left guard as a rookie, and has starred there ever since.
2. Jalen Carter, 1st round, 2023
Position: Defensive tackle
Key stat: Carter played at least 90% of the snaps in 8 of the 19 games he played in last season, more than Fletcher Cox ever did in any of his 12 seasons.
Comment: Carter is just starting to scratch the surface on how dominant he can be. Teams will no doubt double-team him even more. It goes well beyond his sack totals. Carter had 6 as a rookie and 4.5 last season. He had 45 QB pressures and 5 passes defensed.
1. Jalen Hurts, 2nd round, 2020
Position: Quarterback
Key stat: Hurts was named the MVP of Super Bowl 59, and would have been the MVP of the Super Bowl two years earlier had the Eagles not lost on a last-second field goal.
Comment: It’s almost hard to fathom that the Eagles used Hurts as a gadget QB as a rookie until Carson Wentz was benched late in the season. In 2024, Hurts had a career-high passer rating of 103.7 and completed a career-best 68.7% of his passes. Oh, and Hurts also has scored 29 rushing touchdowns in the last two seasons, the most in the NFL.
Honorable mention: WR DeVonta Smith (1st round, 2021), LB Nakobe Dean (3rd round, 2022), Edge Jalyx Hunt (3rd round, 2024).
Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Eagles draft: Ranking Howie Roseman’s top 9 picks; where’s Jalen Hurts?
