Grading the Eagles First 3 Draft Picks

I will start this by stating what those who know me already are well aware that I am NOT an Eagle fan. I am looking at this from a purely objective lens. Before all of you go jumping off the Ben Franklin Bridge I am here to calm your fears and ease your anger. Hopefully, you walk away after reading this with at the very least a different perspective.

Jalen Reagor

You can look at this the way the local radio people did and panic by stating he has a huge problem dropping the football. Or you can look deeper as to what exactly was the problem? The facts are that less than 31% of the balls that went his way were deemed catchable. Reagor played with a terrible quarterback and if you take an hour (or many like I did) and watch his games you can see this kid under center was overmatched. So I went and spoke to a few people who were closer to the situation. One an NFL coach and another an assistant who actually coached against Reagor. They told me if you want to see the kids true potential go back and watch the 2018 season. So I did or a lot of it to be honest.

When I got done the work, I had Reagor the 4th ranked receiver overall and for a second almost moved him higher (See the full article by clicking here). That’s how good this kid can be. I was told do not go by his combine time, this kid is lighting fast. ( since that he has run a 4.22 and a 4.27 40 time ) Aside from that, I was told this kid is a legit 4.3 kind of quick in pads. His drops were more a result of playing with that quarterback when you never knew what spot to look for the ball. He runs like a running back after the catch. Runs incredibly well in space and if he even gets a step on someone nobody will catch him.

When I watched the 2018 season back this kid was the best overall payer on the field most of the time. Philly got the steal of the first round. If you want to see his potential I am not assuming everyone will talk to coaches but anyone can go back and look at his tape. If you do I guarantee you walk away feeling different. Don’t get sucked in by some who just did not look deep enough

Jalen Hurts

I will admit when I heard this pick I said it makes absolutely no sense. Then before talking about it, I let it sink in. If you want to get a good idea about what your future looks like look back at the past. Carson Wentz has all the physical and mental tools to be an elite quarterback. This has absolutely nothing to do with his toughness, but for whatever reason he has a hard time staying healthy. These are just the cold hard facts. There has been a large enough sample size to say we need to have a plan B at any given time. So I could make an argument that back up quarterback is the second most important position on the Eagles. So how can addressing the second most important position with the 53rd pick be wrong?

I followed Hurt’s career closely since day one. The guy is a winner. He also has improved year to year taking a huge leap in 2019. Yes, he still needs to improve but can he? YES is the simple answer. So the upside is there. Nobody can question his work ethic or football IQ. He makes both the quarterback room and the team better day one. So you let him learn behind Wentz and develop. When Russell Wilson was drafted I don’t recall the excitement. It was a very similar situation. Don’t look at Wilson now look at him for what he was coming out of Wisconsin. Hurts has at the very least the same skill set and he is bigger and stronger than Wilson. Will he develop like Wilson time will tell. But what a nice problem Philly could have if he does.

Davion Taylor

Davion Taylor is still a piece of clay to mold but all of the physical, mental, and IQ skills are there. Taylor has incredible football speed and tosses away blockers like they are children sometimes. He actually reminds me of Isiah Simmons. I know the instant reaction is to compare him to linebacker of the past but it is not 1985 or even 2010 anymore. Taylor is what both the present and future linebacker look like. He is a 3 down player who stays in the game to play both against the run and the pass with an equal skillset. Go watch this kids tape he goes sideline to sideline and his closing speed is off the charts. Taylor is an ideal prospect for what a successful 2020 linebacker needs to be

Overall draft Grade : A-