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All Aboard? Recapping the 2016 Philadelphia Eagles’ Draft

Adrian Fedkiw|

Carson Wentz had his first press conference in Philadelphia Friday, a day after being selected No. 2 overall in Thursday’s NFL Draft, and flashed Eagles green for the first time Saturday.

Sleeveless, by the way.

Philadelphia is a tough, passionate city which hates to lose. Wentz thinks he fits right in.

“They’re passionate here, they hate losing,” he said during that press conference Friday. “I’m like ‘Heck, I fit right in.’ I hate losing, I’m really passionate about the game as well. That’s the general consensus I keep getting from this Philadelphia area.”

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson explained Thursday night that Wentz “bleeds winning” and compared him to Brett Favre. Wentz chimed in on those comments.

“It’s how I’m wired,” he said of winning. “If I’m not the best at something it kinds of takes me off and I want to work my tail off to be the best. It’s also kind of my upbringing, my parents, my older brother always pushed me. I was always competitive with him. I just hate losing, that’s just kind of how I’m wired and hopefully I can bring that to Philadelphia.”

Wentz also referenced New England’s Tom Brady, Carolina’s Cam Newton and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers as other quarterbacks he patterns his game after.

Wentz will most likely play most of the season behind Sam Bradford, who was not traded during the NFL Draft. He wants to be traded so he can be “the man” and a franchise quarterback, but the free-agency period was dry and the only team needing a starter, the Denver Broncos, moved up to No. 26 in the first round to pick Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch.

Condon said Bradford isn’t coming in until June 7th for mandatory mini camp, and says the Eagles need to move Bradford. We know plenty about the North Dakota State product by now. Let’s talk about the other draft picks, here’s the 2016 Eagles draft class.

Good luck to the TV guys having to pronounce the fifth-round selection of TCU’s Halapoulivaati Vaitai, the second used on the offensive line in Philadelphia’s first four picks. Third round’s Isaac Seumalo, a versatile lineman out of Oregon State, was the other. That was the Eagles’ only pick in the first four rounds other than Wentz. The second rounder was lost in last year’s Sam Bradford deal and a third and fourth was lost in the trade up to No. 2.

Philadelphia, however, did have six picks in the last three rounds. The Eagles traded back in the sixth round, moving eight spots back from No. 196 to 188 and took Auburn cornerback Blake Countess. They received a third seventh rounder in the deal and used that (No. 240 overall) on  Florida defensive end Alex McCallister.

One was used on West Virginia running back and Big 12 leading rusher Wendell Smallwood in the fifth round. Indiana’s Jordan Howard (three picks prior) and UCLA’s Paul Perkins (four picks prior) didn’t make it to the Birds. Neither did Louisiana Tech’s Kenneth Dixon and Utah Devontae Booker, who were late fourth round choices. The Browns deal hampered the Eagles’ options at acquiring a better running back. Philadelphia decided to keep its late-round assets as opposed to trading up and acquiring one of those rushers. We’ll see how Smallwood pans out, whose 1,519 yards led the conference.

Next year’s running back class might potentially be LOADED if some of the underclassmen standouts elect to forego their senior seasons. It starts with Leonard Fournette, who I believe is going to be a better pro than Elliott. Nick Chubb, Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, Samaje Perine and Wayne Gallman might also be part of the class. Cook and Freeman are the only two upcoming 2016 seniors on the list. The Eagles have second and third round picks next year to attack running back.

Let’s get back to the Eagles addressing the offensive line, with Brandon Brooks and Stefen Wisniewski’s being brought in during the offseason. Brooks is the definite starter at right guard, but there will be a huge Training Camp battle at left guard. Seumalo will be in the mix along with Wisniewski, last year’s starter Allen Barbre, early 2015 season starter Andrew Gardner and Malcolm Bunche. Vatai is another tackle the Eagles can develop.

Some think Seumalo was overdrafted, but he is versatile. Of his 37 career starts, 23 came at center, nine at right guard, three at left tackle and a pair on the other side at right tackle. He’s more suited to play inside as opposed to the outside.

It’s interesting that Wisniewski and Seumalo’s strengths are at center. They provide insurance for Jason Kelce, who struggled mightily in 2015. And at just 280-plus pounds, Kelce may have a tough time adjusting to playing more power football under Doug Pederson. The starting center for the Chiefs last year, Mitch Morse, for example was 305 pounds.

Like Morse, Wisniewski weighs in at 305 and Seumalo is 303.

Will Kelce make it through the entire season as the starting center?

It’s the first time the Eagles have taken an offensive lineman since picking Lane Johnson fourth overall in 2013. Chip Kelly was the only head coach who didn’t take one the last two years heading into this year’s draft. Fitting he traded up in the first round Thursday night to select mammoth Stanford guard Joshua Garnett.

Countess and LSU safety Jalen Mills were added to Philadelphia’s secondary with its lone sixth and first of three seventh-round selections, respectively. The Eagles last seventh-rounder was used on Oregon linebacker Joe Walker.

Countess played his first three years at Michigan before playing cornerback and safety for Auburn in 2015. He might be able to compete for snaps at cornerback, safety or nickel, although I seem him being a slot corner. Here’s video of him playing for Michigan against Michigan State in 2014.

Overall, I’d say it was a successful draft in the sense of being aggressive and obtaining your future franchise quarterback. The Eagles addressed all the needs necessary, including two more additions to the offensive line, with the limited ammunition that they had. A few picks felt like reaches, but we’ll see.

Eagles vice president of football operations and head coach Doug Pederson commented on the draft.

The Eagles have reportedly signed 14 undrafted free agents, including Rutgers linebacker Quentin Gause. Utah State wide receiver Hunter Sharp, Arizona wide receiver Cayleb Jones, Texas wide receiver Marcus Johnson, Oregon running back/wide receiver Byron Marshall, Valdosta State running back Cedric O’Neal, LSU tight end Dillon Gordon, Stanford defensive lineman Aziz Shittu and Boston College defensive end Connor Wujciak, Washington State defensive tackle Destiny Vaeao, Maine center Bruce Johnson, North Dakota State cornerback C.J. Smith, Incarnate Word linebacker Myke Tavarres and West Virginia long snapper John DePalma.

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