By Thursday night, halfway through the first round, the Eagles were starting to feel pretty confident that they could land a clear first-rounder without making a move.
So Howie Roseman did something he didn’t want to do during the draft.
he put down the phone.
And the Eagles watched the draft fall in such a way that they were able to select top cornerback Kunyon Mitchell with the 22nd pick of their own.
“I think it was unusual that there was no action in that room,” Roseman said. “We thought about it, but there were still some really good players left. We thought about moving up, but the extremes of taking a first-rounder at the position we were drafting were… I kept coming back to the fact that I felt like I had a good chance.”
Mitchell, 22, was considered by many to be the best cornerback in this year’s class. Many thought he was long gone before the Eagles drafted him. Many thought the only way for the Eagles to acquire him was to trade up for one of their invaluable second-round picks.
But when the draft began Thursday night, there was a veritable rush of offensive players. Sixteen of the Eagles’ first 21 picks were offensive players.
After all, the Colts didn’t acquire a defensive player until they broke the seal by selecting defensive end Laiatu Latu with the 15th overall pick.
“We’ve been through scenarios where we had four QBs leaving, five QBs leaving, six QBs leaving, and that really affected us in a big way,” Roseman said. “As I said earlier, we first assume the worst-case scenario and then work backwards from there.
“From our perspective, it might be a little surprising how long it took for the first defensive player to be sent off. We probably didn’t expect that.”
Admittedly, this was much closer to the best-case scenario for the Eagles. Not only were all these offensive players in the top half of the round, but six of the first 12 picks were quarterbacks. And for a team that doesn’t need a quarterback, that’s a beautiful thing because it pushes other really good prospects deeper into the round.
Roseman often gets credit for the trades he made during the draft. This time, he actually deserves credit for the trade he didn’t make and the patience he showed.
Of course he I wanted to trade.always howie wish to trade. But he showed discipline and timing, allowing the Eagles to acquire a premier player without paying too much. But even if Mitchell had been selected before the Eagles’ pick, they still would have been fine.
“The only reason we felt comfortable was because we felt comfortable with the scenario unfolding that we could get a really good player with that pick based on what was on the board,” Roseman said.
Basically, the Eagles did the math for us. As the draft unfolded and the picks neared, they realized there were enough quality players left on the board that they could definitely take one of them.
If they had to risk missing out, they would have tried to trade up. If there was an overwhelming surplus, they might have tried to lower prices. Instead, they found themselves in a sweet spot to start the round.
“My experience is that sometimes people can get too cute, and we can’t afford to get too cute,” Roseman said. “We’re trying to build the best team possible.”
The Eagles ended up selecting every cornerback in the class, ultimately choosing Mitchell over Alabama’s Terrion Arnold, who went to the Lions a few picks later with the No. 24 pick. Roseman did not elaborate on what prompted Mitchell. He said Mitchell was a better fit for them than Arnold.
Mitchell participated in the NFL Draft Thursday night in Detroit. So he got a close-up look at how he warped some pretty intense attacks in the first round, especially before the phone rang.
“It was tough,” Mitchell said on a conference call shortly after being selected. “But right now I feel like I’m in the right organization, the right players, the right city. So I’m happy with this draft pick.”
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