June 30, 2025
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
Jason Kelce and Jalen Hurts are two draft diamonds for the Eagles, as neither was a first-round pick.
Legendary former Eagles center Jason Kelce was recently named by NFL.com as one of the best NFL Draft diamonds in the rough in league history – not just one of the best, but the very best offensive lineman value pick.
The story listed the top five NFL Draft values of the past 25 years at each position, and named Kelce – a 2011 sixth-round pick who was actually the third o-linemen taken by the Eagles in that draft – as No. 1, ahead of former Saints guard Jahri Evans, former Ravens guard Marshall Yanda, former Packers tackle David Bakhtiari and former Bengals/Rams tackle Andrew Whitworth.
In the spirit of the story, we decided to pick the best draft values for the Eagles at each position and expanded the time period to the Super Bowl era. In the first edition, we did offense. We'll do defense in the next one.
Only four quarterbacks have started for the Eagles in a Super Bowl. One of them, Ron Jaworski, wasn’t drafted by the Eagles. Another, Donovan McNabb, was the No. 2 overall pick, which means he lived up to his expected value. Nick Foles, the first Super Bowl champion quarterback in Eagles history, could’ve been the best value pick for this category, as the 2012 third-rounder not only stepped in for an injured Carson Wentz but also won Super Bowl MVP to finish the job Wentz started in 2017. Foles also made history in 2013, his first year as a starter, with a seven-touchdown game against the Raiders and finishing that season with 27 touchdowns, two interceptions and an NFL-best 119.2 passer rating. However, Foles could never hold down a starting job, for the Eagles or any other team. Hurts is unquestionably the best value for the Eagles at this position. In just five seasons, four as a starter, Hurts has appeared in two Super Bowls, won a Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP, and has won 70 percent of his games. He has signed the largest contract in team history and is only 26, so there's even more opportunity to add to his legacy.
One of the true Swiss Army knife linemen of the Andy Reid era, Herremans was not only a Day 3 pick but an obscure one from little-known Saginaw Valley State in Michigan. He wasn’t even invited to the NFL Combine. But the Eagles traded three picks to Green Bay in the 2005 draft to move up in the fourth round for Herremans, who played every position on Reid’s O-line except center during his 10-year career in Philadelphia. By his second year, Herremans was a starter and he'd start every game he played in from 2006-2014. He started 126 games as an Eagle and played in 135. Herremans started seven playoff games, including an NFC Championship. He might not be the most talented Eagles guard drafted in the Super Bowl era compared to Shawn Andrews, Jermane Mayberry, and Isaac Seumalo, but all of those guards were higher picks and none were as versatile and as long-lasting as Herremans was.
The Eagles had a very good starting center under contract in Jamaal Jackson when they picked Kelce late on Day 3 in 2011. But new OL coach Howard Mudd had big plans for the Cincinnati product and started working Kelce in with the first team fairly early in training camp as he slowly transitioned the offensive line to fit his vision. Kelce started all 16 games his rookie season and then started every game that he played in until he retired after the 2023 season with seven Pro Bowls and six All-Pro nods under his belt. No offensive player has played more games for the Eagles than Kelce, and only defensive end Brandon Graham has played more total games for the Eagles than Kelce. He played in 17 playoff games, including two Super Bowls, and helped the Eagles win their first Super Bowl in 2017. He is perhaps the most iconic Eagle since Brian Dawkins.
When you find a Hall of Famer in the seventh round, it’s hard to beat that value. Carmichael, out of Southern University, is one of the greatest receivers in franchise history and in 2020 was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is the Eagles’ all-time leader in receptions (589), receiving yards (8,978) and receiving touchdowns (79). The 6-foot-7 wideout has more than 1,500 receiving yards over the franchise’s second-leading receiver Pete Retzlaff (7,412). Consistency was Carmichael’s hallmark, as he never had more than 1,116 receiving yards in a season but went over 1,000 yards three times and went over 800 yards five times in his 13 seasons for the Eagles. He’s a four-time Pro Bowler and was named Walter Payton Man of the Year in 1980.
With all due respect to Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy, it’s Wilbert Montgomery who’s the franchise’s best draft value of the Super Bowl era at their position. The Eagles plucked Montgomery very late in 1977, and by his second season, Montgomery was already entrenched as the team’s feature back, rushing for 1,220 yards and nine touchdowns in 1978 to make the Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro. He added another 34 receptions for 185 yards that year. Montgomery spent the first eight of his nine total NFL seasons with the Eagles, rushing for more than 1,000 yards three times and going over 1,100 combined yards five times, including a 2,006-yard season in 1979. He is the franchise’s second-leading rusher (6,538) behind McCoy (2009, second round) and has the most career rushing touchdowns (45) for an Eagles running back in the Super Bowl era. It doesn't hurt his cause that Montgomery rushed for 194 yards and a touchdown against the Cowboys in the 1980 NFC Championship game, helping the Eagles reach the Super Bowl, where he had 145 combined offensive yards on 22 touches in a losing effort. Montgomery has six career postseason touchdowns.
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