May 06, 2025
There’s a phrase among NFL Draft media and some NFL personnel folks that pertains to a specific kind of draft strategy.
The adage is “eating your vegetables,” and it’s an analogy intended to paint a picture of how successful teams build their roster by stockpiling offensive and defensive linemen.
Drafting linemen tend to be more bland and less enticing than drafting wide receivers, linebackers and running backs who blow up the athletic testing every year at the NFL Scouting Combine.
But the teams that have the most sustained success – Eagles, Ravens, Packers, Steelers – are the ones that most frequently bypass the filet mignon until they’ve first sampled the asparagus and spinach.
The Eagles have long been veggie-friendly in the early rounds of the draft, a method that was introduced in the early 2000s, somewhat ironically, by former head coach and personnel chief Andy Reid, who’ll never be confused for a vegetarian.
Reid's process has since been mastered by the team’s current personnel chief, Howie Roseman, the executive vice president of football operations since 2010 – minus one memorable season – and a two-time executive of the year.
Under Roseman, the Eagles have not only continued their tradition of building from inside-out but also taken Reid’s formula one step further by drafting linemen a year or two before they’re ready to start, an approach not many GMs, if any, are willing to take.
In 2023, Roseman used both of his first-round picks – 10th overall and 30th overall – on defensive tackle Jalen Carter and EDGE Nolan Smith, respectively, despite the Eagles coming off a 70-sack season, most in franchise history, and an appearance in the Super Bowl.
The rookie Carter rotated behind starters Fletcher Cox and Milton Williams while Smith played just 16 percent of defensive snaps behind Hasson Reddick, Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham.
Last year, Carter and Smith were starters for the Super Bowl champs, and Carter emerged as quite possibly the game’s fiercest interior defensive lineman, a testament to the team's strategy of loading up on pass rushers. Both should be centerpieces of the Eagles’ four-man rush for years to come.
In 2020, the Eagles used the 51st pick on center Cam Jurgens to be the eventual successor for franchise legend and seven-time Pro Bowler Jason Kelce. Jurgens played just 35 snaps as a rookie – very uncommon for a high second-round pick – and then had to compete to start at right guard in 2023, a position he had never before played, when Kelce decided to return for one last season.
The Eagles in 2021 used the 37th overall pick, which is damn near a first-rounder, on guard Landon Dickerson despite having two of the game’s best in veterans Brandon Brooks and Isaac Seumalo. Turned out to be good forward-thinking, as Seumalo’s early season-ending injury led to Dickerson starting 14 games that season.
Most general managers don’t have the job security to use top-60 picks on players who won’t see the field in Year 1. Most of them lack that security because they didn’t do a good enough job of building up their lines in the first place.
You can have all the weaponry in the world, but you can’t have a championship-caliber offense without a protected quarterback (see: 2024 Vikings). Likewise, an average secondary can be compensated for with a deadly pass rush (see: 2024 Rams).
The Eagles’ process of prioritizing the trenches early and often is the primary reason for their two Super Bowl wins and three appearances in the past eight seasons, and for having the NFL’s fifth-most wins since 2000, behind the Ravens, Packers, Steelers and Patriots.
The question is: If this is the best method for producing long-term success, why don’t more franchises duplicate it?
Why doesn’t everyone do it?
The NFL is, after all, often called a copycat league.
Still, year after year, we see teams pass on the salad to binge on the main course.
But maybe we’re finally seeing a paradigm shift.
For years, the Commanders and Jets – two franchises that have combined for 10 postseason appearances over the past 20 years compared to the Eagles' 13 – were known for chasing the shiny toys in free agency and the draft, only to find themselves outside of the playoffs at the end of most seasons, often drafting in the top 10.
But the Jets last month, despite holes at skill positions and uncertainty at quarterback, took a right tackle with the seventh overall pick – one year after they had taken a left tackle with the 11th overall pick.
That marked the third consecutive year that the AFC East’s annual laughingstock used a high first-round pick on a lineman or edge rusher, a sign that maybe they’re starting to figure out their biggest issue.
The Commanders, under new ownership (or more importantly, no longer under the horrific ownership of Daniel Snyder), finally hit last year on a franchise quarterback in the draft but were thin on playmakers going into this offseason.
Still, the team used its first-round pick on another offensive lineman (Oregon RT Josh Conerly) even after trading for five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil earlier in March.
Washington has added a starting offensive lineman in the each of the past two drafts, traded for an elite blindside protector, and acquired two impactful interior defensive linemen over the past two offseasons. After decades of mediocrity and their quarterbacks getting planted in the dirt, the Commanders are now the top contenders to knock the Eagles off the NFC East throne.
Nobody loves trench warfare more than Jim Harbaugh, who built a national champion at Michigan by developing the sport’s meanest offensive and defensive lines, and then influenced the Chargers last year with the call to draft offensive tackle Joe Alt fifth overall – even though Los Angeles had already used first-round picks on left tackle Rashawn Slater and guard Zion Johnson.
In March, the Chargers forked over decent cash to pry away right guard Mekhi Becton from the Eagles, giving the Chargers a fourth first-round pick to round out their o-line.
Their GM, who came from the Ravens organization, even admitted that he had tried to get Becton last year but didn't make a good enough attempt. Even the Bears – yes, the sad-sack Bears! – have seemingly figured out what the Eagles have known for decades.
The Bears traded for two starting offensive linemen this offseason – including Joe Thuney, a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All Pro – and then drafted an offensive tackle (Ozzie Trapilo) 56th overall to compete for a job, but the Bears already have the 10th overall pick from two years ago at one OT spot and drafted another OT last year in the third round.
Not surprisingly, Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham is a Roseman disciple who worked for the Eagles from 2017-2021 after breaking into the league with the Ravens.
They say imitation is the best form of flattery.
Appears that some NFL teams are starting to get on the Eagles' diet.
Follow Geoff on Twitter/X: @geoffpmosher
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
