February 08, 2017
This week, we'll be ranking the Eagles' draft classes going back to 1999, or Andy Reid's first year with the team. Yesterday we started with the worst, counting down from 18 to 13. Read that one at your own peril.
Today we'll count down from 12 to 7 in Part II.
So many picks, so little value.
| Round | Player | Position | Pro Bowls | Years as primary starter |
| 1 | Brandon Graham | DE | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Nate Allen | S | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | Daniel Te'o-Nesheim | DE | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Trevard Lindley | CB | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Keenan Clayton | LB | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Mike Kafka | QB | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Clay Harbor | TE | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Ricky Sapp | DE | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Riley Cooper | WR | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Charles Scott | RB | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Jamar Chaney | LB | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Jeff Owens | DT | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Kurt Coleman | S | 0 | 4 |
| TOTAL | 13 picks | 0 | 17 |
Brandon Graham has become a good NFL starter, but the reality is that the majority of the Eagles' fan base expected the pick to be Earl Thomas once the Eagles traded up, and they were right that he should have been. I mean, not to beat that to death or anything, but it should be noted. As for Nate Allen, he is arguably the best defensive back the Eagles drafted since 2002, which is mind-blowingly sad.
Otherwise, there is so much about this draft that brings back weird memories, such as:
Ah, memories.
The 2001 and 2015 drafts had the fewest number of picks over the last 18 years, with six.
| Round | Player | Position | Pro Bowls | Years as primary starter |
| 1 | Freddie Mitchell | WR | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Quinton Caver | LB | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Derrick Burgess | DE | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | Correll Buckhalter | RB | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | TE | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | A.J. Feeley | QB | 0 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 6 picks | 2 | 7 |
Freddie Mitchell had 90 career receptions. By comparison, Nelson Agholor has 59 after two seasons, although I doubt Mitchell cost the team two touchdowns because he wasn't lined up correctly, and then, obviously, there was 4th and 26.
As for the rest, Burgess was a really good player, although he did most of his damage with the Raiders. Buckhalter was an underrated complementary back, and the Eagles were able to flip A.J. Feeley into a second-round pick from Miami.
But rounds 1 and 2? Ugh.
This was a very difficult draft class to place.
| Round | Player | Position | Pro Bowls | Years as primary starter |
| 1 | Brodrick Bunkley | DT | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | Winston Justice | OT | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Chris Gocong | LB | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Max Jean-Gilles | OG | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Jason Avant | WR | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Jeremy Bloom | WR | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Omar Gaither | LB | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | LaJuan Ramsey | DT | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 8 picks | 0 | 21 |
When you look at this draft class, there's not one single player where you would say, "That was a really good pick." Mayyyybe Jason Avant in the fourth round? What this class did have was a lot of players who were contributors, but were JAGs.
Also, if the Patriots drafted Jeremy Bloom, he'd already be in the Hall of Fame. OK, maybe not. It's tough to beat out Morten Andersen.
One player was good early in his career, and one was good later after he was gone.
| Round | Player | Position | Pro Bowls | Years as primary starter |
| 1 | Corey Simon | DT | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | Todd Pinkston | WR | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Bobbie Williams | OG | 0 | 9 |
| 4 | Gari Scott | WR | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Thomas Hamner | RB | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | John Frank | DE | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | John Romero | C | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 7 picks | 1 | 19 |
Corey Simon was an awesome player for the Eagles at the start of his career, registering 9.5 sacks as a rookie, and 32 sacks over his first five years. And then he got fat and lazy, went to Colts, then the Titans, and he was out of the league at 30. Meanwhile, Todd Pinkston was an OK No. 2 receiver and a down-the-field threat, but most remember him for being bullied for 60 minutes in the NFC Championship Game by Ricky Manning Jr.
Bobbie Williams started 136 games over his career, but only 12 with the Eagles.
Three good players with the first three picks:
| Round | Player | Position | Pro Bowls | Years as primary starter |
| 1 | Lane Johnson | OT | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Zach Ertz | TE | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Bennie Logan | DT | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Matt Barkley | QB | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Earl Wolff | S | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Joe Kruger | DE | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Jordan Poyer | CB/S | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | David King | DE | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 7 picks | 0 | 8 |
Johnson, Ertz, and Logan are all legitimate NFL starters, who should all go on to have long NFL careers, as long as Lane can lay off the peptides.
And, of course, there was the legendary Matt Barkley, who appeared in three games, threw no TDs and 4 picks, had a QB rating of 44.6, challenged a beat writer to some kind of odd quarterback man test, and then was traded to the Cardinals:
A franchise quarterback!
| Round | Player | Position | Pro Bowls | Years as primary starter |
| 1 | Carson Wentz | QB | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Isaac Seumalo | OG/C | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Wendell Smallwood | RB | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Halapoulivaati Vaitai | OT | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Blake Countess | CB/S | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Jalen Mills | CB | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Alex McCalister | DE | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Joe Walker | LB | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 8 picks | 0 | 1 |
A couple months ago, we projected the futures for the Eagles' 2016 draft class, and really, for the purposes of ranking last year's class among the rest, projecting is all we can do. I see two legitimate starters in Carson Wentz and Isaac Seumalo, with some other contributing pieces. Obviously, the team will look to build around Wentz.
If Wentz can carve out a career like Donovan McNabb, this class would be ranked where the 1999 class is, which you'll see in Part III of this exercise. If Wentz can win a Super Bowl, it would obviously immediately vault to No. 1.
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