On Roob’s Notes: How History Tells Us What Howie Roseman Is Probably Planning for the First Round

On Roob’s Notes: How History Tells Us What Howie Roseman Is Probably Planning for the First Round originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia

As Howie Roseman’s draft history gives us an indication of what he’s up to on Thursday, Cam Jurgens’ thoughts on following one of the greatest centers in history and remembering the day the Eagles held a Hall of Fame return to the his worst game ever.

Here’s our preliminary week’s edition of Roob’s 10 Random Eagles Off-Season Observations!

1. What are the odds the Eagles actually stay at 22? Consider this: Howie Roseman drafted 13 players in the first round and only three of them were selected with an Eagles-originated pick. He also traded in the first round once. So 77 percent of your 1^stRound picks were made with a pick acquired from another team. He traded up from 24 to 13 in 2010 to sign Brandon Graham, went from 15 to 12 in 2012 to select Fletcher Cox, traded up four spots in 2014 to select Marcus Smith at 26, took Carson Wentz 2^{It is}overall, after going from 13 to 8 in a trade with the Dolphins and then from 8 to 2 in a trade with the Browns. He selected Derek Barnett 14 with a pick acquired from the Vikings in the Sam Bradford trade, traded out of the first round in 2018, moved down three spots in 2019 for Andre Dillard, traded up and then down in 2021 for DeVonta Smith, moved up a few spots to Jordan Davis in 2022 and moved up one spot to Jalen Carter last year. The only players he signed with an original Eagles pick are Fireman Danny at age 23 in 2011, Lane Johnson at age 4 in 2013 and Jalen Reagor age 21^st in 2020 (Nelson Agholor in 2015 was also an original pick by the Eagles, but that was Chip Kelly’s draft). Roseman’s record in the 20s is terrible – Reagor at 21, Dillard at 22, Fireman Danny at 23, and Smith at 26. He should get out of the 20s every year. You know he’s going to try to move up on Thursday. I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t make it.

2. Digging deeper into the Eagles’ picks in the 20s, Nelly had his moments, especially in the Super Bowl, but the last consistently productive starter the Eagles drafted with a pick in the 20s was Lito Sheppard in 2002. And before From that you have Freddie Mitchell at 25 in 2001 and Jon Harris at 25 in 1997. Jermane Mayberry, the 25^th pick in 1996, became a Pro Bowl guard when the tackle didn’t pan out, but before him you have Leonard Renfro at No. 24 in 1993. Of his 10 picks in the 20s over the past 30 years, the only selections who started more more than 25 games in an Eagles uniform are Mayberry, Sheppard and Agholor. The Eagles really need to stay away from that 20-29 range.

3. Jordan Mailata is only 26 years old, but he is already 5^th-most start in Eagles history by 7^thDraft pick at 57. He trails only Hall of Famers Harold Carmichael (160), Carl Hairston (106), Charlie Johnson (73) and Irv Cross (72).

4. I like everything Cam Jurgens said the other day about replacing Jason Kelce at center. He said he can’t be Jason Kelce, but he can be the best version of Cam Jurgens he can be and he’s going to work as hard as he can to make that happen. He talked about the value of learning from Kelce over the last two years and how he doesn’t care if he’s playing center or point guard as long as he helps the team win. I think you need a certain mindset to step into the role of a Hall of Famer. We’ve seen what happens when someone is put in that position and they just aren’t ready for it. It can get ugly trying to live up to these expectations. It can get into your head. You try to do too much. You try to be something you are not. This never works. I don’t worry about any of that with Jurgens. He’s just a sensible kid who doesn’t get too high or too low, he just works. You can’t ask for anything more from him than that.

5. Who remembers the day the Eagles held one of the greatest running backs in NFL history to 14.8 inches per carry? It was Eagles-Chargers at the Linc in 2005, and it was a significant day in a sense because it was TO’s last home game as an Eagle. But it was also significant because LaDainian Tomlinson had 17 carries for seven yards in the Eagles’ 20-17 victory. This wasn’t a particularly good defense from the Eagles – they ranked 21st^st in the league in 2005. But they shut down LT like no one ever did. Of his 17 carries, 14 went for one yard or less. The crazy thing is that he finished “strong” (relatively). In the first quarter, Tomlinson rushed four times for minus-13 yards. In the first half, he was 6-for-minus 5. Going into the fourth quarter, he was 9-for-minus-8. In fact, he ran for 25 yards on eight carries in the fourth quarter just to get to 0.4 yards per carry. He had more yards in the last four minutes (eight) of the game than he had in the entire game. LT had 154 career games with at least 10 carries and this was the only one in which he averaged less than 1.5 yards per carry… and he averaged less than a third of that. Over the last 50 years, he is one of four defenders to average 0.4 yards per carry or worse in a game with at least 15 carries. The others are Emmitt Smith in 1998 in New Orleans, Karim Abdul-Jabbar two weeks later against the Broncos and Saquon Barkley in 2020 against the Steelers. That 0.4 rushing average isn’t the lowest ever against the Eagles. In 1943, the Giants’ Bill Paschal rushed 15 times for five yards and 0.3 yards per carry in the Steagles’ 28-14 victory at Shibe Park. This average of 0.4 is 2^{It is}-lowest ever by a Hall of Famer in a game with at least 15 carries. Smith was 15 of 6 in that 1998 game against the Saints, which equates to exactly 0.40 yards per carry. LT performance against the Eagles is 0.41 per carry.

6A. There is only one player the Eagles have drafted in the first four rounds in the last 35 years who has never played in an NFL game. That’s running back Donnel Pumphrey, his 4^thround pick in 2017. Pumphrey, who rushed for an NCAA-record 6,405 yards with a 6.0 average, 62 touchdowns and 99 receptions at San Diego State, spent most of his rookie year on IR with a torn to the hamstring suffered in practice and was waived after training camp in 2018. He spent some time in 2018 on the Lions’ practice squad, returned to the Eagles’ practice squad at the end of 2018, and was in camp again in 2019, only to be released in the final versions. He spent some time in the XFL with the DC Defenders before the league folded. Pumph is currently serving as the running backs coach for Sacramento State.

6B. The last player drafted by the Eagles in the first three rounds who never played an NFL snap was 1988 3^thirdround pick Matt Patchan, an offensive lineman from Miami. The last 2^{It is}The pick of the round to never play was 1972 2^{It is}Round pick Dan Yochum, an offensive lineman from Syracuse.

6C. The last Eagles 1^stRound pick who never played in the NFL? That’s Johnny Bright, Drake’s fifth pick in 1952. Bright, who finished 5^th in the 1951 Heisman voting, he is the only Drake player to have his number (43) retired. Bright would have been the first African-American player in Eagles history, but he chose to sign with the CFL Calgary Stampeders. He retired in 1964 as the leading rusher in CFL history with 10,909 yards (since surpassed by Mike Pringle and George Reed). He was enshrined in the CFL Hall of Fame in 1970. Bright was just 53 when he passed away in 1983 in Edmonton.

6D. In 1955, the Eagles drafted 30 players and only three of them played a snap in the NFL. And one of them – Andy Nacrelli of Chester and Fordham – played just two games.

7. In his first two NFL seasons, 2020 and 2021, Quez Watkins had the 15th^th– Most yards per reception in the NFL among 116 wide receivers who caught at least 40 passes at 15.1. Over the last two years, he averaged 10.3 yards per reception, which ranked 92nd.^{It is} of 113 receivers with 40 receptions. Watkins is now with the Steelers.

8. The 1960 NFL Championship Game was the only playoff game played at Franklin Field. And it was the Eagles’ only postseason game between 1950 and 1977.

9. There was a security guard at the vet named Mr. Braxton who for years was stationed at the players’ entrance on the southeast side of the stadium. After Buddy Ryan was fired by the Eagles following the 1990 season and before being hired in 1993 by Jack Pardee as the Oilers’ defensive coordinator, he tried out at ESPN as a game-day studio analyst. At one point, when the 1991 Eagles were buried in a four-game losing streak – they scored just 26 points total with Brad Goebel, Pat Ryan and Jim McMahon at quarterback in losses to Washington, Tampa, New Orleans and San Francisco – Buddy was asked about the Eagles’ lack of offense, and he responded, “Well, hell, I think Mr. Braxton is calling the shots there.” It was hilarious. If you only knew who Mr. Braxton was. Which were maybe 50 people in the world.

10. If Carson Wentz gets into a game with the Chiefs, he will be the first Eagles 1^stRound pick to play for five teams. Wentz is one of seven former Eagles 1^stRound picks who played with four teams: Frank Tripucka, John Reaves, Charle Young, Keith Byars, Lito Sheppard and Nelson Agholor are the others.