Trade Whiteside

[Ellsworth]

Howie probably had final say, technically... but I think #diamondjoe® had a lot of input in that room in terms of scouting and overall philosophy for his first draft. When Howie ran the room, he went after guys with elite traits (Cox, Lane, Ertz, Wentz)... the biggest busts/disappointments of the Douglas era were productive college players with limited physical ability (Barnett, Sid Jones, Pumphrey). Lurie brought in Douglas and his big reputation, and the media fell all over itself the praise the guy as the next great thing. It's reasonable to assume Howie felt some pressure to follow the guy's lead.

You could even argue that either Douglas realized he bombed out the 2017 draft and changed his approach, or Howie took back some control in 2018, because they went back to drafting traits. Goedert was an elite athlete, Maddox was a speed guy with high upside, Sweat and Mailata were physical freaks, Dillard and Sanders were really good athletes... JJ was a panic pick after the WR they wanted (Hardman) got swiped by FF, but at least they had the right guy as their primary target. And they prioritized Sanders in the round, who's looking like a home run pick.

I'm not as worried about Howie as I was. I think he's pretty decent at picking talent when he's got a clear head about what he's going after. I can't pin the sins of 2017 on him forever when all indications suggest that draft was out of character for him and had #diamondjoe's® try-hard/college production fingerprints all over it.

The Jeffrey deal and the Tate trade were both bad, no question. But even good GMs make bad deals (the Sanu trade was a bad, desperate move for BB). I still think Howie's done an overall good job, especially when you throw out the 2017 draft debacle that in all likelihood wasn't his doing. He's not going anywhere anyway, and this a huge draft coming up with a lot of picks. We don't have much choice but to hope for the best.

I wish i could take that leap of faith with Roseman. I just can't do it.
We should start a scouting agency and see how we'd stack up vs the eagles actual picks. "Duckworth" has a nice ring to it.

[The Duck]

I'm just hanging my hat on the hope that #diamondjoe was the poison in the well, because I know Howie's not as awful as 2017. But this is going to be it. If he blows this draft, back to the stationary closet he goes.