Is Eagles’ Howie Roseman Overrated?
Well, it happened – Jalen Ramsey got traded, but not to the Eagles. The Rams poached the star cornerback from the Jaguars in exchange for two first-round picks (2020 and 2021) and a 2021 4th round pick.
As you can guess from the title, there are a handful of questions surrounding this front office, starting with the general manager, Howie Roseman. This is a question I do not take enjoyment in asking, but it needs to be asked now more than ever because quite frankly, it’s killing Wentz’s prime years.
The man we’ve come to love for the wisdom and crafty skills of building a contending team has all of a sudden become public enemy number one for his lack of aggressiveness. But it’s not about what happened tonight, it’s not about Jalen Ramsey, and it’s not about the 3-3 start. As a whole, this team has not been built for long term success, which falls on Howie.
2019 Offseason
Even before the draft, Howie made a rather lackluster splash in the off-season. Outside of resigned players, the team added Malik Jackson, DeSean Jackson, L.J. Fort, Andrew Sendejo, Vinny Curry, Zach Brown, and Jordan Howard. Let’s see. Malik Jackson is now out for the season. DeSean Jackson has also not seen since the opening snaps of week 2, but besides that, he’s 32 years old. L.J. Fort was cut by week 4.
Andrew Sendejo has only been a deterrence who has gotten his own teammates injured. Vinny Curry is nowhere to be seen. Zach Brown ran his mouth and got cut. Jordan Howard is the only positive addition to this roster from the off-season, and he hasn’t even gotten the time on the field he deserves. Again, this isn’t is just based on this year.
2018 Offseason
In 2018, outside of resigned players, Howie added Michael Bennett, Corey Nelson, Haloti Ngata, Mike Wallace, Markus Wheaton, Paul Worrilow, and Richard Rodgers. Michael Bennett definitely had a big impact on the defense, but his tenure only lasted one year, a year in which the Eagles were bounced out in the divisional round. Corey Nelson didn’t even make the team. Haloti Ngata had one sack. Mike Wallace and Markus Wheaton combined for 0 yards. Paul Worrilow and Richard Rodgers never saw the field and were released the year after.
During the season, Roseman added Golden Tate in exchange for a 3rd round pick, but his presence wasn’t game-changing at all. He added 278 yards in 8 games before departing in free agency. I just rattled off 15 names that Howie acquired outside of the draft, and none of them have actual value to this team, outside of Jordan Howard. Yikes. Oh and by the way? Not a single cornerback. None. You want to know the last pro bowl cornerback the Eagles had? Assante Samuel.
If you thought Howie’s free agency work was bad, look away for this part, because it’s pretty horrific.
In his last 3 years of drafting, Howie has looked over so much talent, that draft picks are practically useless to this team. In 2017, his 1st and 2nd round picks were Derek Barnett and Sidney Jones. Barnett has just not proved himself to be 1st round talent, and Sidney Jones, well it would take me a while to rant about him, so I won’t. Rasul Douglas was a good pick for 3rd rounder, but he is still by no means a star cornerback.
Mack Hollins can barely get onto the field besides lining up as a special teams gunner, so outside of being a fan favorite, he hasn’t warranted any commendation. Oh and not to mention, Tarik Cohen went a pick right after him. The rest are Donnel Pumphrey, Shelton Gibson, Nathan Gerry, and Elijah Qualls, and only Nathan Gerry is still on the team.
2018 Draft
In 2018, he drafted Dallas Goedert, Avonte Maddox, Josh Sweat, Matt Prior, and Jordan Mailata. Dallas Goedert is great to have, but I’m not too sure about the ideology of drafting a tight end so high when you have a pro bowl tight end already, and other big holes to fill.
Maddox is still tough to assess at the moment, but he could be great, so I can give the benefit of the doubt on that pick. Josh Sweat has hyped up all off-season, but he’s still yet to be seen making big plays. Neither Matt Pryor nor Jordan Mailata has started a game, but both were late-round picks, so that’s not too important.
2019 Draft
Now, this year’s draft class is where it gets bad. To give Howie some credit though, Miles Sanders is looking like a future star running back, and could be the best back in his class. However, 1st round pick Andre Dillard doesn’t even start, and even when he gets put into the game, he gets beat around the edge or is pushed over. JJ Arcega-Whiteside isn’t even ahead of Mack Hollins on the depth chart by the looks of it, and he blew a win in week 2, with his dropped touchdown pass. On top of that, he was drafted in front of the likes of Parris Campbell, DK Metcalf, and Terry McLaurin.
Shareef Miller is yet another ghost on the team, and Clayton Thorson, well, it’s better to not talk about him. In four drafts, dating back to 2016, Howie has drafted one pro bowler, and that’s Carson Wentz. Pro bowl nominations have obviously started to diminish in meaning as the years have passed, but still, it is not a good look.
Howie’s lack of ability to identify talent will be a killer to Carson Wentz’s prime years if something doesn’t change fast. Bring back the Howie of the old, the one that we believed in to go big, for the sake of the rest of us.
Featured Image:
Discover more from Philadelphia Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
