Tag: Isaac Seumalo

The Best Eagles Draft Picks in the Last 5 Years

The Eagles have had a number of questionable recent draft picks. It seems like that is all we hear about. I thought I would recap the top 10 draft picks of the past 5 years. It is a solid list with a ton of potential.

Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

#10 Quez Watkins. Quez is a sixth-round pick who is extremely fast and has shown an ability not only to get open deep, but to pull down catches in traffic. His teammates regularly talk about how good he looks in practice. His stats this year were good, but not great. As Jalen Hurts starts to see the field better, Quez should see more catches.

#9 Miles Sanders. Miles has incredible talent. He averages over 5 yards per carry for his career and has shown the ability to gain yards in traffic and break long runs. If he were able to stay healthy, he would be much higher on this list. As it is, I have put him at #8 because I think there is a good chance that the Eagles do not resign him and he will have played less than three seasons with the Birds.

#8 Isaac Seumalo. Seumalo has been a multi-year starter and a solid if unspectacular guard. Any time you draft a lineman in the third round that is a multi-year starter on a very good offensive line, you have done well. Landon Dickerson is likely a better guard at this point, but Seumalo can move to center to keep the line intact for the coming years.

#7 Josh Sweat. Josh Sweat was a fourth-round pick back in 2018. He was highly rated coming out of high school, but had a couple of injuries while at Florida St. He has had 6 sacks each of the past two seasons and seems to be getting better every season.

#6 Landon Dickerson. Landon Dickerson is only in his first season, but he is a second-round pick who looks like a complete steal. Dickerson is a mountain of a man whose move into the starting line-up has been one of the keys to this year’s incredible rushing totals. Dickerson and Mailata should make the left side of the Eagles line dominant for years. He has the potential to be a regular pro bowler for years.

#5 Jalen Hurts. In his first full season as a starter, Jalen Hurts has proven himself to be a quality starter in the NFL. We do not yet know if he can be the franchise quarterback that the team is looking for or he would be higher up on this list. As is, Jalen is a great leader and person who makes plays with both his arm and his legs. Jalen continues to get better each game. For now, his legs are his greatest weapon and teams need to game plan how to stop him from running. His 10 rushing touchdowns is an Eagles record and there are two games left in the season.

#4 Carson Wentz. Carson Wentz did not finish the season in 2017, but his play is the reason we were the #1 seed and eventual super bowl champion. When he was at his best, Carson was one of the most exciting quarterbacks this franchise has ever had. Unfortunately, we all know what happened. Carson struggled in 2020 and then asked to leave the team because he was going to have to compete for his job. I hated including him on this list, but it would not be a real list if we ignored what he accomplished while he was an Eagle.

#3 Dallas Goedert. Dallas Goedert is finally getting his turn as the number one tight end and he is making the best of it. Goedert has always been a great blocker and he has shown glimpses of being an elite receiver as well. Since Ertz was traded, Goedert has been special. He has two games with over 100 receiving yards and has shown an ability to break tackles and get extra yardage.

#2 DeVonta Smith. DeVonta Smith is still in his first year, but his potential is off the charts. It seems like every game he makes an incredible catch showing body control that is just amazing. Merill Reese was asked about DeVonta early in the year. He described him as different and special. Merrill has been around this team for over 30 years. When he says a player is special, that says something. Chad OchoCinco has followed him for years thinks he the It factor.

#1 Jordan Mailata. A seventh-round pick who had never played football before. A freak athlete with incredible size, strength, and quick feet. Jordan Mailata has the potential to be the best left tackle in Eagles history. Other players watch him and marvel at what he can do. He is still learning, but he gets better every game. We often talk about Howie’s bad first round picks. We need to also give him credit for picking Jordan Mailata. Mailata has the potential to be the best value draft pick in Eagles franchise history. The Eagles go from Tra Thomas to Jason Peters to Jordan Mailata. That could be 30 years of dominant left tackles. We may not be a quarterback factory, but we are certainly a left tackle factory.