Breaking: Howie Roseman Does it Again and Pulls off Another NFL Draft Miracle
We’re just over two months removed from the Philadelphia Eagles destroying the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59, but Howie Roseman found a way to twist the knife on Thursday at the NFL Draft.
Kansas City had a front row seat to just how devastating Philly’s defense was, which makes it even funnier that the Chiefs might have helped it get even more dangerous. The Chiefs and Eagles flipped spots in the first round in a trade that cost Philly almost nothing and netted them one of the best linebackers in the draft.
A lot of folks thought Alabama’s Jihaad Campbell wouldn’t make it past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 19. He did, though, and tumbled all the way to the end of the first round where Roseman pounced. This continues a tremendous trend in which the Eagles somehow end up with top players on defense despite not being in a position where that should be possible.
We saw it with Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and Nolan Smith, as well as Nakobe Dean and Cooper DeJean, and now Campbell joins the list. Roseman has been able to cook up some incredible draft classes and the culmination of that was a Super Bowl victory this past Feburary — something that feels more like the start of a run rather than a one-off stroke of luck.
Dean and DeJean were Day 2 picks that somehow fell to the Eagles, while the other guys were there for a variety of reasons from off-field concerns to injuries. Campbell falls under the latter category, as a shoulder issue caused his stock to drop and allowed him to fall right in the Eagles’ lap.
Much like the other first-rounder Roseman has been able to snag, Campbell was the team’s target all along. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport noted that the Eagles tried to trade up to No. 22 and swap picks with the Chargers to get Campbell, which makes the fact that he fell to them even sweeter.
A trade still needed to happen, but that could be the final masterstroke of this deal for Roseman. So much was made about the Bills trading the pick that became Xavier Worthy to the Chiefs last year, but now the clown shoe is on the other foot.
Philadelphia is once again ending the first night of the draft with a player they should have never been able to draft, and it won’t be long before the rest of the league pays for it.
