Philadelphia Eagles Place Hope In Players With Red Flags

The Philadelphia Eagles have placed hope in several players with a checkered history.

For the past two seasons, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant, who was selected 32 spots after Josh Huff in the 2014 NFL Draft, has made highlight reel plays look routine while Huff hasn’t lived up to the hype.

With the red flags that were surrounding Bryant, there’s no doubt why the Eagles took Huff. He fit Kelly’s “culture” and had an understanding of the offense. Under Kelly, it became common place for the team to avoid players who weren’t high of character or had issues off of the football field, but Howie Roseman appears to have a different strategy.

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In the fifth round, at No. 153 overall, the Eagles selected former West Virginia Mountaineers running back Wendell Smallwood . In 2014, he was arrested in relation to a 2012 murder in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. The charges were later dropped after it was decided there wasn’t sufficient evidence against him.

The Eagles drafted Jalen Mills, a safety and possible late round steal from the LSU Tigers in the 7th round at No. 233 overall. In May of 2014, he was charged with second-degree battery, but the charge later reduced to a simple battery.

“But we don’t feel like we brought any bad people in here. We feel like some of them may have made mistakes, but they’re not bad people.”

Alex McCalister, a defensive end formerly of the Florida Gators was selected with the 19 pick in the seventh round. As a junior, he was dismissed after violating team rules. That forced him to enter the draft early. At a recent press conference, Roseman told reporters he hopes their actions are just mistakes they made in college.“What we hope is that they’re good people and they just make mistakes like we all do,” Roseman said. “And that we develop them and going forward this is part of their history and something they learn from.”

Smallwood, as a junior, led the Big 12 with 1519 rushing yards last season. Out of all the Eagles’ picks, he’s the most likely one to contribute due to major needs at the running back position with an often-injured Ryan Mathews and aging Darren Sproles. Smallwood told reporters he was hanging out with the wrong crowd and says he’s moved on and is ready to show everyone the man he’s become.

At LSU, Mills started his first 39 games until he broke his ankle during preseason practice in 2015. He also recorded 57 or more tackles in three of his four years and showed he is able to line up at every position in the secondary. At 6-feet 6-inches 239 pounds, McCalister possesses the prototypical build to set a presence on the edge, but will face tough competition for a spot on the roster in camp this summer.

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“The past is the past, history is history, that’s why they call it history, and you gotta really dive into each person individually” head coach Doug Pederson said. “… We know the guys could be flawed in their past. But again, coach em’ up and put them in the right direction.”

Pederson’s right. They’re grown men who are now in the NFL. The consequences have been harsher every year for players who act in immature fashion, and the Eagles hope these guys behave so they don’t have to face the wrath of Roger Goodell.

Regardless of whether players are of high character or have issues, there’s no guarantee with each draft selection. The new regime is optimistic these player’s mistakes will remain in the past and will have no bearing on their performance at the professional level

“At some point, the amount of resources you’re putting into a guy is a risk/reward in those situations,” Roseman said. “But we don’t feel like we brought any bad people in here. We feel like some of them may have made mistakes, but they’re not bad people.”