Inside the Iggles
FanSided

Eagles’ 2014 draft class needs to step up this season

By Austin Vitelli

facebooktwitterreddit

It has been well-documented (sometimes in painstaking detail) that Andy Reid‘s poor drafting with the Philadelphia Eagles was a hindrance in the team’s forward progress. We all remember the Danny Watkins pick in the first round of 2011. Kevin Kolb in the second round of 2007 (their first pick of the draft) was equally puzzling, and eventually as disastrous as Watkins. I could write a book about the bad picks that he made. But not all the bad draft picks were made when Reid was the coach.

Howie Roseman’s final year in charge of the drafting was 2014, which arguably, was a bad one as well. This one might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back and drove the Eagles to move Roseman to a position where he could least hurt the franchise. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but this class has not gotten off to a good start after one year in the NFL, and I don’t expect it to get much better.

Eagles
Eagles /

Eagles

Let’s start with the positives. After all, the 2014 draft class isn’t all terrible. Jordan Matthews, their second round pick that year, had an excellent rookie season and is now the team’s top receiver. He is in line for a big season with Jeremy Maclin gone and will likely top the 1,000 yard mark. I’m not saying the Eagles should alert Canton to start building his Hall of Fame bust, but Matthews is unquestionably a good player. And, he has the chance to become a great player. Because he’s only had one year, I’m hesitant to go overboard, but it’s really hard not to like him. Matthews is by far the best player in this class.

However, this is probably where the success ends. I would argue that their seventh round pick Beau Allen is their next best player out of this class. He was a solid backup nose tackle last year and should continue to progress in that role. Considering how hard it is to even find a roster-worthy player in the seventh round, Allen is a success at this point. Of course, he’s not starter-quality, but every player on the 53-man roster has a role and he does his well. Look for him to continue to play well in 2015.

Unfortunately, I can’t say much else for the other five guys in the draft class. First round pick Marcus Smith had a disastrous and disturbingly poor season last year, barely getting onto the field after being called (I’m paraphrasing) a small, weak player who didn’t like to tackle…who also couldn’t play special teams. Nothing about that description screams “first round pick.” He played okay in the first preseason game, then got hurt and missed the next three games. At times, it was clear that he still had no idea what was going on. With Trent Cole gone, Smith will likely be forced to play an expanded role in 2015 whether he likes it or not. And that could be bad.

The fact that some writers were unsure of whether he would even make the 53-man roster is just sad. A first round pick should not be in danger of being cut after one year. It shouldn’t even be discussed. If he had played all four games and looked terrible, I really think they would’ve cut him, so maybe that injury was a blessing in disguise for him. Still, if Smith doesn’t show improvement this season, this draft class is in danger of already being called a failure.

A lot of people are projecting that Josh Huff will have a breakout year, but I just don’t see it happening. There are too many guys battling for targets in the pass game and Huff just isn’t better than a lot of them. Maybe he’ll prove me wrong, but I don’t see him surpassing 400 yards this year. For a third round pick…not what you want.

Taylor Hart has apparently shown improvements this offseason and looked pretty good at times in the preseason. But, he’s still arguably the fifth defensive end in the depth chart, meaning it’ll be hard to give him a meaningful amount of snaps.

And getting to the worst of it, fourth round pick Jaylen Watkins and sixth round pick Ed Reynolds didn’t even make the team. Watkins was cut after one year after struggling mightily in the preseason. Reynolds’ one great preseason game was only enough to land him a spot on the practice squad. That’s two straight years for him of failing to break onto the main roster. For a sixth round pick that’s not terrible, but Watkins was a fourth round pick and now he’s not with the team in any capacity. They kept a free agent signing who was bad last year and wasn’t that great in preseason (E.J. Biggers) and an undrafted rookie (Denzel Rice) instead of him. He must’ve been really bad.

So, what am I getting at? It’s simple: the remaining members of the 2014 draft class need to make a statement this year. Smith, Huff and Hart need to do more than nothing and Matthews and Allen need to continue to improve. The Eagles can sign all the great free agents they want, but when it comes down to it, they need to grow their own talent. Guys like Fletcher Cox and Mychal Kendricks are what you want to see with your first couple picks. The Eagles just can’t afford to have nearly a whole draft class be a waste. That’s how they failed to win a Super Bowl during the Reid era, and they can’t let that happen again. It’s time for things to change.

Next: No surprises in first round of cuts by Philadelphia Eagles

More from Inside the Iggles

Home/Eagles News