Philadelphia Eagles: Was the 2017 NFL Draft class a flop?
Shelton Gibson, WR, 166th pick
Shelton Gibson is the latest to fall victim to being waived from the 2017 class. The former fifth-round pick was expected to be a true deep threat for the Eagles while contributing to special teams. He ended up just doing the latter, and his contributions didn’t even come from returning punts or kicks. Outside of a couple of preseason plays in 2018, Gibson was a ghost.
Did the Eagles just not use him correctly? Or was he just not good enough to get on the field? Well, the team could’ve had trust issues with the young wideout. After all, he was notorious for dropping wide open passes in practice without a defender even on him. Gibson just didn’t pan out at all. Therefore, the Eagles waived him recently.
What needs to happen? Gibson’s days with the Eagles are finally over.
Donnel Pumphrey, RB, 132nd pick
Perhaps the most frustrating pick of the class if you really wanted to see the Eagles select a running back that year. They missed out on Dalvin Cook in the second round, so the Eagles waited until the mid-rounds to make their selection. Keep in mind, players like Kareem Hunt and Alvin Kamara were available in the mid-rounds, but the Eagles traded up in the fourth to select San Diego State running back, Donnel Pumphrey.
Pumphrey’s an undersized back, who sort of resembled Darren Sproles a bit for his smaller frame, and multi-talented abilities. Maybe the pressure of being a potential Sproles replacement got to his head. Or perhaps, he just wasn’t cut out for the NFL. Either way, the pick for Pumphrey didn’t make much sense. He never appeared in a regular-season game for the Eagles. And in about three weeks, he will most likely be waived by the team for a second time.