Now, that we’ve all had the chance to clam down (or recover), let’s see what Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles were thinking with the selection of Jalen Hurts.
Many Philadelphia Eagles fans woke up on the day that would serve as the NFL Draft’s third with the same feeling. We could have saved Round 2 to our cloud DVRs. We could have known what was about to happen before watching, and we still would have been shocked by the news. With a need at wide receiver and with Denzel Mims available, Howie Roseman and the “Birds” selected Jalen Hurts with the 53rd-overall selection.
It’s called “The 24-hour rule”, though it’s been interpreted in two very different ways. To some, it means it’s cool to celebrate wins or grieve over losses, but after a 24-hour cycle, it’s time to move on and get ready for that next game.
To others, it works like this. Football is an emotional game. Don’t demand total access, watch two teams try to beat each other up for three hours, and then complain about how someone reacts when someone immediately sticks a microphone in their face post-game. You might not like what they tell you or how they say it. Here’s an example of that latter theory.
Clip courtesy of the NFL’s official YouTube channel
Do you see how that works? For Eagles fans, there were a little bit of both theories at play after day 2 of the draft. On one hand, it probably wasn’t a good idea to ask them how they felt about the Jalen Hurts selection immediately after it happened. You may have gotten a Richard Sherman type of response.
On the other hand. One day, four rounds and five picks remain on the to-do list. There’s a lot of work to do, and it’s time to move on from Day 2. That doesn’t mean we aren’t curious about why Philly took a quarterback when there were so many other needs to address.
The G.M. did his best to explain when he sat down with the media immediately after day 2 of the draft.
"When coach (Doug) Pederson came in and we sat down in 2016, we said we were always going to be about the quarterback position. It’s the most important position in sports, and we were very fortunate to get a young Pro Bowl quarterback in Carson Wentz… Our goal is to surround him with as many good people as we possibly can, as many good players as we possibly can.… As we looked at where we were on the board and what was the thing that we believed in the most and more the kind of people we believed in the most, Jalen stood out in all those regards. We think he’s an incredible teammate."
Okay, Howie. That’s cool, but why did Philly take a quarterback man? Roseman continued his theory.
"No team has gotten more value from the quarterback positions than the Philadelphia Eagles. We talked about it, and obviously that’s a factor. Our history is a factor, and that’s the most important position in sports… The draft isn’t about just doing whatever is best for a team in the short-term. The draft is about making smart, long-term decisions for your organization based on the priorities that you believe are key to winning football games…"
Hold on though. The Eagles already have their franchise quarterback, Carson Wentz, and they just gave him an extension. Why take a quarterback, man?
"We felt like this was a proven winner, a guy who is an incredible teammate. He’s going to strengthen that quarterback room. … We’re looking at it as this gives us another weapon. This gives us another weapon in that room. This gives us another incredible teammate. This gives us somebody that is going to be incredibly supportive to our quarterback, and quite frankly, this is exciting. This is exciting for our quarterback. This is exciting for our football team, and this is the kind of decision that we’re going to make. And we’re proud of it."
Well, there you have it. This one won’t die for a while, but with five picks left for Philly, it’s time to table this one for a while. There’s still work to do.