10 biggest first-round draft busts in Philadelphia Eagles history
. . Marcus Smith, outside linebacker. 5. player. 54.
The Eagles’ selection of Marcus Smith belongs on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.
Perhaps the only positive aspect of Chip Kelly’s tenure in the City of Brotherly Love as the Eagles head coach was the fact that he added Zach Ertz and Lane Johnson to this team. The jury is out on drafting Nelson Agholor and his decision to bury Howie Roseman in the equipment room. After all, Howie and Nelson were big parts of this team’s only Super Bowl win.
It’s common knowledge that Chip was way off on just about everything else though. Look no further than his decision to take Marcus Smith in Round 1 of the 2014 NFL Draft. What in the heck was going on here?
Perhaps the Eagles, in need of EDGE players, saw the run that was being made on the defensive talent that was being snatched up with seemingly every pick in Round 1 (Jadeveon Clowney, Khalil Mack, Aaron Donald, Ryan Shazier, C. J. Mosley, and Dee Ford).
Perhaps, they panicked and feared that they’d get nothing for themselves. Maybe that forced them to reach on Marcus Smith. Who knows? All we can state definitively is this.
The Eagles could have easily gone with defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence or offensive tackle Joel Bitonio. They could have even added a receiver. Davante Adams, Allen Robinson, and Jarvis Landry were available because they got NOTHING out of Marcus Smith.
He hung around from 2014 to 2016, played in 37 games over that span, and didn’t make a single start. 23 tackles and four sacks are all the Birds got out of him. 16 of those tackles and 2.5 of those sacks came under Doug Pederson’s watch in 2016. Finally, they gave up on him.
He’d only appear in 16 more games as a professional as a member of two teams. He was truly a bust and one of the worst decisions this team ever made.