Philadelphia Eagles top 15 draft picks taken from 2007-2021
54. . . . DeVonta Smith, 2021 to present. 15. player
DeVonta Smith and Jalen Mills get us going on a list of great Eagles draft choices.
2021 to present
To some, calling DeVonta Smith a sure thing after his rookie season could be seen as a stretch. To others, doing so falls under the category of calling things as we see them. ‘Slim Reaper’ rhetoric and theories about whether or not he’s done enough yet aren’t welcome here.
The Eagles needed to nail their first-round selection in 2021. That’s exactly what they did. Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the show. DeVonta Smith is number 15 now, but we have no doubts that his position on this list may change without warning as he continues to add to his young NFL legacy.
Jalen Mills, 2016-2020. 14. player. 54. . .
Okay, here’s one of those value guys that we discussed. Nowadays, it seems impossible that there could have ever been questions about who Jalen Mills is as a person, but that was, indeed, a discussion in 2016.
There were accompanying discussions that stated he had second-round talent, but Mills slid to the final day of the selection meeting and into Round 7. The Eagles drafted him with the 233rd-overall selection. Let’s just put things this way.
If you use a seventh-round selection on a guy, and he goes on to start 53 games of the 67 games he appeared in (that includes playoff appearances) while recording 300 tackles, 45 pass breakups, and five interceptions (one of which he returned for a touchdown), we’re going to have to deem that one a success story.
He’s gone, but he isn’t forgotten. The Green Goblin definitely makes the cut.