NCAA conferences & programs Eagles are raiding most often at draft time
The Eagles like to dig around in the ACC and AAC to find solid players for the team as well.
Philadelphia hasn’t raided the ACC and AAC as often as they have done other conferences, but they have found some gems.
ACC (7 players taken) – AAC Conference (4 players taken)
Since 2013, the Eagles have drafted a player from Clemson, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Louisville, Boston College, and Pittsburgh. They have also gotten lucky by looking to Memphis for a tailback.
The most productive ACC players drafted since 2013 have been Florida State’s Josh Sweat (153 tackles, 28.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, and one interception in five seasons with Philly) and Avonte Maddox (238 tackles, three sacks, four interceptions, 29 pass breakups, and seven forced fumbles).
The Birds have added Grant Calcaterra, a former Jalen Hurts teammate in the Big 12, from the American Athletic Conference along with Shaun Bradley (Temple) and Patrick Johnson (Tulane) during the past three drafts, but the biggest success story has been former Memphis standout Kenneth Gainwell.
He has 531 rushing yards with nine rushing touchdowns and 422 yards receiving with one receiving touchdown in two seasons with the Eagles to his credit, and it looks like he’s only going to get better. Philadelphia hit a home run by landing him in Round 5 of the 2021 NFL Draft.
