Eagles draft takeaways: Howie Roseman’s haul, biggest remaining needs, other looming questions

After three days and 10 selections, the 2025 Eagles are starting to come further into focus.

General manager Howie Roseman was busy on the draft’s final day, adding eight players to solidify a draft class that will aim to keep the Eagles’ championship window open.

From a growing defensive trend to some draft-night superlatives, here are some big-picture takeaways coming out of the three-day frenzy.

The Eagles entered draft weekend with a young defensive nucleus that acted almost like a counterbalance to an established, expensive offensive group.

Coming out of the draft, that counterbalance has gotten even heavier with potential starters on their rookie contracts in Jihaad Campbell and Andrew Mukuba. Both players require some projection to slot into the Eagles’ starting defense, but both could eventually develop into impact players in the way Jalen Carter, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Nolan Smith, and Nakobe Dean did for the Eagles during their Super Bowl run.

Just how long this window of contention stays open for the Eagles will likely hinge on picks in both the future and present like Campbell and Mukuba. There’s a legitimate argument to be made that the pick used on Campbell was the Eagles’ most valuable offseason asset considering the lack of financial flexibility the team had in free agency.

» READ MORE: Eagles approached the draft with the same formula that just won them a Super Bowl

Those picks won’t come without risk, though. Campbell is still recovering from a labrum injury in his shoulder that required surgery and may take time to develop into a true threat off the edge to complement the floor-raising physical traits and versatility he offers as an off-ball linebacker. And the Eagles made Mukuba the third safety taken, about a dozen picks before players like Kevin Winston, Caleb Ransaw, and Jonas Sanker each went off the board. The team also traded away a third-round pick that the Falcons used to draft Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts at the end of Friday night.

Still, it’s hard to find many risk-free prospects at the spots the Eagles were drafting, and the upside is apparent. The Eagles’ template from last year now has a chance to last a few years longer: Spend big on offense, and draft cost-controlled difference-makers on defense to make that spending possible.

This time last year, I labeled Tyler Steen as a “subtle winner” of the weekend due to the Eagles finishing the draft without a clear contender for the starting right guard position up for grabs.

He finds himself in a similar situation this time around, but without the same label, considering Mekhi Becton’s signing with the Eagles, and then Becton eventually overtaking Steen in training camp.

For a second year in a row, the apparent space for either a ready-made guard or a developmental tackle on the Eagles’ depth chart had to wait until the final day of the draft. It’s worth noting that William & Mary offensive lineman Charles Grant went to the Raiders a few picks before the Eagles went on the clock at No. 101, a pick they received in a trade-back five selections earlier. Grant visited the Eagles in the predraft process and, along with players like West Virginia’s Wyatt Milum (Jaguars), would have made sense as a depth option with positional versatility for the team at least in theory.

And, for a second year in a row, there’s a chance a free-agency addition could still help shore up the few shaky spots on an otherwise rock-solid lineup along the offensive line.

Perhaps Steen’s third crack at winning the right guard spot will finally be a success. Or maybe reserve lineman Kenyon Green can turn his career around under the tutelage of Jeff Stoutland. Still, it feels like the Eagles would benefit from reinforcements between now and training camp.

Dallas Goedert’s future with the team remains just as murky as it was before the draft, but there was at least one major development to come from the last few days.

The Eagles didn’t add a successor to the 30-year-old tight end with any of their 10 draft picks, leaving a lingering question about how the team might replace what Goedert brought to the offense last season. Of course, off-loading Goedert comes down more to long-term savings rather than on-field production, but the team’s trend of drafting at the position a year or two too early rather than a year too late has been broken.

» READ MORE: The Eagles didn’t draft a tight end. What does that mean for Dallas Goedert?

It’s worth noting there was a run of tight ends early in the second round, with LSU’s Mason Taylor, Oregon’s Terrance Ferguson, and Miami’s Elijah Arroyo all going off the board between picks No. 42 and 50. Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin also went three picks after the Eagles selected Mukuba No. 64 overall.

Roseman said the team’s not addressing the position came down to the way the board fell and a desire to stick to it rather than prioritize a potential need.

“Every time that we had the opportunity to pick, we were looking at the board and really trying to reflect that work to put those grades in,” Roseman said. “That really should be reflected in the outcomes. So we didn’t really want to drop down [that board] at some points. There were some points where it was close, but it was never, at the time we were selecting, the best player.”

While there’s every chance a tight end-needy team that missed out on that run at the position could call the Eagles for Goedert in the coming days or weeks, it’s important to remember now that the Eagles would also make themselves a tight end-needy team in any deal that doesn’t send someone back the other way.

This one isn’t all that controversial. Watching how Campbell is deployed throughout the next few months will be one of the biggest storylines of offseason workouts and training camp. My guess is he’ll get his fair share of opportunities to hone his craft rushing off the edge, even if it is split with reps as an off-ball linebacker. If he realizes his potential to do both, he could be a true difference-maker for the Eagles.

» READ MORE: An absolute baller, Swiss Army knife, hybrid: Eagles top pick Jihaad Campbell has a knack for fitting in.

As mentioned earlier, the Eagles making Mukuba the third-highest safety taken sets up a boom-or-bust situation over the next few seasons. It’s easy to see why they liked the player: He had excellent ball production last season at Texas, showed a good feel for zone coverages as a post safety, and plays with an edge that befits his new environment. Still, the nature of being the team to start a run at a position is the risk of passing on a better player.

I’d argue that a versatile offensive lineman to either compete for the starting right guard spot or serve as a swing tackle off the bench is the biggest need remaining for the Eagles, but the team is still somewhat thin at edge rusher, especially on early downs.

Even if Campbell contributes to the group, there aren’t any like-for-like replacements for Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham, who served as the bigger-bodied members of last year’s rotation. Nolan Smith is a good run defender despite his smaller frame for the position, but the Eagles may still need to add some heft between now and Week 1.

Reading through Williams’ scouting report, it’s easy to see why the Eagles thought the former Texas right tackle would be such a good fit to join Stoutland’s group.

» READ MORE: Eagles go on a run of selecting defensive players, then add O-line depth on Day 3 of the NFL draft

The 6-foot-6, 317-pound lineman had only one year of starting experience for the Longhorns and will turn just 22 in October, which helps explain some of the technique shortcomings he enters the NFL with.

Still, his blend of size and athleticism give him a chance to develop into a starter, which makes him exactly the type of player the Eagles should be willing to take a chance on given Stoutland’s track record identifying and developing players throughout his time with the team.