Looking forward to Howie Roseman, Andy Weidl, and Nick Sirianni talking about the Eagles’ draft | Early Birds
They are scheduled to speak with reporters Wednesday about the NFL draft, which runs April 29-May 1.
Greetings and salutations! Though Wednesday is no longer Wentz-day in the Eagles’ lexicon, this one is notable. General manager Howie Roseman, player personnel vice president Andy Weidl, and new head coach Nick Sirianni are scheduled to speak with reporters about the NFL draft, which runs April 29-May 1.
More on that momentarily. First, if you like what you’re reading, tell your friends it’s free to sign up here. I want to know what you think, what we should add, and what you want to read, so send me feedback on Twitter @lesbowen.
— Les Bowen ([email protected])
Talking heads in concert
There will be a lot to discuss with Roseman, Weidl, and Sirianni on Zoom. This could be an era-defining draft for the rebuilding Eagles, who are scheduled to draft 12th overall in the first round and four times in the first three rounds. They hold 11 selections in the seven-round draft.
If past such sessions are any indication, questioners will encounter frustration. Of course, teams don’t answer questions such as “Who do ya like in the first round?” But the paranoia level of the NFL is so high that such innocuous stuff as “How do you rate this linebacker group?” sometimes gets a nebulous, noncommittal answer.
But we don’t know anything yet about how the organization’s draft approach might change with Sirianni as the head coach and Jonathan Gannon as the defensive coordinator, and those questions need to be asked and answered. Are linebackers a bigger priority to this regime? Are running backs? Does Sirianni want to employ a fullback? What qualities does he prioritize in a wide receiver?
What has Roseman learned from a string of unimpressive drafts since Super Bowl LII? How does Weidl feel about the limitations the pandemic placed on scouting this time around? Is Roseman less likely to take a gamble on a player with medical questions, given how cursed by injury the Eagles seem to have been the past few seasons, and in particular, how badly the Sidney Jones pick worked out?
Whatever the answers are, we’ll have them covered here on Inquirer.com.
What you need to know about the Eagles
Marcus Hayes, in a shocker, does not have high expectations for what we will be hearing from the Eagles’ brain trust.
Paul Domowitch and Ben Fennell continue with the eighth of their 11,000-part — wait, oops, mistyped there, 11-part series previewing positions in the draft. This time, defensive tackles.
Yours truly writes about Caleb Farley, a big, fast, physical cornerback who might not go as high as originally projected in the draft, partly because of a recent back procedure.
Speaking of cornerbacks, Domo spoke with one former Eagles corner and one possible future Eagles corner — Asante Samuel Sr. and Jr. — about young Asante’s aspirations and promise.
Eagles players, like most of the union membership, will not be present for voluntary on-field work this spring.
From the mailbag
What’s Danny Watkins up to these days? — @thenerdtrucker on Twitter
Pertinent question, since this is the 10-year anniversary of the time the Eagles took a 26-year-old Baylor offensive lineman 23rd overall in the first round, only to find that Watkins’ heart was still in the firefighting career he abandoned when he was encouraged to pursue football at a California junior college.
Several weeks ago, when I started thinking about stories I wanted to do in advance of the 2021 draft, this was one of them. I wondered if Watkins — last heard from as a firefighter in Frisco, Texas, several years ago — had any regrets from his remarkably unsuccessful three-year NFL interlude. Through an intermediary, Watkins declined to speak with me, which I thought was a shame.
By all accounts, Watkins had prodigious talent — size, strength, speed, quickness — but having played only left tackle at Baylor, and not having taken up football until age 21, he had no instincts, no technique, no idea what to do inside as an NFL guard. Then-offensive line coach Howard Mudd observed that when Watkins was faced with a situation he hadn’t seen, and had to decide on his own what to do, he invariably chose wrong. And worse, he wasn’t motivated to fix this.
It seemed to me that when Watkins realized he had a lot to learn and would need to apply himself completely to have any hope of being even a decent player, he withdrew. He kept showing up every day and collecting his paycheck, but as Mudd — who has since passed away — related to Sports Illustrated in 2014, when he would ask Watkins if he had studied the film Mudd assigned him, the answer was always no.
The SI story painted Watkins somewhat sympathetically, as someone who just wanted to pursue his true calling, in the firehouse. I know that teammates who went to bat for Watkins when coaches lit into him came to feel he had conned them. How does Watkins see himself? Maybe someday we’ll find out.