Twenty-two questions.

 

Yesterday, GM Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni gave a pre-draft news conference.  There was a decent amount of information shared.  Below is the Q&A, followed by my take below that.

First 6 questions were for Howie…

1-      (Explain your thoughts on) The Trade with New Orleans:

• We were kind of looking at this year and next year, and the amount of picks we had in this years draft, and trying to kind of balance it a little bit for a variety of factors:
• When you look at having first round picks & the 5^th year option, and having that many guys on a 5^th year option. 
• Also, kind of balancing just scouting all the players in this year’s draft and next years draft, and having more options and more flexibility at all positions.
• Kind of getting a head start at looking at next years draft too, and seeing that it’s strong like this year’s draft, we thought it made sense. 
• Obviously from New Orleans standpoint we looked back, and there hadn’t really been a team that moved back that far for a first-round pick, so it made sense for them too, and hopefully a win-win situation.

2- How much specifically did the quarterback position, and being able to have the flexibility there for next year if you need it factor into the decision?

Yeah… we’re excited about Jalen Hurts.  We’re gonna support Jalen and want him to have a great career in Philly, and this was about flexibility for our team and about making sure we have resources to improve our team, for not only this year’s draft but next year’s draft and going forward… We thought it made a lot of sense.

3- When you look at certain positions in the draft… Defensive Back, Wide Receiver… Positions you really didn’t address too much in Free agency, how important do those picks become heading into the draft?  You know, is there a priority on those positions over the others?

You can’t really predict what other teams are going to do.  You can’t be in a situation where you have to do something.  Certainly, when you look at some of the mistakes that I’ve made personally, it’s because you try to force something.  You can only do what the board allows you to do.  There’s obviously a lot of time between now and when the first game starts for us to continue to address the needs of this team. 

We’ll go into the draft, and we’ll follow the board, and what we’ve had a lot of discussions, a lot of good discussions, about the players in this draft.  We just need to make sure we take the best players and not look at this draft as a short-term fix.

4- Brandon Brown, with the Giants, He was part of your draft process till February.  Now he’s on another team in the division.  How big a problem is that for your draft situation and is there any way to minimize it?  He knows a lot about what you’re thinking and what your priorities have been until February.  How do you handle that?

I think that’s part of what happens when you lose good people.  When you have good people around you, you try to embrace that, and have them as part of every discussion that’s going on, whether it’s about your team and your roster or about free agency or about the draft.  But, when you talk about February, too, there is that part of the process that the coaching staff hasn’t totally delved into it yet.  The final boards aren’t set.  You don’t have this kind of see-saw (completed).  You have the scouting and the tape, you also don’t have all the information such as the character, the intangibles and the testing.  So to say everything’s exactly the way it was as when he and Ian left… It’s not. 

Obviously, the coaches are a big part of our process, and really, the amount of work the coaches do is a huge of complementing the scouts, just like we talked about see-saw.  With the tape and testing, we also have the coaches balance it with how they see guys in their schemes.  We miss Brian and we miss Ian.  Happy for them and their families for the opportunity.  At the end of the day, whatever we’ve got to do for this team we’ll continue to do.

 5- Talking about positions of need, one in particular, Safety (at least apparent to us).  Typically, you go into the draft having those needs covered.  Are you comfortable with Anthony Harris and Marcus Epps, at least right now being your guys going forward?

We have other defensive backs there too.  We drafted Kavon Wallace.  We got 2 guys, we got Andre in here from Indy, we got Jarred Maiden here as well.  And that’s before the draft, and obviously we’ve got a long time till we play a game.  But we like those guys, that’s why we bought Anthony back, that’s why we signed him in the first place.  That’s why we drafted Kavon.  Marcus, he’s a guy who played a lot of football for us last year.  We’re excited about him too. I don’t know we necessarily perceive it the same way that you described.

6- This is about talking about the loss of Brandon (Brown).  You’ve said you have a better sense of the coaching staff and what they want in terms of players.  Is it fair to say that with those guys (Brandon and Ian) gone, the coaching staff, that their voice carries a little more weight in this draft process than last year?

No.  The coaching staff has always been our partners in this.  I think for us that’s the same as when Brandon and Ian were here.  I think for us that’s the same now… For coach and his staff, I think being part of the process and giving us their perspective is huge.  At the end of the day, as much as we like a player, if there’s not a scheme fit, if there’s not a role, if there’s not a vision, then it doesn’t matter.  Because we’re not down on that field, and I think the partnership we have with our coaching staff is special.  It’s been a really fun process, but the coaches also defer to the fact they’ve got to spend a lot of time and really know these guys really well.  Our scouting staff, our coaching staff, the amount of hours they put in together… I feel it’s very balanced in terms of the inputs from both those sides.”

 Next question was for Nick…

7- What side of the football, do you as the head coach think the team needs to improve more in the draft?

You’re always looking to make your team better as good as you possibly can.  You’re looking at all accounts.  I don’t think it’s fair for me to say, OK, offense is more important than defense (or vice versa).  We’re just looking to get our team better.  How do you do that… You do that with good players.  Again, you think about the players that you need and the players that you want.  I don’t think it’s fair for me to say right now (31 other teams would want me to give that answer to you).

One thing that is very important is obviously the talent of the player.  But also, the characteristics of the player.  Those are things that are there for you to find out in the scouting process: Do they have high football IQ?  Do they have good character?   Are they tough?  Those are things you can really see and find out… And then, in addition, do they love football and are they competitive?  I think I’ve said this before.  My experience is, guys that have those 5 traits (Toughness, Character, Competitiveness, Football IQ, Love of football) they maximize their potential.  And that’s what we want… Offensively, Defensively & Special Teams.

Back to Howie… 

8- What variables do you take into account with the draft process and injuries, specifically with Ojabo and Jamieson Williams?  How do you account for, maybe not just the physical recovery, but confidence and return to form?  

The more time you have between the injury and the draft, the more information you get.  So, for us, with Landon and the timing of that was a little different than with the timing with Sidney.  It allowed you to see more of the progress and where it was, based on the testing.  Obviously, 2 different positions & different injuries, so you take that all into account.  

And the value has to be right.  The value of the player and where he fits for us.  What kind of player you think that player was pre-injury and how base on our performance and our medical staff (who we have a lot of trust in) how they project that player to come back?  

The draft is guess work as it is.  You’re talking about taking guys, changing their environment… From college to the NFL… Putting money in their pocket, giving them more free time, changing schemes… And now you have another variable.  So you’ve got to balance that as well.

9- Uncertainty- The top of the draft… You’re 15, so you’ve got to deal with 14 picks.  It seems like this year it’s a little more uncertain when you look around the league.  Do you see that with the Board?  Like last year, Trevor was the consensus #1 pick.  Do you see more uncertainty this year?

We see maybe more the team’s uncertainty about who the particular teams are going to take, less so than who we think those players would be.

10- Those teams in front of you, do you have a better feel or a worse feel, (vs. a typical year) for what they think?  Is it more difficult? 

I think there’s consistency in the players we see going in the top 20.  A couple of those could change, but I don’t think it’s so drastically different in terms of the players that are going to go in the top 20.  Where it will start to change is after that.  You are going to see a lot of different boards.  Some guys that will go 21-51, where you begin picking into the 2nd round, you’ll see a lot of variables going into those picks.

11- I’ve seen a lot of comparisons between this draft and 2013.  You seem very sure about how you see the draft playing out.  You were able to navigate that draft, which turned out in the long run not to be very strong.  That endd up being one of your better drafts.  How do you about that in relation to this draft?

(Definitely a back handed compliment, appreciate that).  I think that people think about the 2013 draft because of the quarterback position.  If I remember correctly, Buffalo traded back in that draft and took EJ Manuel.  I think people are talking about this (2022 draft) and where will all the quarterbacks go.  When anyone ever talks about drafts, they start with the quarterbacks and the feeling that they are the anchor of any draft.  There’s some uncertainty about where the quarterbacks go in this draft.    We just go by our rankings and how we think is the right way to stack the board.  So we’ll be prepared to take our 15th player at 15, and our 18th player at 18.

12- Curious to get your take on the “boom” of wide receiver contracts of late, and how that shapes your value of drafting a wide receiver? 

Every year (it seems) a position kind of like becomes, I like that word ‘The Boom.” It’s kind of like a mining town, right.  Pass rushers, Offensive Linemen, and now you’ve got wide receivers.  We talked about this a little bit at the league meetings.  You’ve got to make your decision on what your priorities are on building the team and whether you’re gonna kind of go with the flow or whether you’re gonna figure out what’s the most important thing for your team and if there’s some value in being different.  And what, now, is kind of the next area.  Coach (Sirianni) and I talk about this all the time.  If we’re going to be the same as everybody else we’re probably going to finish in the middle of the pack.  Sometimes you’ve got to take risks and stand out there and do something different than everyone else.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t right decisions to make at that position.  At the same time, if you’re doing the same thing that everyone else is doing you’re probably a step late.

13- You’ve been very active on draft day with trades.  I’m curious about the process.  How much of that work happens before the draft?  How much are you crafting those trades as things go on.  How many different plans do you have?  How many people are involved in all that, and what that process is like?  

In the first round, we’ve always found it’s helpful to have those trades mapped out before-hand.  The way that goes isn’t like ‘Hey, we’re definitely doing this.’  It’s like if we’re moving up, if there is a player that we want that falls to that spot here’s what we would do.  We get on the trade compensation (table), so you pick up the phone and say ‘Hey, the guy is still there… Are you good?  So, the trade can be done.’  You’re not sitting there and going, ‘We think it should be this and this, and they think it should be this and this.’  It’s too hectic to do that in the first round.  

After the first round, it’s probably too hard to map those out.  When you get into the second round, third round and beyond, those things do happen on the clock because they’re simpler.  In the first round, all those conversations will be had before the fact.  Even our trade (for Devonta Smith) last year, we kind of set parameters of what that was, and so when we picked up the phone and called Dallas, we new what the trade was going to be and what the price was going to be.  We had discussed that.  That’s the easier way to go in the first round.  So you’re not in a situation where you’re scrambling.  Because there’s a lot to do when you’re in the first round.  You move up, you take a pick.  Now you’re on the clock.  Now you’ve got to get situated.  You’ve got to call in the trade, you’ve got to make sure your guy is there.  That’s how we do it.  My feeling is that’s how a lot of teams do it just based on conversation(s) we’ve had throughout the years.  It just makes it flow easier.

14- How many different (draft trade) scenarios do you have, ready to go, ready to spring, if it works out?

We have 2 picks.  You’re planning every scenario… Who you’d move up for?  Who you’d be really comfortable staying (at the current slot)?  How many players you’d be comfortable staying (I think here Howie means how many players might be available in the Eagles pre-trade slot if they do not move up) and what are tiers you’d move back for and (then after moving back) what you would take?  There’s a price where it does not make sense to move back either- We’re not going to move back 10 picks (in the first round) for a fifth-round pick. So, at the end of the day, you go through all those and you have a really good sense of what you want to do.

I think for us and New Orleans that was one of the comforts of the trade.  We both knew what we’d be comfortable (moving) for.  It didn’t really matter what the trade chart said.  They were comfortable with the deal.  We were comfortable with the deal.  Those are the best trades.

  

15- Are there lessons you can take away from your picks of that last couple years?  You’ve talked about how hard they are to evaluate.  Is there something you can take away from the last few years?

You’re constantly evaluating from the things you did wrong.  And you also want to learn from the things you did right.  And the lessons you had from them.  We discussed that a lot, the scenarios where we’ve done good things.  Obviously, this is a hard process and you’re going to mess things up.  What can you learn from those picks that didn’t work out.  With Jalen (Reagor), obviously, he gets a lot of attention in this city.   He’s working his butt off.  When you look back (we were having this conversation this morning with our strength and conditioning staff) that was a hard year for some guys.  You had (the problems associated with) COVID.  You didn’t have an off-season program.  Sometimes, the book isn’t necessarily written on all those guys. 

16- (Linebackers) Devin Lloyd and Nakobe Dean… Why do you feel like the value seems to be going down with those guys and with the position do you foresee it being cyclical and it being up there?

There’s different guys and that position and when you talk about off ball linebackers their value in the passing game is important.  There are different values (valuations?) in the passing game.  Obviously, pressure on the quarterback, being able to blitz, to create pressure is important.  Being able to match mirror routes.  Being able to make plays in the passing game is an important part of that too.  Being instinctive.  

You are talking about really good players you just mentioned.  I don’t know about the attention in the media, but this is a good linebacking class, and I think there will be a lot of good (linebacking) players to come out (in this draft).

17- In first rounds in your career as a GM, you’ve done better in pre #14 picks vs. post #14.  Clearly that’s going to happen more often than not, but have you done a study saying that you guys are in the norm, vis-à-vis the rest of the league or is there something that happens in round 1 when you guys get past that pick (#14)?

I hope we’re picking in the late twenties and early thirties as much as possible, but when you look at the history of the draft and you break it down into (groups like) 1-10, 11-20, 21-32 the hit rate is going to naturally decrease.  Why is that… Well, I don’t know there’s any draft or that you’d find any team in the league where there are 32 first round grades on guys… 32 blue players, 32 potential pro bowlers.  That’s never going to happen.  So in every draft there is a cut-off on difference makers.  That doesn’t mean you’ll always be right on those difference makers.  Think about all the top 10 picks that have not worked.  But usually, those guys that have such unique skill sets, such unique tools in their body, they have a different chance to hit than other guys.  The higher you pick, the better chance you have of getting a player that has the full complement of skill sets: Good production, good tools in their body, good character.  Those guys go really quick on draft day.  As you go through the draft, first round, second round, third round, fourth round fifth round it gets harder just naturally because the funnel gets smaller.  

I had this conversation with one of maybe the greatest GM’s in NFL history on a beach a long time ago.  Ten years ago, my draft board and your draft board were going to be different.  We had scouts go to these small school places.  (I don’t even know if it’s 10 years ago anymore… Fifteen Years ago!).  So the top 100 players on my board, you may have 75 of those guys.  But now, we’re basically in the information age, where now everyone really knows who the players are, who the top 100 players are going to be.  It doesn’t mean we necessarily have them in the same order.  But there’s not as many surprises, not as many (exclamations of) ‘Wow, I don’t know where that guy came from.’

We were talking in our draft meetings, I know that in 2007 or 2008 we were watching guys (using discs in the computer), going thru guys, Andy Studebaker, Ryan Grigson brought us a DVD of Andy Studebaker.  That was the first look at Andy Studebaker before we gave it to Doc and put it into the system.  Well, that is not happening anymore.  Everyone is going to know that guy (now).  I think the process has changed.  What’s my point in all this?  At the end of the day what we’re saying is everyone is getting all this information.  So, (for example), whoever we take in the third round, you are going to know (who they are). You may not have a couple of years ago (Chris GoCong, you look for.  Oh man, I gotta find Cal Poly stuff).  All this information is at your fingertips and it makes everything narrower and your margin for error narrower.

A second question for Nick…

18- What’s your personal approach to scouting?  How familiar do you get with all the prospects?  How hands on are you in the meetings?

I like to watch as many guys as I can.  Knowing my expertise is more on the offensive side, that doesn’t mean I’m not watching the defensive side, but my expertise is more on that (offensive) side, especially with the skill players (quarterbacks, receivers, tight ends, running backs).  But, I feel like I’m able to give a good perspective on the defensive players as well, from the sense of what it’s like for an offensive coach to game plan against (those defensive guys… Also…) What is it like for this offensive coach to game plan against this defensive coach). 

I want to try and get my eyes on as many guys as possible knowing where my expertise (is).  As far as knowing the player I think that’s really important.  Obviously, I can’t talk to every single player in the draft, but I want to be involved in as many of the Zooms as I possibly can and be involved in the ’30 visits’ as they come in here.  The Combine interviews, the senior bowl interviews, because I want to know that person as well, and how that fits in for us.

  

Back to Howie…

19- Jeffrey had mentioned at the owners meeting the importance of psychological testing as part of this evaluation.  Can you take us into that process as much as you kind, what you’re looking for and Nick, being at a couple of previous stops, what you see here that’s different for that component?

We try to dig deep into the background and the character.  The first credit for that goes to our scouts.  All the guys that are on the road all year, they do a tremendous job of being experts in their (assigned) school and in their (assigned) players.  They’re the ones to alert us to some guys that we may need to spend some extra time with.  

All you guys know Dom.  There is nobody better in the NFL than Dom Desandro about getting to the bottom of guys and figuring out guys and talking to guys, understanding who are risks and who are fits for this team.  He knows our team backwards and forwards.  He knows the players that fit for our culture, our team, and our city. 

Very fortunate to have those 2 pieces.  We have experts who do talk to the guys we have questions on and try and get to the bottom of it.  Coach and I can think we’re good interviewing players, but at the end of the day we didn’t go to school for it.  We don’t have that area of expertise.  We try to do that (use other experts when deemed necessary).  We try to do a player evaluation and we try to do a character evaluation on all these guys.  Some of them are easy, really easy.  It’s not too hard to figure out a 3-time captain in the SEC.  Devante didn’t take too long to figure out, right!  Landon didn’t take long to figure out.  But some of these guys, they’re complicated.  So we spend a lot of time talking about them, and getting as much background (information), and talking to as many experts s we can to try to figure out the person as much as the player.

A third and fourth question for Nick-

 

20- Just to follow up on the question before,  last year at this time you were a head coach for the first time getting your feet on the ground.  Has there been an evolution for you and your staff in this process?  Is it a little bit easier the second time around?

Of course, because you’re not going through the process for the first time together.  One thing I know that coaches in my past have prepared me for is to be able to clearly define what you see and how you are going to use a player.  The thing that has made it easier is that you guys (scouts) already know how were going to use guys.  That doesn’t mean you don’t continue to have those conversations and that they don’t change a little bit here and there.  You are constantly changing your process.  You’re constantly changing, tweaking it to make it better.  Those conversations (continue to) happen.  Mostly, the conversations of ‘hey, this is how we would use player with this skill set… here’s how we would use him… here’s (an example of) a player in the past… we’ve had those.  

So, we’re just continuing to build on that (which) we started last year.

21- Off season programming question regarding schedules (teaching, conditioning, rhythms?)

Everything we do is thought out with players health and safety in mind.  That is one thing we felt like we did a good job last year, staying healthy.  For different reasons and different thoughts, everybody’s voice is going into it (knowing) I need to determine what the final decision is. (Again), we really felt like we benefited from some of those things we did last year.  The time length of the things that we did, we felt like we were able to get what we needed to get done in those weeks we had (allotted) last year.  We know we’re going to be in person more this time.  We’re going to see them more face-to-face this time.  We just want to do what we feel is comfortable for the players health and safety while also getting done what we needed to get done.  We feel that is where we are and we’re comfortable with the amount of time that we are spending in this off season.

Eagles Lessons:  Here’s a dozen items to consider from the above press conference…

On drafting in general- “You can’t be in a situation where you have to do something.  Certainly, when you look at some of the mistakes that I’ve made personally, it’s because you try to force something.  You can only do what the board allows you to do.”  So Reagor was a reach?  So Howie will stay true to his board? 

On Draft period pilfering from the Front Office (The loss of co-directors of player personnel Branden Brown to the NY Giants {assistant GM} and Ian Cunningham to the Bears Front Office in January) - Howie stayed positive saying he was “happy for them & their families for the opportunity.”  But what went unsaid was the timing of these moves that was clearly disruptive to the Eagles so soon before the draft, and, even worse, brought proprietary Eagle information to those 2 clubs.   Roseman did not reiterate his prior words mentioned during the NFL scouting combine, but his words at that time “the timing of this, which I think it's something maybe that we have to talk about going forward, about losing guys during this draft process.”  Actions speak even louder… the Eagles/Bucs/Ravens/Bills proposed a new NFL rule that was implemented allowing "secondary football executive position” movement only after the draft.

Thin Eagle roster positions (Safety)- “we’ve got a long time till we play a game.” Steve Nelson was signed last year in late July.  Trades, including draft trades for veterans, are also possible.  Patience is a virtue. 

On re-emphasis on what the Eagles are seeking in players… Per Nick, “Toughness, Character, Competitiveness, Football IQ, Love of football.”  Per Howie, “Good production, good tools in their body, good character.” 

On Drafting injured players- “The more time you have between the injury and the draft, the more information you get… And the value has to be right.”  This is not a positive refrain for the Eagles to consider Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams or Michigan Defensive End David Ojabo with a premium pick, both of whom were injured after the College Football regular season.

On the top of the 2022 draft- Howie feels he knows who the top 20 players will be, just not quite sure where they’ll go.  He’s less certain about the board for picks 21-51.  He must value those top 20: “So we’ll be prepared to take our 15^th player at 15, and our 18^th player at 18.”

Zig when others Zag- “Sometimes you’ve got to take risks and stand out there and do something different than everyone else.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t right decisions to make at that position.  At the same time, if you’re doing the same thing that everyone else is doing you’re probably a step late.” I believe this reinforces the thought the Eagles will pursue a wide receiver with a premium pick in this draft, rather than “following the crowd” in the pursuit and even re-signing of wideouts at great cost.

On 1^st round moves- Howie indicated most of these are pre-negotiated ahead of time, and those pre-negotiated trade possibilities get used (or not) depending on how the board falls for both teams.  Clearly, many scenarios are possible for each pick (Move Up, Stay put, Move down), and even then, you are not done (Last year, the Eagles moved back from 6 to 10, THEN up from 10 to 8). 

On Mistakes- “With Jalen (Reagor), obviously, he gets a lot of attention in this city.   He’s working his butt off...  Sometimes, the book isn’t necessarily written on all those guys.”  Howie still believes Reagor can turn it around.  It’s possible.  Years ago, it frequently took till the 3^rd year for a wide receiver to mature.

On LBs- “This is a good linebacking class, and I think there will be a lot of good (linebacking) players to come out (in this draft).”

On psychological testing- Sounds like the Eagles use a 3-tiered approach.  The first credit for that goes to our scouts… They’re the ones to alert us to some guys that we may need to spend some extra time with...  Dom Desandro about getting to the bottom of guys and figuring out guys and talking to guys, understanding who are risks and who are fits for this team.  He knows our team backwards and forwards.  He knows the players that fit for our culture, our team, and our city... We have experts who do talk to the guys we have questions on. We try to do that” (use other experts when deemed necessary).