Brian Baldinger made it clear -- he is not of fan of what the Philadelphia Eagles did in the 2020 NFL Draft.
"I think they just fell in love with analytics to be honest with you," the RADIO.COM NFL Insider told Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie on Tuesday's 94WIP Midday Show.
"Whoever is running the analytics department, they must be paying him a lot of money. That's what this looks like. It looks like just an analytics driven draft top to bottom, all the way through including (linebacker) Davion Taylor. I don't care how fast he is. Speed is a great thing. Howie talked about speed, speed, speed. That's great if you're on the field and you know how to use it, but I mean if you're just developing it doesn't do you any good."
The most perplexing decision Howie Roseman and his staff made, at least according to Baldy, was selecting WR Jalen Reagor with the 21st overall pick over WR Justin Jefferson.
"I don't even know how they made that pick," Baldinger said of the Reagor selection. "The Minnesota Vikings spit their teeth out when they passed on Justin Jefferson. It's not close. If the Eagles think over there at NovaCare that Justin Jefferson is a slot receiver, they didn't do their homework.
"There wasn't a more productive player in college football than Justin Jefferson. Elite route runner, the best route runner in this draft. Nobody could slow him down! Kenneth Murray? You want Kenneth Murray? The Chargers, they traded back in the first round to go get Kenneth Murray. You put the green on that kid's helmet and you let him go run your defense. Jim Schwartz had to be ticked they passed on Justin Jefferson and they passed on Kenneth Murray.
"And it's not a knock on Jalen Reagor, but he had drops last year, he was not a productive player last year," Baldinger continued. "And you could say anything you want. He did not run well at the combine and why he didn't run well? That's the only thing he had to do was run well at the combine, so there's no excuses."
Baldinger does not believe Reagor will have a full-time role in the offense, at least in 2020.
"I like the kid, don't get me wrong," he said of Reagor. "I know him and I like him. He's not a big guy, kind of a gadget player. I think he's got a long way to go to become an every down wide receiver."
As for Philadelphia's polarizing second-round selection of QB Jalen Hurts, Baldinger likes the player, but isn't sure it was the best pick for the Eagles. Hurts, according to to Baldy, feels like an insurance policy on Carson Wentz, who has played in just nine snaps over the team's last six playoff games.
"I actually thought that they should do it (draft Hurts) back in March, but that was before they took Jalen Reagor," Baldinger explained. "I like Jalen Hurts, I want him on my football team, I want him in my quarterback room. He's incredible competitor, really smart, an improving player with a ton of ability.
Related: Roseman admits talking with Wentz about Hurts was 'uncomfortable'
"We're not talking about Taysom Hill here," Baldinger said. "They might have a small package for him where he can run some read option and do some of that kind of stuff maybe, but I don't want to take the ball out of Carson's hands. I think the best scenario this year, honestly, is if he doesn't have to take a snap and he's just a guy who is gonna slice up the defense throughout the week in practice, make those guys better."
There's only one rookie who Baldinger believes will contribute in a major way, immediately.
"The one guy that you could see really contributing immediately is K'Von Wallace," Baldinger said. "He looks like a football player. You could cover, you could hit, and you could stay healthy. I believe K'Von Wallace can play. To me, that looked like a good pick. I could see K'Von Wallace helping this team out the first week in September when they kick off."
