It took a trade back, a trade up and a trade with the Dallas Cowboys, but the end result was a home run by Howie Roseman and the Eagles.
The Eagles selected Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith with the No. 10 overall pick on Thursday night, giving them the elite, No. 1 receiver prospect they have spent the last few seasons looking for.
Yes, Smith — like any draft prospect — comes to the Eagles with some questions. At 166-pounds he will have some adjusting to do when it comes to the bigger cornerbacks in the NFL.
With Day 1 of the draft now in the books, however, is hard to look at the Eagles selection of Smith as anything other than an outstanding outcome for a franchise that after a rough offseason was in desperate need of some good news.
In Smith the Eagles landed arguably the most pro-ready receiver in the draft, and unlike most rookies the team has drafted in recent years, his skillset sets him up to contribute right away. Smith comes to the NFL as an outstanding route runner that has shown he can consistently win at the line of scrimmage, creating space at the snap and then using his speed to create separation.
Smith's ability to win right away should be even more beneficial in the NFL than it was in college. Cornerbacks are allowed to be far more physical in college than they are in the NFL, where the rules are designed to help the passing game. Now, if Smith wins consistently at the snap like he did at Alabama, it is going to be even tougher for cornerbacks to stick with him.
Smith also brings one of the best sets of hands the Eagles have had on the roster at receiver in a long time. The Heisman winner dropped only seven passes on 314 targets in four seasons, a drop rate of just 2.2%. To put that in perspective, LSU's Ja'Marr Chase dropped 10 passes in 163 targets and Smith's teammate Jaylen Waddle dropped seven in 131. In fact, while Smith dropped only seven passes on 314 targets, every other receiver in the draft with at least 200 targets had at least 10-plus drops, giving Smith arguably the best hands in the draft.
As exciting a prospect Smith is, how they got him is also what makes the pick such a home run for the franchise.
While talent evaluation is a critically important part of drafting, knowing how to read the board and collecting good information is also important. Howie Roseman twice read the board perfectly on his way to getting Smith.
The Eagles started the 2021 NFL Draft with the No. 6 pick before moving down to No. 12 in exchange for a 2022 first-round pick. By moving down a month before the draft Roseman appeared to be making a risky bet that neither Florida's Kyle Pitts or LSU's Ja'Marr Chase would be available to them at No. 6. Sure enough, both went inside of the top five, meaning Roseman's decision to trade down and land the extra first-round pick in 2022 proved to be the right one.
After moving down from No. 12, Roseman had to figure out when to potentially move back up, a decision that was complicated by two division rivals sitting right in front of him at No. 10 and No. 11. With Smith sitting on the board at No. 10, Roseman overpaid to move up from No. 12 to land Smith, jumping in front of the Giants, betting they were planning on taking the player the Eagles wanted. Sure enough, after the Eagles selected Smith, the Giants immediately traded down and took a receiver at No. 20 — confirmation that had Roseman not moved up the Giants would have selected Smith.
Like with every draft, and with every draft pick, we won't know for sure if the moves on Thursday night will end up helping the Eagles on the field for a few seasons.
Right now, however, Roseman turning the No. 6 pick into both Smith and a 2022 first-round pick certainly seems to be some masterful maneuvering by the general manager.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
