PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — “Everything” — that’s what Merrill Reese, the voice of the Eagles, likes about the team’s pick in the first round of the NFL Draft.
The Eagles traded up two picks — giving arch-rival Dallas a third-round selection and jumping another foe, the Giants — and selected Heisman Trophy-winning Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith.
Reese applauded Smith’s route running, speed and hands. WIP Sportsradio’s Ray Didinger is just as impressed.
“I think he, as they say, checks all the boxes, and I think the Philadelphia Eagles fans should be very, very happy today,” Didinger said. “Anybody that watched Alabama this year, you saw him just put on a show.”
It sounds like Smith is happy to be in Philadelphia as well.
“I heard the fans are wild,” Smith said Friday on The WIP Morning Show. “It’s a blue-collar city where the fans just love football, and that’s a place that you want to be.”
Not only did the Eagles get an exciting, promising playmaker in Smith, but the team did so while evidently spoiling the New York Giants’ hopes of landing Smith at No. 11.
Didinger said the Eagles lucked out. For Didinger and Reese, they say the key was the Denver Broncos’ selection of Alabama corner Patrick Surtain II at No. 9 — one pick ahead of Dallas at No. 10.
The Cowboys apparently had their eyes set on Surtain. When he was off the board, the Eagles swooped in and made the trade with Dallas, who took Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons at No. 12. Because Smith was taken, the Giants traded back to No. 20.
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“Give (general manager) Howie Roseman credit,” Didinger said. “He realized what he had to do. He seized the opportunity and made the trade, and the Eagles bring a Heisman Trophy winner to Philadelphia. And I think that he’s a player that’s gonna have a big-time career. I think he’s a very, very special talent.”
Critics have frequently questioned Smith’s size — 6 feet tall, 170 pounds. Reese and Didinger don’t think it’s a problem.
“Don’t worry about that at all,” Reese assured.
“It never slowed him down in college,” Didinger added. “And this isn’t a guy who played at a small school. He’s been playing with the big boys. He played at Alabama. He played in the SEC.”