Howie Roseman finally gets an NFL draft win, foils the Giants again | Marcus Hayes

Howie Roseman killed it. Must be the 11th time’s the charm.

After years of drafting mistakes and mediocrity, the Eagles’ general manager since 2010 (except 2015) finally got it right in 2021. He read the room, traded back, got a first-round pick, traded back up, and still got Alabama playmaker DeVonta Smith, the most NFL-ready offensive player since … well, since Roseman made the fatal mistake last year of passing on Justin Jefferson and drafting Jalen Reagor.

But hey, bygones.

Smith won the Heisman Trophy. Then he won the national championship game, essentially by himself, with 12 receptions for 215 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone, before a hand injury. And now the Eagles, and Roseman, have won the lottery.

» READ MORE: Eagles draft DeVonta Smith: What you need to know about the Alabama wide receiver

Roseman last month traded his No. 6 pick for the Dolphins’ No. 12 and their first-rounder next season. They sent the No. 12 and a third-round pick to Dallas to move back to No. 10, where they not only picked Smith but foiled the Giants — again.

”It’s not a big deal,” growled Giants GM Dave Gettleman, through clenched teeth, with active malice. (It was a big deal.).

Smith wasn’t the most alluring offensive player in the draft: That was freakish Florida tight end Kyle Pitts. Smith wasn’t the surest bet at receiver; that was LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase. But neither of those issues mattered, since Pitts went fourth and Chase went fifth, and so would not have been available at No. 6.

What mattered: Roseman figured that Smith plus a first-round pick in 2022 were more valuable than Jaylen Waddle, whom he could have drafted at No. 6.

Now, all Roseman and the Eagles have to do is pray.

They did, after all, cost themselves a shot at Cheetah 2.0.

They did, after all, leave the best defensive player on the board.

Waddle could be the next Tyreek Hill. Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons, whom the Cowboys took with that No. 12 pick, could be the next Ray Lewis.

» READ MORE: Was drafting DeVonta Smith a do-over for Jalen Reagor, or in line with the Eagles’ draft philosophy? | Jeff McLane

The Smith comparables?

Maybe DeSean Jackson. He’s got Jackson’s deep-ball potency — 44 catches of 15 yards or more in 2020 alone — the trait that made Jackson the most dangerous player in the NFL for a decade. Smith declined to run a 40-yard dash at Alabama’s pro day. Smart. It would not be anywhere near as fast as Jackson’s 4.35.

Maybe Marvin Harrison, who averaged 103 catches, 1,402 yards, and 12.6 TDs from 1999-2006 with the Colts. Harrison was about 20 pounds heavier than Smith, who reportedly weighs 166 pounds, not the 170 he claims. Of course, the NFL protects receivers so vigorously that Howie could play for 10 years and not get hurt. Smith declined to be weighed at his pro day, too. Get that man a cheesesteak.

The good news: The draft doesn’t produce clones. Just comps.

Roseman better pray that Waddle doesn’t turn into Hill. Not after Roseman passed on DK Metcalf in the second round in 2019 and chose JJ Arcega-Whiteside. Not after Roseman passed on Jefferson last year and watched him accumulate a rookie-record 1,400 receiving yards, or 1,004 more than Reagor.

Hill has been among the top five receivers in the NFL the past four seasons despite his 5-foot-10, 185-pound frame, almost identical to Waddle’s. Waddle didn’t officially run a 4.29-second 40-yard dash like Hill did before the 2016 draft — he was still hindered by an ankle injury that cost him most of the 2020 season — but he’s been seen running step-for-step with Henry Ruggs, whose 4.27-second run at the 2020 combine pushed him to No. 12 in 2020, the first receiver taken.

And, of course, there’s the Parsons issue.

» READ MORE: Eagles draft Alabama WR DeVonta Smith after trading up with Cowboys for No. 10 pick

Imagine the locals’ dismay if Parsons, from Harrisburg and State College, becomes an instant star, within the division, for Philadelphia’s most hated opponent in any sport, the Dallas Bleepin’ Cowboys.

That dismay would be offset by, say, 44 more catches of at least 15 yards from DeVonta “Slim Reaper” Smith.

Perhaps the sweetest byproduct of the evening:

By moving from No. 12 to No. 10, Roseman leapfrogged the Giants at No. 11, where the Giants were expected to draft Smith. The Giants then traded with the Bears, who surrendered their 2022 first-round pick for the right to draft Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, and moved back to No. 20. There, the Giants reached a bit for fast Florida receiver Kadarius Toney, who widely was considered to be a late-20s to early-second-round pick.

It was the second time this year the Eagles ruined the Giants’ day.

In the season finale against Washington, former coach Doug Pederson assured an Eagles defeat by replacing starting quarterback Jalen Hurts with Nate Sudfeld. The win by Washington that evening knocked the Giants out of the playoffs.