Jeffrey Lurie defends Howie Roseman’s shaky draft record, citing players taken just before the Eagles picked in recent years | Early Birds

Good morning, Eagles fans! Just when you thought the Early Birds newsletter was going to a once-a-week schedule, we come crashing into your inbox with an emergency edition. We’re here for good reason, as the Eagles and Doug Pederson parted ways Monday, prompting a news conference with team owner Jeffrey Lurie that raised eyebrows for a multitude of reasons. More on that later.

The Eagles’ coaching search begins in earnest now with Pederson likely plotting out his next move as well. Even though the Eagles are behind the other five organizations that have head-coaching vacancies, don’t expect things to move quickly in the coming weeks. The Eagles were patient and methodical when hiring Pederson back in 2016, and Lurie suggested they would take a similarly methodical approach this time.

“If we find a head coach soon or it’s early February, it’s totally great,” Lurie said. “If we’re the last team picking a head coach, that’s great, too, because then you have all the opportunity in the world. There’s no rush. There’s no pressure. There’s nothing that should drive you from a decision based on just rational thought and careful analysis and getting to know the person as best you can.”

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According to Lurie, the Eagles’ spotty draft record in recent years isn’t as black-and-white as it might seem.

For those of you searching for the reasons why the team hasn’t drafted a Pro Bowl player outside of Carson Wentz since 2013, you might have to wait until Lurie’s next book deal.

“Luckily for me, I sit there and I get to see exactly what took place and takes place,” he said regarding the team’s draft strategy each offseason. “Maybe someday I’ll write a book about it, but you can’t really talk publicly about what could have been and all that. There are mistakes made and they have to be improved, corrected, and I expect us to have that success. We’ve certainly had the success on the field that has to be in every aspect of the organization.”

Lurie’s unique perspective on the Eagles front office’s draft boards has seemingly left him with a different opinion from most about Howie Roseman’s ability to evaluate talent. Multiple times during Lurie’s Monday news conference, he mentioned the team’s draft boards being good representations of the talent available in the draft and pointed to prospects coming off the board earlier than the team’s pick as an overlooked factor in the lack of young talent.

Even with a general shortage of elite production from any of the team’s first-round picks in the last several years, Lurie is convinced the team’s “process” is still a good one.

”There’s mistakes, but what I have to look at is the process and I have to look at the performance over time but most importantly I have to look at the process,” he said. “If we are not identifying the best players leading up to a selection in the draft, then that’s a problem. If we are identifying the best players but they get taken two, three, four, five picks ahead of us, that’s also part of the evaluation. That’s part of understanding the process. Understanding the details. And so I always have to make the tough decision of: are we getting it right? Where are we getting it wrong? Where are the decisions being made that may cause us to — once we didn’t get the three players that we really wanted right there, they just got taken, what’s caused that next selection that may not have been maximized?”

Of course, Roseman drafted JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Jalen Reagor ahead of DK Metcalf and Justin Jefferson in consecutive years, so this argument doesn’t completely track. The team missed out on CeeDee Lamb in last year’s draft by four picks, but Jefferson was the best receiver in the class this season and went one pick after the team chose Reagor.

In the first round of the 2019 draft, the team took Andre Dillard a few picks before Washington edge rusher Montez Sweat and Ravens receiver Marquise Brown.

The Eagles did miss out on Saints Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore by three picks in 2017 when they took Derek Barnett, but it’s worth noting Ravens All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey went two picks after Dillard. The most notable missed opportunity might be Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, who went two picks before Sidney Jones in 2017. The Eagles were reportedly high on Cook, but instead went with the injury-prone corner who was released last training camp.

While Lurie said there is plenty of room for improvement, he defended the team’s draft record in recent years somewhat consistently.

“You take whichever organization you want and look at it over a multiyear period, you’re going to see highs and lows of drafting, you’re going to see highs and lows of free-agent acquisition, and you’re going to have to make your own determination of, ‘Do they have the right people in the building?’ ” Lurie said. “Is that two years of not having good first-round picks, is that related to people in the building or is that because the two players that they actually were going to draft got taken just before and they are All-Pro players in the league? I have to be much more in-depth and complex about the analysis.”

My greatest fear is that the organization will use the 6th pick to draft a QB. Do you think that is more or less likely with a new head coach? — from Art Vandelay (@Art_Vandelay44) on Twitter

Good question, Art. I would say Pederson’s firing makes it slightly less likely the Eagles will take a quarterback, simply because the chances of Wentz coming back increase now that Pederson’s gone. Whether you believe the reports that Wentz’s relationship with the coach was fractured or not, the team would have had a hard time bringing both guys back and now Wentz is the last one standing.

That doesn’t mean Wentz couldn’t still be traded, but it’s at least a little less likely. The next coach could be brought in to fix the former franchise quarterback, depending on whom they hire. If the Eagles go with someone such as Lincoln Riley, I could see them turning things over to Hurts and moving on from Wentz. If they go with a “quarterback whisperer” such as Brian Daboll or Arthur Smith, I could very much see them going all in on restoring Wentz.

Regardless of whom they hire, there’s always a chance the value proposition of adding a player such as Justin Fields or another quarterback they fall in love with in the predraft process will lead them to making your greatest fear a reality.