Eagles go up to get tight end Goedert at No. 49
PHILADELPHIA » The Philadelphia Eagles and their former kicker stuck it to Dallas by drafting a kid named after the Cowboys.
The Super Bowl champions selected tight end Dallas Goedert after trading up three spots in the second round to make their first pick in the draft. Six-time Pro Bowl kicker David Akers needled Cowboys fans when he made the announcement in their stadium.
“Hey Dallas, the last time you were in the Super Bowl, these draft picks weren’t born,” Akers shouted before announcing the selection.
After trading out of the first round Thursday night, the Eagles gave Indianapolis a second-round pick (No. 52) and fifth-round pick (No. 169) to get Goedert at No. 49. The 6-foot-5, 256-pound Goedert played four seasons at South Dakota State and is known for his pass-catching ability.
“Dallas is a blue-collar kid who works extremely hard. This was
a guy we felt dominated at that level,” said Joe Douglas, the executive vice president of player personnel. “He can separate at the top of routes and he’s a guy who is going to be a friend to the quarterback.”
The Eagles jumped ahead of the Cowboys with the trade, taking a player who could’ve been on their radar after tight end Jason Witten announced his retirement.
“We wanted to get one of the guys we had from yesterday’s list,” said Howie Roseman, the Eagles executive vice president of football operations.
Goedert had 72 catches for 1,111 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior after posting 92-1,293-11 as a junior. He’ll team with Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz to help Philadelphia’s offense create mismatches. The Eagles released veteran tight end Brent Celek and allowed Trey Burton to leave in free agency.
“It’s going to depth and competition to the position,” coach Doug Pederson said. “He’s a tremendous weapon we can utilize. It’s exciting to have a pick like this to add.”
Goedert shares the same agency with Carson Wentz, who went to North Dakota State.
“Carson has talked to us about him and he’s excited,” Roseman said.
The Eagles don’t have a third-round pick. They’ll enter Saturday with two picks in the fourth round and one each in the sixth and seventh. ARLINGTON, TEXAS » Maybe NFL teams got exhausted from scrambling to pick quarterbacks in the first round of the draft.
It took until the 76th overall slot Friday night, 44 picks after the last one, that Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph was selected by Pittsburgh. The Steelers get a big, strong-armed, highly competitive QB — yep, sounds a lot like incumbent Ben Roethlisberger, who is 36 and closing in on the end of his championship career.
“It’s not Ben’s job to teach me anything. It’s my job to learn,” said Rudolph, who added he dreamed of becoming a Steeler.
Pittsburgh has had little success with backups for Big Ben, with another Oklahoma product, Landry Jones, never approaching the Roethlisberger level.
When Oklahoma State played at Heinz Field last year and won 59-21, Rudolph threw for five touchdowns in the first half.
Five quarterbacks went on Thursday night, from top overall pick Baker Mayfield (coincidentally, a Sooner) to Lamar Jackson of Louisville at No. 32. Then, nothing. Until Rudolph, who was not on hand. Neither was LSU running back Derrius Guice when his name was called 59th overall by Washington. Guice was among the 22 players on hand for the opening round, but he cleared out after not being chosen. The Redskins grabbed him well after the hard-running power back had departed.
Three other players not taken in the first round, Texas tackle Connor Williams, Iowa cornerback Josh Jackson, and UCF linebacker Shaquem Griffin, did stick it out. Williams, who didn’t have far to go to be at home — he’s from the Dallas area — will be staying in Big D because the Cowboys chose him 50th. He could wind up at guard.
His selection drew the loudest cheers of the night at AT&T Stadium, in contrast to how the locals greeted Dallas’ firstrounder, Boise State linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, whose reception was cool at best.
“I was watching my phone and it got down to two minutes and I thought it had passed,” Williams said. “My phone starts with 972 so I knew it was a Dallas area code, and I thought this can’t be. I got on the phone and it was Cloud 9.
“It was definitely a roller coaster and it was up and down. But at the end of the day, it was all worth the wait. It was all worth it.”
Jackson went 45th to Green Bay, a place he could immediately be a starter even though he is not a speedster. He led FBS last year with eight interceptions.
“It goes back to his awareness and IQ for the game,” scout Alonzo Dotson said. “The speed never really worried us because he’s just so smart and he’s always in the right position to play the ball.”
Griffin, who had his left hand amputated when he was a child, has had a spectacular offseason since helping UCF to an undefeated year. He’s been a star at the combine and personal workouts, but having only one hand is clearly giving NFL teams pause.
Among the schools that had no one chosen in the first two rounds were Clemson, Michigan, Michigan State, Miami and Tennessee. Yet South Carolina State, Sam Houston State and South Dakota State each had a second-rounder.
The most fun came when the Super Bowl champion Eagles got back at the host Cowboys verbally.
When Philadelphia selected a South Dakota State tight end named Dallas Goedert — no kidding, Dallas — the choice was announced by six-time Pro Bowl kicker David Akers. He needled Cowboys fans.
“Hey Dallas, the last time you were in the Super Bowl, these draft picks weren’t born,” Akers shouted.
Last year at the draft in Philly, former Cowboys star Drew Pearson gave a rousing and hilarious speech about his team before announcing a pick.