Douglas gives size, substance to war room

No one knows exactly how the Eagles will react next Thursday when the lights go on for the NFL Draft at the Art Museum.

All it takes is one team trading up in the first round to lay waste to the best-kept draft boards, triggering resets and more deals and opening the door for quick thinkers to score the player they “never dreamed would be there.”

And so it is for Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas, the vice president of player personnel, as they work their first draft together.

Douglas is in charge of setting the draft board and rank-

players, though obviously there is input from scouts and Roseman.

Douglas, who has the size to match a pro lineman, hasn’t even been with the organization a year and here he is in the spotlight looking a lot like the bodyguard of the diminutive Roseman.

Two guys who hardly knew each other are spending more hours together getting ready for a draft than they do with their families.

Exactly how do they make that work?

“It’s about the team,” Roseman said. “That’s really since Day One what he’s talked about. It’s a necessity to do that so it puts ego aside. Since he’s been here, have we done everything I’ve wanted to do? No. Have we done everything he wants to do? No. But have we done everything right for the Philadelphia Eagles? Yes. We play off each other’s

strengths. His strengths play off my weaknesses. My weaknesses play off his strengths. Is that right?”

Not exactly, but it’s a confusing time of the year for management.

What’s clear is scoring receivers Alshon Jeffrey and Torrey Smith in free agency was a good start for the Eagles, who, through Douglas, had a history with both players.

The Eagles later signed defensive end Chris Long and traded for defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan, who Douglas scouted for the Baltimore Ravens. Jernigan arrived in the nick of time as starting tackle Beau Allen is out indefinitely, per reports, with a torn pectoral.

The draft is a different animal. It separates football men from wannabes. Douglas comes off as a football guy, Roseman a recovering almost-football guy who rarely misses a chance to beat himself up over unspecified mistakes he made in his previous tour as GM of the Eagles.

“Some of that is humbling when you have to admit mistakes — on my end, really,” Roseman said. “But we want to do whatever it takes to bring a winning product to this city, and we feel like we have a lot of responsibility working in the building, on and off the field, to our fans. And we’re committed to doing whatever it takes to do that over the long term and building a team that everyone is proud of.”

Roseman has the final say over personnel decisions, including the draft, according to owner Jeff Lurie. During joint news conferences with Roseman, Douglas looks to his boss before answering the sensitive questions.

In their pre-draft availability Thursday, Douglas interrupted a question to Roseman to add his two cents to their relationship.

“Howie touched on it, we bring different things,” Douglas said. “The communication has been great from Day One. I respect him immensely as far as the juice, the energy, the

passion. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who’s right. It just matters that we’re right. Nothing is more important than that team and those players and having the right environment, the right atmosphere for those guys. I think we can both step back and say, ‘All right, what’s best for the Philadelphia Eagles? What’s best for that group of guys? What’s best for that locker room?’ I think that’s been a unique thing.”

It hardly was a coincidence that Roseman gave perhaps his boldest predraft quote ever when asked if the Eagles needed to make a splash with their first round pick. After all, this eternal drafting show takes place along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which almost certainly will be lined with thousands of diehard Birds fans. It’s a fan base that doesn’t tolerate a swing and a miss on Opening Draft Day in April.

“We love our fans to be excited,” Roseman said.

Unless that celebration

is shamelessly choreographed, the Eagles almost certainly know how the bulk of the first 13 picks will go.

When they get on the clock, they’re going to make that splash Roseman pretends he doesn’t care about. Running back Christian McCaffrey, wide receiver Corey Davis or pass rusher Derek Barnett, among others, could be there. Maybe even tight end O.J. Howard.

Roseman is feeling it, not only because he has a knack for knowing where players come off the board in drafts, but he is confident that Douglas is a football guy.

“Our system isn’t based on rounds,” Douglas said. “Our system is based on the Philadelphia Eagles and exactly where that player fits with the Philadelphia Eagles.”

The draft is their chance to prove it.