Draft will show Lurie’s hands-on ownership is same as it ever was
There is a shred of truth to Howie Roseman's recent characterization of Jeffrey Lurie's role in the Eagles' draft room as “the same as it's always been.”
Lurie has been involved in draft decisions since his first full season as Eagles owner in 1995. The more leverage he has on the head coach, the greater the involvement.
For the most part, future Hall of Fame head coach Andy Reid prevented the meddling of Lurie and then front office executive Joe Banner in the first round starting with the selection of Donovan McNabb in 1999.
Chip Kelly and his traveling crew had so much animosity toward Lurie and Roseman's intrusions his resistance got him fired.
Most recently, Doug Pederson had little input, and admitted it.
At any rate, Roseman said via videoconference Wednesday that 90 percent of the Eagles' draft plan is formed before the draft, and decisions are based on that. Ideally, you would like to believe it, but let's be honest, when the boss speaks, you listen. Would anyone expect to be employed after giving the owner of a $3.4 billion franchise grief for a football opinion they disagreed with?
“In terms of what his role is,” Roseman said of the owner, “again, like he's listening to the conversations that we're having on there, and if he hears something that doesn't really make sense based on some of the meetings we're having, he may say, ‘Hey, I remember in that meeting (such and such) felt like this wasn't a guy who really fit his system.' He may jump in, but he's not jumping in, in terms of saying ‘I had this guy higher so let's go and select that guy.'”
Lurie put his stamp on his first draft, when the Eagles took Mike Mamula off the board with the seventh overall pick in 1995.
Lurie was present in Chestnut Hill, Mass. to interview Boston College's Mamula along with thenhead coach Ray Rhodes and front office personnel. Lurie was every bit as enamored with Mamula as Rhodes, who pegged the prospect as the next Charles Haley.
When Mamula produced epic combine numbers, the Eagles were sold. Mamula clocked 4.58 in the 40-yard dash at 248 pounds, recorded a 38.5-inch vertical jump, a standing broad jump of 10-4 and benched 225 pounds 26 times. Can't miss, right?
The Eagles shipped their first-round pick, No. 12 overall and two second-round selections to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the seventh-overall selection and a thirdround choice. Lest we forget, that was the draft Warren Sapp mysteriously dropped out of the top 10. The Eagles didn't even consider Sapp.
In 77 career games spanning six seasons, Mamula registered 31.5 sacks and 209 tackles. Sapp has a Super Bowl ring and is in the Hall of Fame.
The Eagles' first-round selection of Jon Harris in 1997, at best a second or third-round talent, was in line with signing issues the league was having back in the day with first-rounders. Lurie and Joe Banner's fingerprints were all over it.
Reid kept Lurie at bay until 2010, when Roseman discovered Brandon Graham.
Kelly was so incensed by the interference of Lurie and Roseman he drafted Marcus Smith in the first round in 2015. Smith recorded 16 sacks in his last season at Louisville. He registered four sacks in three seasons spanning 37 games with the Eagles.
Lurie was all-in on Carson Wentz, hitting the road during the draft process. A Lurie-Wentz dinner made social media.
It looked like the Eagles hit a home run with Wentz, who they spent a ton of resources on trading up to secure. Wentz hasn't been the same since tearing two knee ligaments in a spectacular 2017 season. The Eagles shipped him to the Indianapolis Colts.
Lurie's prints are all over the 2020 draft, too. The Jalen Reagor selection in the first round was Lurie, Roseman and Pederson, not the scouts' recommendation of Justin Jefferson, who made the Pro Bowl with the Minnesota Vikings and still is talking about how grateful he is not to have been drafted by the Eagles.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah recently dismissed the selection of Reagor when asked who the Eagles should select if wide receivers Devonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle, and cornerback Patrick Surtain, all products of Alabama, still were on the board.
“I would say Waddle,” Jeremiah said. “He's too intriguing to me with what he can do. And in a league where you need explosive plays, he gives those to you. He's going to take a lot of pressure off the quarterback. He's going to have an influence on the run game, as well. Anything that you might have liked about Jalen Reagor, Jaylen Waddle does all those things infinitely better. To me at least you
put him out there, you hope Reagor continues to grow and now you've got a track team with those two guys out there because they can both fly.”
The Jalen Hurts pick in the second round obviously was Lurie and Roseman, and not a bad idea considering Wentz's fragility. It's not management's problem that Wentz decided he shouldn't have to compete for his starting job, but the Eagles sorely underestimated the talent around Wentz. And they weren't able to read the guy's mental toughness the way Reid did when he took McNabb off the board.
Wentz was too soft for Philly. McNabb flourished here for the better part of 11 seasons.
Lurie's role now is very similar to what it's been through the years. And with rookie head coach Nick Sirianni learning the ropes from Roseman, it won't change at the lottery next week.
The Eagles haven't fully turned the page on their 4-11-1 season despite the dismissal of Pederson and much of his coaching staff. The team is being run, if we have borrow the verbiage, “the same as it's always been.”