Philadelphia Eagles Draft Picks: Results, Analysis and Grades

Most Philadelphia Eagles fans have a pretty good idea of what’s going down with the No. 2 overall pick in Thursday's 2016 NFL draft for which the Eagles traded so aggressively, but that’s only the start of a critical weekend for the team.

Beyond the franchise quarterback they’re likely to welcome to the stage in Chicago on Thursday night, the Eagles' needs are numerous, and a handful of them require impact players in Year 1.

As the front office puts the finishing touches on a roster designed to orchestrate a Doug Pederson offense and a Jim Schwartz defense, you can bet the new coaching staff has zeroed in on some prospects who would help the cause and contribute right away.

No matter what happens on Friday and Saturday, though, it appears the Eagles will at least get a considerable glimmer of hope for the future in the form of the second overall pick.

Keep it locked here throughout all seven rounds as we track who the Eagles go with for each of their picks and analyze the what and why of all seven selections. And who knows, maybe there will end up being more than seven picks, if a certain unsettled quarterback finds his way out.

Philadelphia Eagles Picks

Carson Wentz unsurprisingly became the Eagles' new franchise quarterback when they made him the No. 2 overall selection, just after the Los Angeles Rams nabbed Jared Goff. Wentz has all the intangibles to become a star at the next level, but he may not see the field much in 2016.

Barring an unlikely Sam Bradford trade on Thursday night, that's the last time Philly will pick until Friday, when it will pick just once in the third round—No. 79 overall. The Eagles could either add key depth at offensive tackle, in the pass rush or go for more immediate impact with a skill-position player to complement what head coach Doug Pederson is planning to do on offense around...whoever is the Eagles' starting quarterback in Week 1.

By far the most action for general manager Howie Roseman and Co. will happen on Saturday, when the Eagles have five picks at their disposal to bolster a roster with holes aplenty.

Round 1, Pick 2: QB Carson Wentz (North Dakota State)

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

It went down just like we expected. The Eagles get their man at No. 2 after the Rams selected Goff, making Carson Wentz the future of the franchise.

If you're an Eagles fan, you've heard all about Wentz by now. The 6'5", 237-pound gun-slinger out of North Dakota State has all the physical tools to be a top quarterback, combined with very impressive football intelligence that will allow him to impact plays before they begin and control the game.

Wentz's size and athleticism—his running proficiency has been compared to Cam Newton—also translate well into an always physical NFC East and allow him to move an offense along even when the pass game isn't clicking. 

It's impossible right now to tell how well-founded this meteoric rise from Wentz before the draft is, but the aggressiveness shown from Roseman and the front office shows Philadelphia is serious about building a championship contender over the next decade. That doesn't happen without a star quarterback, and the Eagles may have just gotten him.

A pretty substantial trade up to get Wentz knocks it down into the B range, but this is otherwise a fantastic pick for the Eagles.

Grade: B+

Round 3, Pick 79: G Isaac Seumalo, Oregon State

L.G. Patterson/Associated Press

Contrary to popular belief, I felt that bolstering the offensive line depth was the Eagles' biggest need to address in Round 3. A tackle would've made much more sense, but they may have found a future starting interior lineman in Isaac Seumalo.

Seumalo is listed as a guard, but he was spread all around the line in 12 starts in 2015—nine at right guard and three at left tackle. He's played four of the five line positions while at Oregon State, speaking to the versatility of his game that he'll need with all three interior line spots in Philly taken up.

Don't expect the drafting of Seumalo to translate to worries for Jason Kelce at starting center. Rather, Seumalo will be a utility piece to move around the line as the Eagles and new coach Doug Pederson figure out where he works best.

This is a bit of a reach, in my opinion. But it addresses the offensive line, which was essential to do in Day 2. And he wouldn't have been there in Round 5, where the Eagles pick next.

Grade: C+

Round 5, Pick 153: RB Wendell Smallwood, West Virginia

Ray Thompson/Associated Press

The Eagles needed a running back early Saturday with one of their fifth-round picks, and they got one in West Virginia's Wendell Smallwood.

Smallwood is a back with some shifty tendencies, but at 5'10" and 208 pounds, he can also lower the pads and gain extra yardage. He excelled in pass protection and catching the ball out of the backfield, which is likely where the Eagles will use him most early on as he works on adding some pounds to his frame to become a more complete back.

Philadelphia did get somewhat shafted with the Giants snagging Paul Perkins and the Bears grabbing Jordan Howard just a few picks before them. But I had Florida's Kelvin Taylor—a simply better back with more of an ability to dance his way for extra yards—mocked here instead, and there were a handful of other backs (like Alex Collins and Daniel Lasco) who would have made more sense.

They addressed the need in the backfield, though, and that, along with Smallwood's pass-catching abilities, gives this a decent grade.

Grade: B-

Round 5, Pick 164: OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, TCU

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Philadelphia needed to address a lack of depth at offensive line as much as any position in this draft. It went with a guard with its Day 2 selection in Seumalo, and now gets an offensive tackle project in Halapoulivaati Vaitai.

Vaitai has experience at both tackle positions while anchoring the TCU line over the last two seasons, starting 2014 on the right and sliding over to the left side in 2015 to protect Trevone Boykin. He has the necessary size at 6'6" and 320 pounds and the right athleticism for the position that the Eagles can work with early in his career.

He's not athletic enough to be a left tackle, and a lack of hand strength could inhibit him from being a starter on the right. But the Eagles needed to find a young developmental project with Jason Peters aging and Lane Johnson likely to slide to the left tackle spot when Peters is gone. His strength limitations make it a cloudy view as to whether he'll ever be able to be that right tackle of the future that Philadelphia needs.

Grade: C

Round 6, Pick 196: CB Blake Countess, Auburn

Butch Dill/Associated Press

The Eagles traded down eight spots from No. 188 to the 196th pick and selected a player they were likely targeting with the initial pick, snagging cornerback Blake Countess out of Auburn.

Countess started his career at Michigan, where he garnered All-Freshman honors before transferring and playing his final season with the Auburn Tigers. The 5'9", 185-pounder is an excellent athlete with good ball skills, but inconsistency marred his collegiate career and caused him to slip near the bottom of the draft.

After years of bad secondary play, many Philly fans probably wanted a higher-round pick invested in the secondary, but many of those holes were already—hopefully—cleared up in free agency. In Countess, the Eagles get a strong special teamer who looks like an effective nickel or dime back in extended packages.

Grade: B+

Round 7, Pick 233: FS Jalen Mills, LSU

John Bazemore/Associated Press

The Eagles continue their Day 3 fortifying of secondary depth with a safety/corner mix who could be a better player than the other SEC corner they snagged late in the sixth.

Jalen Mills out of LSU seemed like a surefire Day 2 guy throughout his final season at LSU before evaluators started breaking down tape and saw his limited abilities covering speedy receivers and helping in the run game. That said, he's proved to be a good slot cover corner and is dangerous when blitzing the pocket, showing throughout four years of starting at a program like LSU how dependable he is.

I think Mills has a better opportunity to make the 53-man roster than Countess just because he's a more reliable slot corner and can be counted on for safety depth. 

Grade: A-

Round 7, Pick 240: DE Alex McCalister, Florida

Gregory Payan/Associated Press

After accruing the 240th overall pick in the trade down in the sixth round, the Eagles selected defensive end Alex McCalister out of Florida.

This is a quintessential seventh-round pick. The weak-side end came to Florida with high expectations out of high school, only to fall behind on the depth chart, but he led the team in 2015 with 6.5 sacks despite injuries and a late-season dismissal from the team that marred the end of his collegiate career.

There are off-field questions about McCalister, and he's struggled against the run, but the technique and tenaciousness he's shown getting to the passer make him an intriguing developmental project. He should prove what trajectory his NFL career takes in training camp and beyond.

Grade: B

Round 7, Pick 251: LB Joe Walker, Oregon

Brennan Linsley/Associated Press

When you have three seventh-round picks, it's all right to roll the dice on a player snubbed at the combine who wowed scouts into reconsidering his draft value at his pro day. That's what Joe Walker is.

The Oregon middle linebacker did amass 205 tackles in his Ducks career amid a fast, stingy defense, but the fact that he is undersized (6'2", 236 lbs) and lacks strength had him likely to reach undrafted free agency. Then, he put up big numbers at Oregon's pro day and had folks rethinking whether he was truly too weak for the position.

You can't teach instincts or speed, and Walker has both of those. You also can't teach leadership coming from a big-time program, and Walker has that too. He's been fighting an uphill battle all spring, and I like his chances to sneak onto the roster.

Grade: A-