Philadelphia executive vice president/general manager Howie Roseman has deservedly been given his flowers for the recent Eagles drafts, as well as some of his other roster machinations.
However, Roseman’s first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft is one Philly fandom would like to forget.
2020 NFL Redraft – Who Goes to the Eagles?
The Eagles were widely expected to focus on a wide receiver in first round in 2020 and three — Henry Ruggs, Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb — were already off the board when Philadelphia’s selection came up at No. 21 overall.
With Justin Jefferson available, Roseman and company instead went with … Jalen Reagor.
Jefferson has since established himself as one of the top receivers in the NFL with Minnesota, winning Offensive Player of the Year in 2022 and twice being tabbed First-Team All-Pro (and Second Team twice).
Meanwhile, Reagor lasted all of two seasons in Philly, which traded him, ironically, to the Vikings before the start of the 2022 season for a couple of draft picks.
Reagor played for New England in 2023 and the Los Angeles Chargers last year. His 1,037 career yards are fewer than Jefferson has had in any of his five years (his lowest was 1,074 yards in 2023 – in 10 games).
Insert sad trombone noise here.
But what if the Eagles had a second bite of the apple? OK, sure, you’d say (or yell if you’re a Philadelphia fan) take Jefferson.
Alas, in our 2020 NFL Redraft, Jefferson is gone at No. 3.
Instead with Philadelphia’s pick, we stick with what has been the Eagles’ core philosophy over the years: Build the lines on both sides of the ball.
The Eagles really want to get to the quarterback, so at No. 21 they grab edge rusher Alex Highsmith out of Charlotte.
Highsmith actually went in the third round (No. 102) to Pittsburgh that year, so he’s definitely outplayed his draft positioning. Since becoming a starter in his second year, Highsmith has had at least six sacks in each of the past four seasons, with a high of 14.5 in 2022.
Highsmith would have made a nice addition for Philadelphia over the years and would have helped mitigate the eventual departures of Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham, the former now in Arizona and the latter having retired. The Eagles also could have allocated resources elsewhere and not had to deal with a holdout and eventual trade of Haason Reddick.
Plus, Philadelphia’s edge rushers heading into this season are a bit of a question mark. Nolan Smith had a strong finish but was hurt in the Super Bowl, and Jalyx Hunt had just one sack during his 2024 rookie regular season.
The Eagles are counting on free-agent one-year signings in Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche, with last year’s free-agent bust (hey, Howie can’t get them all right) Bryce Huff off to San Francisco.
Highsmith is a proven quarterback-getter, with 66 QB hits in the past four years as well as 44 tackles for loss and nine forced fumbles.
He’d certainly look good in midnight green (and our preferred Kelly green).
OK, so it’s just a dream Eagles fans. But be pacified by this: In the second round of the 2020 draft, Roseman took a quarterback out of Oklahoma named Jalen Hurts. That pick turned out to be a little more than OK.
