Howie Roseman, Doug Pederson drafted project players like they know they won’t get fired by Eagles | Marcus Hayes

The men running the Philadelphia Eagles have so much brass below their belts, when they go to the airport they set off metal detectors in the next terminal.

Howie Roseman and Doug Pederson won the Super Bowl two years ago, but NFL owners have short memories. They sputtered the next season and nearly flopped in 2019. They built a flawed roster in 2019, botching the receiver, cornerback, and backup quarterback positions. That flawed roster, but for a Texas-sized choke by the Cowboys, would have cost Roseman and Pederson a third consecutive playoff spot.

They don’t seem terribly concerned about making it four in a row. In a draft full of plug-and-play options, they drafted zero players that project as Day 1 starters.

Roseman’s bizarre assertion after drafting Jalen Hurts in the second round Friday, that Philadelphia is a “quarterback factory,” got most of the attention last weekend. But this quote from Roseman, in response to why they didn’t package their first two picks and move up higher in the first round, better represented what actually happened in that three-day span:

“The draft isn’t about just doing whatever is best for a team in the short term. The draft is about making smart, long-term decisions for your organization based on the priorities that you believe are key to winning football games. We’ve won a lot of football games around here the last three years, and I feel very confident that the decisions we make are going to serve us well for the short term and the long term.”

Just how long should that term be for a coach and a GM who are 1-2 in the playoffs since they lost offensive coordinator Frank Reich and quarterbacks coach John DiFilippo? To borrow from assorted political rallies, four more years, apparently.

You have to admire their audacity. They’re still living in the afterglow of the Philly Special. Maybe they are. But afterglow fades ever more quickly in today’s NFL.

This observation doesn’t chiefly concern Hurts, on whom they used the 53rd overall pick to serve as a backup for 27-year-old, $128 million starter Carson Wentz. They hope Hurts never takes a snap under center as a starter in the four seasons of his imminent contract. It’s expensive insurance, but it’s good insurance if you believe, as they do, a top-flight backup quarterback is the second-most-important player on any NFL team.

Rather, this observation concerns their other, relevant picks. To a lesser degree, this concerns third-rounder Davion Taylor, a light linebacker with speed who can’t cover, and so, for the moment, can’t play. To a much greater degree, this concerns first-round receiver Jalen Reagor.

In no universe does Reagor, whom the Eagles drafted 21st, rate as highly as Justin Jefferson, whom the Vikings took with the very next pick. Not at this moment, anyway. Jefferson is polished. He is versatile: After leading LSU in receptions as a sophomore he moved inside, to the slot, last season. He is productive: Jefferson caught 111 passes, which tied for most in the country. Yes, he benefited by playing with Joe Burrow in a spread offense for the national champion, and yes, Reagor is, on most days, faster than Jefferson.

But Jefferson showed up at the combine fit and ready and posted a 4.43-second 40-yard dash. Reagor, meanwhile, was 10 pounds overweight (according to Reagor) and ran a 4.47, which is atrocious for a player whose value is rooted in speed. Reagor purportedly shaved more than two-tenths of a second off that time at his virtual pro day 7 weeks later, when he was back in shape. This reeks of unprofessionalism, which is alarming for a player plagued by drops in college and whose focus and competitiveness were questioned.

Of course, professionalism matters less if you don’t expect Reagor to contribute in Game 1. If you believe that Reagor can take a season or two to figure out the NFL, and if you believe in Reagor’s 4.22 speed and his bloodlines (his father, Montae Reagor, spent nine seasons in the NFL), then, by all means, draft Jalen Reagor. Let him learn the finer points of deep-threat receiving from DeSean Jackson, the best of this generation, then let Reagor replace Jackson after the 2020 season when Jackson will be 34 and can be cut or traded with modest salary-cap implications.

That’s why Reagor was drafted, after all: to replace Jackson. Today, he is, at least, a kick-return threat. There’s a chance he could contribute as a receiver immediately, if Alshon Jeffery needs a few weeks to regain form as he returns from his latest injury, but make no mistake: Reagor was drafted to replace the Eagles’ speed element. That won’t be an every-down necessity until next year.

The receiver position might be as bountiful in the 2021 draft as it was in 2020. At least eight receivers almost assuredly will be drafted among the top 50 picks next spring. That was not atypical -- at least eight receivers went in the first 50 picks in 10 of the last 21 drafts -- but this year was nearly unprecedented, with 11 receivers going in the top 50. It was only the second time so many went so high in the history of the draft; 11 went in 1994, too.

There’s no question Reagor deserved to be among the top 50 this season. The Eagles, operating with more foresight than with immediacy, made Reagor the fourth receiver taken. That means they thought he was better than not only Jefferson but also: Brandon Aiyuk, drafted 25th by the 49ers; Tee Higgins, 33rd by the Bengals; Michael Pittman, 34th by the Colts; Laviska Shenault, 42nd by the Jaguars; Penn State’s K.J. Hamler, 46th by the Broncos; and Chase Claypool, 49th by the Steelers, the franchise that has extracted more value at the position from the draft over the past 20 years than any other franchise.

He’d better be.

There’s no question, either, that Reagor has a higher ceiling than any of the receivers drafted after him. None of them combined his size and speed: 5-foot-11, 195 pounds (his post-combine, pro day weight), and the 4.22-second 40, or whatever.

That’s why, if you’re the Eagles’ brain trust, you draft Reagor: You think you have the time to develop him, as well as your other top two picks, despite your uninspiring results from the past two seasons.

That takes a lot of brass.