ESPN’s Kiper Gives Eagles a ‘C‘ for 2016 Draft Class

The NFL Draft is in the books.

Three days, 253 names - eight of which were called by the Philadelphia Eagles.

After a tumultuous 7-9 season that ended with a coaching change, the Eagles focused on changing the culture of the franchise this offseason, retaining many of their own players and grabbing a franchise quarterback in the draft - making this class a difficult one to assess.

The Eagles didn't own a second or fourth round pick in this years draft.

De facto General manager Howie Roseman went back to the basics, taking two offensive lineman, the first drafted since Lane Johnson was selected with the No. 4 overall pick in 2013.

Of the team’s first four picks, all offense — quarterback Carson Wentz (first round, 2nd overall), offensive lineman Isaac Semalo (third round, 79th), running back Wendell Smallwood (fifth round, 153rd) and offensive lineman Halapouilivaati Vaitai (fifth, 165th) — all but Wentz come from a BCS conference

The final four picks, all defense — cornerback Blake Countess (sixth round, 196th), safety Jalen Mills (seventh round, 233rd), defensive end Alex McCalister (seventh, 240th) and linebacker Joe Walker (seventh round, 251st) — also come from the power BCS conferences.

The Eagles got mixed reviews on their 2016 draft class. ESPN’s Mel Kiper, assigned grades to all 32 teams, he gave the Eagles a ‘C‘ mark.

It's hard to give the Eagles an above-average grade just based on the draft value they gave away to get up to No. 2, where they are drafting a player I really like in Carson Wentz, but a real mystery in terms of when he'll be ready to handle the starting job in an NFL offense. The problem is, even though I like Wentz, I wasn't a fan of the value elsewhere on the board as well. I had Isaac Seumalo as a reach in the third, and I had a number of other running backs ahead of Wendell Smallwood when he came off the board in Round 5. I think they were smart to target the O-line a couple of times, including Halapoulivaati Vaitai in the fifth, but I'm surprised they didn't add a wide receiver at any point, or a cornerback earlier than Jalen Mills in Round 7, though he could be a good value. Hey, they got the QB they wanted, so the grade going forward is all wrapped in him, but they definitely paid for it.

Philadelphia will get its first look at their eight draftees as well as their undrafted free agents at rookie minicamp, which starts Friday, May 13th