PHILADELPHIA – Josh Huff's self-effacing self-assessment this week raised an interesting subject. Huff, a third-round draft pick from Oregon, said he was having a "poor" rookie year. So how has the rest of the Philadelphia Eagles' 2014 draft class fared so far? The results are not especially impressive.
Marcus Smith, the first-round pick from Louisville, was considered a project from the beginning. The Eagles took him at No. 26 overall because they placed such a premium on outside pass-rushers that it would be worth waiting a while for Smith to develop.
On Sunday, Smith was active for the game in Green Bay. He did not get on the field for a single play. Smith has been inactive or failed to play in five games this season.
Because of injuries to the inside linebackers, the coaches decided to move Smith from outside to inside. That pretty much wipes out that whole edge-rushers-have-value element. The move also slowed down Smith’s progress. Of course, if he had been making good progress on the outside, he probably would have been playing more out there. As it is, he is behind Connor Barwin, Trent Cole and Brandon Graham as an outside linebacker.
Smith might develop into a real gem on the outside. But at this point, he’s arguably had the least impact of any first-round pick in this year’s draft. It doesn’t help that safeties Deone Bucannon and Jimmie Ward, and wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin were available with the 26th pick.
Second-round pick Jordan Matthews is the clear winner among this year’s draft class. If the Eagles had taken Matthews at No. 26 and Smith at No. 42, it would have looked a lot better. Matthews has 44 catches (second on the team to Jeremy Maclin) for 558 yards and six touchdowns. He also seems to have blossomed with Mark Sanchez at quarterback.
Huff was a little hard on himself, but it’s also true that the Eagles took him five spots before Arizona took wide receiver John Brown, who caught that 75-yard touchdown to beat the Eagles. Coach Chip Kelly said he is still optimistic about Huff, and that he’s a victim of a training camp injury and being among other quality receivers.
Defensive back Jaylen Watkins was the first pick in the fourth round. Although the Eagles have needed help at both cornerback and safety this season, Watkins has yet to earn any playing time. This week, with Earl Wolff going on injured reserve, Watkins is practicing more at safety. "We'll experiment with him in there and see what he can do from that standpoint," Kelly said. "But we still have two safeties in (Chris) Prosinski and (Chris) Maragos. Translation: Prosinski, a guy signed off the street, is ahead of Watkins.
The Eagles' two fifth-round picks, Oregon defensive lineman Taylor Hart and Stanford safety Ed Reynolds, have not played a down. Hart is on the 53-man roster but has been inactive every week. Reynolds was released and signed to the practice squad. He was passed over when the Eagles signed Prosinski two weeks ago. Kelly always mentions that Reynolds missed some of organized team activitiess in June because Stanford hadn’t graduated yet, which seems like a bit of a stretch.
The Eagles didn’t have a sixth-round pick, so we have to go all the way to seventh-round pick Beau Allen to get some good news. The Wisconsin defensive tackle has played in every game, backing up nose tackle Bennie Logan. Allen has played on 19 percent of all defensive plays this season and was credited with half a sack against Houston.