PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles made 13 picks in the first three rounds of the draft during coach Nick Sirianni’s first four seasons.
That group has combined to start 289 regular-season games and 45 playoff games. It has combined for 38 regular-season and 11 postseason sacks as well as nine regular-season and four postseason forced fumbles.
More: The 13 picks have combined to make five Pro Bowls and three of the picks (Jalen Carter, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean) finished in the top four in the AP’s Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
Twelve of the 13 players remain on the roster. The only departure has been defensive tackle Milton Williams, who became the highest-paid free agent in football this offseason, getting a four-year deal worth $104 million from the New England Patriots.
In other words, general manager Howie Roseman and the Eagles’ draft team keep stocking Sirianni’s roster with stud players from the first three rounds.
Did Roseman do it again in 2025? Well, here’s our way-too-early grades on the first two picks of the Eagles’ draft and the GM’s decision to trade out of the third round late Friday night:
Round 1 (31 overall): Linebacker Jihaad Campbell, Alabama
Roseman said the Eagles had Campbell graded as a top 10 talent on their draft board. He wasn’t quite that high on most pre-draft boards, but he was a top 15 talent on the majority of them. He was also the top-ranked linebacker on everyone’s board. The question is whether the Eagles are going to use Campbell as an off-ball linebacker or an edge rusher.
He said Friday that he admired the play of Zack Baun, who found his happy place as an off-ball linebacker with the Eagles last season after spending four years with the Saints as mostly a reserve edge rusher and special-teams player.
“I like being a football player,” Campbell said when asked which position he preferred at his introductory news conference Friday. “I like being an absolute baller who can do everything and learn and grow and maximize each and every opportunity I have.”
It will ultimately be up to defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to decide how and where Campbell can help the Eagles most during his rookie season. He’s the one who made Baun an off-ball linebacker and Baun ran with it to become a first-team All Pro.
Campbell is bigger, faster and stronger than Baun, but it will take a lot to prove he is better.
Could have taken: South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori was considered the best safety in the draft by many and the Eagles had more of a need at that position after the trade of C.J. Gardner-Johnson, but Campbell was too good of a player to pass up at pick No. 31.
Grade: A
Comment: Roseman felt he took the best player left on the board at pick No. 31 and he was right.
Round 2 (64th overall): Safety Andrew Mukuba, Texas
Safety was one of three defensive positions where the Eagles lost a starter this offseason and at the very least Mukuba should get a chance to compete with Sydney Brown and some others for the job that became vacant when Gardner-Johnson was traded to the Houston Texans. Some pre-draft experts had Mukuba as a third-round pick, but Pro Football Focus ranked him as the fourth best safety in the draft.
At 5-11 and 186 pounds, he is undersized for a safety, but scouting reports indicated he has a willingness to hit ballcarriers in the running game. Mukuba, a native of Zimbabwe who moved to Austin, Texas at the age of 8 in 2012, is a mature player who also is known for his special teams play.
“This guy can run, he can hit and he has a knack for taking the football away,” Sirianni said. “You can tell that football is constantly on his mind whether it’s in coverage or coming in to make a tackle or being the second man in on a tackle and getting a strip attempt. I just love tough players and it just oozes off the tape how physically he plays and how tough he plays and he plays with relentless effort and throws his body around.”
Could have taken: Toledo defensive tackle Darius Alexander, Iowa State cornerback Darien Porter or Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin.
Grade: B
Comment: I think Brown is going to win the safety battle and a competition between Porter and Kelee Ringo for the outside cornerback role would have been beneficial for the Eagles. Fannin, meanwhile, has a chance to be a special pass-catching tight end and an uneasiness about the tight end position will persist until there’s a resolution to the Dallas Goedert situation.
Round 3 (96th overall): Traded to the Falcons for the 101st pick in the third round and a fifth-round pick in 2026.
The Falcons used the pick on Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts, who Dane Brugler of The Athletic had ranked ahead of Mukuba. We will revisit how each safety is playing during the season.
Players picked from 97 to 100 were USC cornerback Jaylin Smith (97) by the Texans, Texas Tech guard Caleb Rogers (98) and William & Mary offensive tackle Charles Grant (99) by the Raiders and Western Kentucky cornerback Upton Stout by the 49ers.
Round 3 (101 overall): Traded to the Broncos along with pick No. 134 in the fourth round for picks 111 and 130 in the fourth round and pick 191 in the sixth round.
Denver used pick 101 on LSU edge rusher Sai’vion Jones and the third round ended with the Vikings taking Maryland receiver Tai Felton.
The Eagles will make the ninth overall pick of the fourth round, which means a total of 15 players will have gone off the board that they could have selected. We won’t grade that decision, but it made for a long, dull second night at the draft for the defending Super Bowl champions.
Roseman promised Day 2 will be far more exciting next year when the Eagles are expected to have four picks.
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Bob Brookover can be reached at rbrookover@njadvancemedia.com
