Mike Florio and Chris Simms look at all the recent Georgia players the Eagles have added to their roster, including Nolan Smith, Jalen Carter and Kelee Ringo from the 2023 NFL Draft.

Video Transcript

[CLAPPING]

HOWIE ROSEMAN: Nolan.

NOLAN SMITH: Coach.

HOWIE ROSEMAN: It's Howie Roseman from the Eagles. How you doing, brother?

NOLAN SMITH: Hey. How are you doing, man?

HOWIE ROSEMAN: You know, I'm a Florida Gator. Do you know how much this hurts my soul to take all these [BLEEP] Georgia Bulldogs?

NOLAN SMITH: [LAUGHTER]

HOWIE ROSEMAN: You know?

NOLAN SMITH: Yeah. You want to win, though. You want to win.

HOWIE ROSEMAN: I do want to win. I do want to win, my man. You're right. I do want to win more than you know.

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- Yeah. There was a time when it made sense to draft a bunch of Florida players. Now?

- Not now.

- It's the Mike Mayock approach. Go draft players from the best team around. Remember? He was doing that with Clemson and Alabama.

- Sure. Yeah.

- In Vegas, in Oakland years ago. And now, it's Bulldog time in Philadelphia. Plenty of Georgia players snatched by Howie Roseman and company, and I think there's also, in a weird sort of way to the extent that you got guys that maybe need a little positive support system, having teammates around-- I think having Nolan Smith there is going to help Jalen Carter.

- Yeah.

- I think it will.

- Definitely. Agreed.

- And a little familiarity. It's a big transition. You've got a friend there. You've got a guy there, who has had nothing but rave m character, smarts, everything. He can be the example. He can be the support. He can be the friend to help nudge Jalen Carter in the direction that they need to get him to get the most out of his physical ability.

- Agreed. I mean, that, you got Jordan Davis there, the top 12 pick from last year-- 13th, sorry. So he's there. They play the same position. He's going to be able to bring him along. Nakobe Dean was the quarterback of that Georgia defense for a lot of years, and I think the leader of that group all together. So he's going to be there to help out. It's the perfect spot.

Fletcher Cox, who's already-- he's a Hall of Fame defensive tackle. He works hard. He does everything right. He knows about the fabric of Philadelphia and everything that goes into it. So he's got a great spot to develop, learn, not have pressure, have the right people giving him advice.

And, I mean, holy crap. What can I say? Holy crap what Philadelphia is doing. First off, I got a giggle out of Howie Roseman every time they showed him on the thing because I love every time they made the pick, like the whole organization had to come in there and pay homage to King Howie and the great pick he was about to make. I thought that was hilarious.

But they should. I mean, it's just-- he's killing it. I put a tweet out on Friday night. Like, stop. Like, I'm a Giants fan. Stop. Like, it's ridiculous. It's illegal team-building. I'm throwing a flag, illegal team-building, 15-yard penalty. I mean, holy crap, everybody they got is a difference-maker. It's the best roster in football, and they had the best draft in football, and really it's not even close.

- And they swiped DeAndre Smith.

- Yeah.

- Or Swift, excuse me, from the Detroit Lions. He clearly became the odd man out once the Lions drafted Jahmyr Gibbs.

- Right.

- Swift, out goes Swift because they paid David Montgomery in free agency, got him away from the Bears. So Swift was, obviously, the odd man out. And the Eagles entered the fray. Number one, he's from Philly. They've known him since he was in high school. He's been in the building before.

And, as Howie Roseman explained it after they did the trade-- and all they did, they dropped 30 spots in round 7 and gave up a 2024 fourth round pick to get DeAndre Swift. Now, he's in his contract year, but week 1 of 2022, this is what Howie pointed out. He tore them up. Eagles won the game by 3 points, but Swift had 144 rushing yards on 15 carries. They couldn't touch him. They couldn't stop him. And now, he's part of that backfield in Philadelphia.

They had lost Miles Sanders, and that's why we were thinking, well, maybe they'll go Bijan Robinson. Maybe they'll do something like that. Maybe they'll draft a guy early because who really stands out? I mean, all due respect to Kenneth Gainwell, but their best running back left. Who's their best running back now? Swift has a chance to be it.

- Yeah. No. You're right. I mean, Gainwell finished strong. Yeah. I don't know if he's your every-down guy, but then you got Rashaad Penny, who has a chance to be something. We know he's on the roster. And then DeAndre swift, who's exactly like Rashaad Penny. It's like, man, the talent's there. Can they just stay healthy, right? And Penny more so than Swift.

But yeah, Swift can do it all. And, to me, he is definitely an upgrade from Miles Sanders. Swift is awesome in the pass game. He's got a little more size than a Miles Sanders. He can run with a little power. And, of course, he's explosive and elusive out in the space. So that's where it'll be great.

Just the Eagles, it's incredible what they've done with the roster. It really is. I mean, throughout both sides of the football. They got depth. They got planning for the future. They got everything working there. They really do. Even the O-lineman from Alabama at guard. That was one area of the team, oh yeah, they could maybe use a little depth or help there for the future. They got that done.

They lose Chauncey Gardner Johnson. They get Sydney Brown, who was my favorite strong safety-type in the whole draft out of Illinois. He's one of the crazy Illinois secondary guys to go on with Devin Witherspoon. So I just can't say enough about what they did. They're killing it right now, and Howie's on fire.

- And I forgot about Rashaad Penny. I mean, he's a boom-or-bust guy.

- He is, right?

- Broke the leg last year, ankle fracture, had a great year, came on late in 2021 for the Seahawks, but still, they've got that rotation. They get Swift. You're right. It doesn't feel fair. They are clearly the best team right now in the NFC. They were the more talented of the two teams that we saw in the Super Bowl. They did have some turnover this year via free agency, but boy, it feels like they are reloading for another run, and it's never easy for the team that goes to the Super Bowl and loses to try to go back.

It's just you've got the target on you, and everyone's out to get you. You got tougher schedule, bigger games, more primetime games, more pressure, greater expectations, but it just it feels like they're doing everything they can to build something sustainable. We talk about the Chiefs as the current dynasty. Maybe we're going to see Chiefs and Eagles cross paths one more time.

- I wouldn't be shocked time.

- Maybe a couple more times in the Super Bowl over the next five years.

- They're not going anywhere either one of them. I mean, we talked about it. The Chiefs have one of the youngest teams in football. I mean, so they're here, and we know with 15 at quarterback they're going to be there. They just got a problem right now, like we talked about last week, the AFC is as good as it's been since the '70s. I mean, it's the best I've ever seen in the AFC.

So that's the problem. And then the NFC, it kind of seems like it's two teams are king, and it's like can anybody really compete with those two teams? It doesn't feel like they can. And, you know, I don't know. This team here I think took the mantle as the real king right now in Philadelphia, and 49ers got a little more work to do there to be in that class.

- The Patriots used to be the kings of the AFC East, the AFC, and the NFL. They have questions about quarterback. They didn't draft one this weekend, so that means they're fully-committed to Mac Jones, right? We'll delve into that when "PFT Live" continues right after this.

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