It's all throwing darts right now, so understand that at the top. Everything you read, everything you hear, hey, let's be real here: The days before the NFL Draft are one giant smokescreen.
Believe "scoops" at your own risk.
"This is a huge game of poker," Eagles Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman said on Thursday at the NovaCare Complex as he and Head Coach Nick Sirianni met the media in a pre-NFL Draft briefing, "and all you want to affect is the outcome of your desired results. Am I going to give you guys any answers today? No. Not even a little bit. But I think the reality of it is anyone who is sitting there and saying, 'Hey, I know exactly what is going to happen at pick 11 or pick 12 or pick 6 or 20, it's all a guess."
There will be a lot of "whoa" moments, Roseman said, and he's right. The Eagles sit at 10 and 30 in the first round and a whole lot of things are going to happen before they are on the clock for those two selections. A highly anticipated quarterback class is going to dominate the top of the draft, so who knows who is going to go where? Who knows which teams are going to make a move up the board to secure a quarterback?
Who knows, at this point, if there is a team that might see the Eagles at No. 10, know that Roseman likes to wheel and deal, and make him an offer he can't refuse for that pick?
There are so many variables. So, the best teams prepare for every possible scenario.
"I never get caught up in trying to compare the quality of this draft versus a previous draft. I think we've got to be in the moment we're in right now," Roseman said. "To sit there and go, 'Man, this draft doesn't have this,' or, 'This draft, I wish it had that,' it doesn't help us make good decisions for next weekend. I'm really focused on what are the opportunities we have over the next weekend to improve our team, to get players that we think fit, and that we think can be a part of the culture and the team that we're trying to build over a period of time."
The Eagles are looking at their six picks, the seven rounds, and the post-draft period. All are important. All must be maximized. Roseman says he has changed his process over the years and that his biggest mistakes have been when he's been "stubborn" about something, or someone. He considers all of his information, every person who provides the input, and he values those around him helping him make decisions.
Every pick won't be a grand slam, and that's just the way it is in the business. Doubles and triples work, too.
"Sometimes it pays to take chances, whether it's incredible tools in their body to become elite, but sometimes it's also OK – you score a lot of runs when you hit a lot of doubles. I think that's OK," he said. "You don't always have to swing for the fences and if you keep hitting doubles, you'll keep rounding the bases and scoring runs and building a really good football team."
At the top of the draft with that 10th pick? The Eagles don't expect to be picking that early anytime soon because they are going to be winning football games, so this is a special moment. A unique chance. And that's the way Roseman sees the opportunity.
With that pick, it's a chance to get a special talent to add to this roster, no matter the position.
"I think the most important thing when you're picking in the first round, and certainly when you're picking 10, is that you get a unique player for our team," Roseman said. "We understand how important it is to get this right and how do you get it right? You get a unique player.
"I think if you start saying, 'Hey, we can get a unique player, but it's got to be this position,' then you really narrow your options right there. Just trying to be as open-minded as possible about what that looks like and making sure that whoever we pick is somebody that we think can really impact the game."
And with that, the clock is ticking. What the Eagles are going to do, hey, we're all just throwing it up against the wall and seeing what sticks.
It's ... so ... much ... fun.
