The Eagles GM spoke about their decision to stay at No. 22, why they like Quinyon Mitchell, and how he fits in the CB room.
The Eagles were able to stay put at No. 22 overall to get their guy, Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, on Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft. Howie Roseman, with Nick Sirianni beside him, spoke to reporters at the end of the first round and talked about how they made the decision not to trade, why they felt comfortable taking Mitchell, and how the CB fits into the Eagles defense.
“Excited to get Quinyon Mitchell to Philadelphia. I think that for us, as the board kind of came off, and a lot of offensive players came off, we felt like we were in a good position. At 22, the way it fell for us and the players that were left on the board, we had a hard decision based on the guys that were left on the board, but we felt based on the player, based on the totality of the circumstance of the player — his talent, his character, and the position — we felt like it was the right pick for us.”
Roseman said that about halfway through the round, they started getting the impression that they would be able to get a first-round graded player with their pick. The GM admitted it was odd not to have some action in the room with regards to a trade, and they did contemplate it, but felt like they were in a good spot to get a top player at a position of need at No. 22.
He wasn’t exactly surprised that so many offensive players came off the board early on in the night, explaining that they prepare for so many scenarios that they were prepared for a run like that to happen. Having six quarterbacks picked in the Top 12 certainly helped the Eagles a lot, but Roseman admitted it was maybe a little surprising how long it took for the first defensive player to be picked.
Mitchell is the first cornerback that Howie has ever drafted in the first round, and the GM explained that he’s confident in their process and the player they picked.
“In this case, we think we have an extremely talented, hardworking outside corner. So, he’s got all the tools in his body, the right mentality, we felt like we had really good information — Coach [Sirianni] did an unbelievable job because of his connections at Toledo, really kind of relaying those thoughts and us having those same conversations with the coaches.”
Roseman went on to say that Mitchell had a great process, and highlighted the fact that the CB could have transferred from Toledo last year, but he stayed and got better, and then did a good job at the Senior Bowl. The Eagles first-round pick checked all of their boxes throughout the pre-draft process.
“Obviously, he’s got a lot to prove as a small school player. The MAC is not the National Football League, we understand that. We’ve had tremendous success with big schools, so to take a player like this from the MAC, he has to be special and we think [Mitchell] is a special person.”
He acknowledged that he didn’t feel the need to take a corner in the first round, but Mitchell was the highest graded player on their board at a position that Roseman admitted they’d like to add some younger players. He was sure to note that they added some younger CBs last year, and they still have confidence in those guys, but they wanted to bring in some competition.
“I think the most important thing was we didn’t jump the board. [Mitchell] was standing out on our board, he was the highest ranked guy, and it seemed like a pretty easy pick.”
Roseman said that the only thing that made it a hard pick was the fact there were other players available that they would have been happy to select, but they were happy with their choice. He was asked why they went with Mitchell over Terrion Arnold, and the GM admitted they’re tough decisions especially when guys have similar grades, they just felt like Mitchell was the best pick for their situation.
He later talked about how Mitchell played a tremendous amount of off-coverage at Toledo, but they did get to see him in press coverage at the Senior Bowl. The opportunity to see him finish that and be well-rounded, help complete the picture for the Eagles of Mitchell as a prospect.
“That was one of the concerns when you see him play, that he’s only playing a certain way and he’s allowing his eyes to lead him to the ball, and so when he got in people’s face at the Senior Bowl, we thought he was one of the best players at the Senior Bowl against really good competition, against really good receiving class […] and so, I think that was important for us.”
Roseman said that they do see Mitchell having inside-outside versatility, but as a rookie, they’ll try and focus on one thing once he gets into practice — likely at outside corner.
As for what Mitchell’s addition means for the rest of the Eagles cornerbacks, Roseman noted that Darius Slay is coming off a Pro Bowl year and James Bradberry is “working to get back to where he was two years ago.” The GM said that cornerback is one of those positions where you can never have enough of them on the roster, so they’re always looking at ways to add to that room.
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