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Eagles roster has more formerly unranked college prospects than 5-star recruits

Breaking down the Eagles’ roster by recruiting rank

NFL: Philadelphia Eagles-OTA Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

A lot is made of a team’s makeup, and while plenty can change between high school and their NFL careers, the Eagles have compiled a team with a good number of former 5-star prospects mixed with guys who have developed into Pro Bowlers in their years since being college recruit.

Philadelphia has players on their roster who were top-rated quarterback prospects (Braxton Miller and Greg Ward) but ended up as wide receivers in the League. And guys like Lane Johnson, who was an 0-star quarterback out of high school and spent the early years of his college career playing in JuCO before transferring and changing positions.

The Eagles have one of the best scouting departments in the NFL, and they have an eye for talent that others may overlook. We’ve compiled the former 247Composite rankings of all 90 players currently on the Eagles’ roster to see how the team is made up.

Total Ranking Breakdown

Rating # of Eagles
Rating # of Eagles
5-star 10
4-star 21
3-star 27
2-star 9
Not rated 23

Former 5-star Recruits

Player Pos Age Exp College 247Composite
Player Pos Age Exp College 247Composite
Josh Sweat DE 22 2 Florida State 0.995
Brandon Graham DE 31 10 Michigan 0.993
Tim Jernigan DT 26 6 Florida State 0.9927
DeSean Jackson WR 32 12 California 0.991
Nigel Bradham LB 29 8 Florida State 0.9893
Ronald Darby CB 25 5 Florida State 0.9879
Isaac Seumalo OL 25 4 Oregon State 0.9876
Miles Sanders RB 22 R Penn State 0.9865
Nelson Agholor WR 26 5 USC 0.9854
Braxton Miller WR 26 3 Ohio State 0.9847

Solak Insight: Huh — you think Florida State might be good at recruiting? 4 of the Eagles 10 5-stars came from the Seminoles. A couple other things jump out: Nigel Bradham was the latest drafted player on this list, with a fourth-round selection from the Buffalo Bills back in 2012. (I’m ignoring Braxton Miller given the position switch.) It’s interesting to consider to what degree recruiting ranking predicts NFL success/stickiness, as compared to just draft slot.

Also worth noting: there isn’t a single “5-star who is now a long-term backup” on this roster. Seems you’re either starting, fighting for a starting job, or busting out. That said, you’ll note: not one of the...four or five best Eagles is on this list, depending on where you rank Brandon Graham.


Former 4-star Recruits

Player Pos Age Exp College 247Composite
Player Pos Age Exp College 247Composite
Casey Tucker T N/A R Arizona State 0.9624
Jason Peters T 37 16 Arkansas 0.9614
Alshon Jeffery WR 29 8 South Carolina 0.9487
Stefen Wisniewski G/C 30 9 Penn State 0.9463
Shelton Gibson WR 24 3 West Virginia 0.9374
Corey Clement RB 24 3 Wisconsin 0.9333
Cody Kessler QB 26 4 USC 0.9311
Ryan Bates T 22 1 Penn State 0.9303
Daeshon Hall DE 24 3 Texas A&M 0.9256
Fletcher Cox DT 28 8 Mississippi State 0.9254
Clayton Thorson QB 24 R Northwestern 0.9244
Blake Countess S 25 4 Auburn 0.9243
Derek Barnett DE 22 3 Tennessee 0.9181
Hassan Ridgeway DT 24 4 Texas 0.9174
Joey Alfieri LB 23 R Stanford 0.9149
Halapoulivaati Vaitai T 26 4 TCU 0.9112
DeAndre Thompkins WR 23 R Penn State 0.9111
Zach Ertz TE 28 7 Stanford 0.909
Zach Brown LB 29 8 North Carolina 0.9012
Josh Adams RB 22 2 Notre Dame 0.8973
Rasul Douglas CB 23 3 West Virginia 0.8969

Solak Insight: Had a bit of a laugh, seeing Casey Tucker just eek over Jason Peters for the top spot among the 4-stars. That’ll be the last time he beats out JP, I’d imagine.

A lot of young, generally poor players on this list. A ton of the Eagles’ late-round picks and UDFAs from this past draft are here, as well as some lingering busts such as Shelton Gibson, Cody Kessler, and Blake Countess. 9/21 spots also belong in the trenches.

And remember what I said about the best Eagles players? Well, they’re pretty much all here (save for Kelce/Wentz). Development matters, folks. Sometimes, starting those 5-stars just isn’t the right move for their long-term growth.


Former 3-star Recruits

Player Pos Age Exp College 247Composite
Player Pos Age Exp College 247Composite
Malik Jackson DT 29 8 Tennessee 0.8875
Trae Elston S 25 2 Mississippi 0.882
Godwin Igwebuike DB 24 2 Northwestern 0.8788
Nate Sudfeld QB 25 4 Indiana 0.8786
Rodney McLeod S 28 8 Virginia 0.8701
Jalen Mills CB 25 4 LSU 0.8692
Shareef Miller DE 22 R Penn State 0.8681
Will Tye TE 27 3 Stony Brook 0.8653
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside WR 22 R Stanford 0.8624
Brandon Brooks G 29 8 Miami (Ohio) 0.8556
Nathan Gerry LB 24 3 Nebraska 0.8533
Wendell Smallwood RB 25 4 West Virginia 0.8524
Richard Rodgers TE 27 6 California 0.8515
Joshua Perkins TE 25 3 Washington 0.8484
Nate Herbig G 24 R Stanford 0.8462
Devin Ross WR 23 1 Colorado 0.8462
Greg Ward WR 23 1 Houston 0.8422
Avonte Maddox CB 23 2 Pittsburgh 0.8376
Sidney Jones CB 23 2 Washington 0.8355
Kevin Wilkins DT 24 R Rutgers 0.8342
Malcolm Jenkins S 31 11 Ohio State 0.8333
Carlton Agudosi WR 25 1 Rutgers 0.8317
Keegan Render C 23 R Iowa 0.8281
Treyvon Hester DT 26 3 Toledo 0.8165
Andre Dillard T 23 R Washington State 0.8159
Cre'Von LeBlanc CB 24 4 Florida Atlantic 0.8156
Donnel Pumphrey RB 24 2 San Diego State 0.8042

Solak Insight: Raise your hand if you knew every name on this list.

You liar.

The majority of college recruits are 3-star players, so it makes sense that they’re the biggest group on the Eagles’ roster — though I guess some would expect 4-stars and 5-stars to make it more regularly, given that they’re considered more talented coming out of high school. Not the case at all. 24/7 found that 66% of players drafted are 3-star recruits or below, which serves as a solid barometer for what rankings of players are found in the league.

Also, glad to see we finally got to some non-Power 5 schools! Stony Brook is a big one from Will Tye, who is apparently on the Eagles’ roster, and it’s nice to see Toledo, Florida Atlantic, Houston, and some others make appearances.

Can’t believe Nate Studfeld was so under-appreciated.


Former 2-star Recruits

Player Pos Age Exp College 247Composite
Player Pos Age Exp College 247Composite
Bruce Hector DT 24 2 South Florida 0.796
Jordan Howard RB 24 4 Indiana 0.7857
T.J. Edwards LB 22 R Wisconsin 0.785
Jeremiah McKinnon CB 25 1 Florida International 0.7832
Anthony Fabiano C 25 1 Harvard 0.7667
Andrew Sendejo S 31 9 Rice 0.7667
Joe Ostman DE 23 1 Central Michigan 0.764
Jake Elliott K 24 3 Memphis 0.7444
Vinny Curry DE 30 8 Marshall 0.7222

Solak Insight: Only two 2-stars here went to Power-5 programs, and both became huge stalwarts on their teams — which I suppose is what you’d expect, but it’s cool to see players fight into the spotlight like that. Sadly, I think you could expect...5 of the 9 players here to be gone by the time we get to 53-man roster cuts.

Is a 2-star ranking high for a kicker? I don’t really know. Feels high.


Not Rated Recruits

Player Pos Age Exp College
Player Pos Age Exp College
Tyreek Burwell T 27 4 Cincinnati
L.J. Fort LB 29 5 Northern Iowa
Dallas Goedert TE 24 2 South Dakota State
Kamu Grugier-Hill LB 25 4 Eastern Illinois
Deiondre' Hall S 25 4 Northern Iowa
Josh Hawkins CB 26 4 East Carolina
Mack Hollins WR 25 3 North Carolina
Charles Johnson WR 30 5 Grand Valley State
Lane Johnson T 29 7 Oklahoma
Cameron Johnston P 27 2 Ohio State
Jason Kelce C 31 9 Cincinnati
Jay Liggins CB 23 R Dickinson State
Rick Lovato LS 26 3 Old Dominion
Jordan Mailata T 22 2 -
Marken Michel WR 25 1 Massachusetts
Sua Opeta G 22 R Weber State
Matt Pryor G/T 24 2 TCU
Anthony Rush DT 22 R UAB
Boston Scott RB 24 1 Louisiana Tech
Alex Singleton LB 25 1 Montana State
Tre Sullivan S 25 2 Shepherd
Carson Wentz QB 26 4 North Dakota State
Paul Worrilow LB 29 7 Delaware

Solak Insight: Look at all these awesome walk-ons, baby! Jason Kelce, of course — but Mack Hollins and Matt Pryor, and Lane Johnson obviously came up through JUCO ranks to become a Top-5 Draft pick for Oklahoma. This is the fun stuff.

As we very well know, late blooming is a big part of these 0-star stories, as recruiting is as much if not more so about finding genetically gifted kids than it is talented players. That’s much the story for Carson Wentz and Kamu Grugier-Hill, while other sports backgrounds, like Dallas Goedert and Jordan Mailata, illustrate other paths.

Imagine if, in 8 years, Mailata becomes the Kelce of this list. That’s the prayer, folks.

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