Toward the end of the 2023 season, not even the most ardent fan would have backed the Philadelphia Eagles as a potential Super Bowl-winning side. After a 10-1 start to the year, their campaign unraveled in the last few weeks.
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They lost six of their final seven games, including a blowout defeat in the Wild Card round. The biggest reason for that was their pass defense. Over the final 10 weeks, they gave up the 2nd-most pass yards per game, the 2nd-most passing TDs, and the 3rd-highest passer rating.
After Baker Mayfield put on a clinical performance with 337 yards and three TDs in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 32-9 Wild Card win over the Eagles, general manager Howie Roseman knew something had to be done. The rebuild started with Philly nabbing two of the best CBs in the 2024 Draft class — Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.
Both had an instant impact. Philly’s new-look secondary responded by finishing 1st in total passing defense, 6th in passing TDs allowed, and 3rd in passer rating allowed in the 2024 season. And it was that elite pass defense that was key to Philly’s 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59.
At halftime, Patrick Mahomes had just 33 passing yards (the lowest first-half total of his career) and had already thrown two picks. One of those came courtesy of DeJean, who took it all the way to the house.
Roseman recently reflected on how fortunate he and the Eagles were that everything fell into place for them to land DeJean and Mitchell on those two pivotal days in April 2024.
“I don’t think there was any scenario where we thought Q would be there where we were picking, 22. I think that once the offensive players started falling, and we got to like 16-17, and we kind of saw the way the board was… It was gonna be a good spot for us and what we need,” the GM said on The McShay Show.
There was a historic run on offensive players that caused the two defensive studs to slide far down the draft board. Six QBs were taken in the 1st round, setting an NFL record. The first defensive player, Laiatu Latu, wasn’t drafted until No.15 — another record.
Considering Roseman’s needs, it was the perfect — if completely unpredictable — scenario for him. “[It] fit what we needed at the time,” he said.
Roseman recalled how Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie even asked him if he planned to trade up as they got closer to Philly’s pick. However, after assessing the teams drafting ahead of them, Roseman figured that only one or two had similar needs in the secondary.
“Certainly, in a lot of the scenarios we did, some of them came down to Coop being there at 22. In this business, like any business, you gotta get a little lucky. For sure, luck plays a part in it,” said Roseman.
And lucky they were. The highest-graded CB in the class, Mitchell, was still there at No.22, as the Eagles were the first team to draft a DB. The next day, 18 picks later, DeJean was still there as well, which must have been an even more pleasant surprise considering they were thinking about drafting him in the 1st round.
Mitchell, or ‘Quinyonomo Bay’, as he likes to be called, was a stud right out of the gate. He started every single game and finished tied-6th among CBs with a 79.2 coverage grade, per PFF.
DeJean came on a little bit slower. He was arguably just as good from the slot, though, posting an 84.2 coverage grade, 3rd-best among CBs. He will likely move out wide (where he played in college) in 2025 after the release of veteran Darius Slay.
Neither had an interception in the regular season. But DeJean stamped the 2024 Eagles draft class with that pick-six in their Super Bowl 59 triumph.
