Eagles' draft grade? That will depend heavily on Wentz

Grading a draft can be a futile activity in the hours after Mr. Irrelevant is announced, but for the Eagles, there is only one grade that eventually will dictate how they did this year. That's the one for quarterback Carson Wentz, whose performance will always be the barometer for how this eight-man draft class is remembered.

Because the Eagles invested so heavily in Wentz with the No. 2 pick and the team is expected to take a patient approach with his development, the Eagles might not have a single Day 1 starter or major contributor from this year's haul. But if Wentz is eventually the franchise quarterback that the Eagles seek, then the class will be considered a resounding success.

"I think for all of us, that's going to be the reality of the situation, that we made an aggressive move to go get Carson," said Howie Roseman, the team's executive vice president of football operations. "But we felt very focused going into [Saturday] about the job that we had to do and how we had hit on some guys, whether it was in the fifth round, whether it was in the sixth round, in the seventh round, or undrafted.

"We got a couple more picks in the seventh round because we want to just increase our odds. We understand that when you look at the probabilities of the fifth round, the sixth round, and the seventh round, they're not great, so we wanted to take more guys that we felt good about."

The Eagles used their first four draft picks on offensive players and their last four draft picks on defensive players. After taking Wentz in the first round, they focused on two offensive spots that have been neglected in recent drafts. Isaac Seumalo and Halapoulivaati Vaitai were the first offensive linemen drafted by the team since 2013, and Wendell Smallwood was the first running back selected since 2012. Combined with Wentz - the Eagles hadn't drafted a quarterback since 2013 - there is an infusion of youth in spots that need it.

On the final day, the Eagles hoped they could uncover late-round talent for the defense. They added defensive backs Blake Countess and Jalen Mills, defensive end Alex McCalister, and linebacker Joe Walker. Mills and McCalister were examples of players with character concerns that the Eagles gambled on because of the potential reward that late in the draft.

"It wasn't a deliberate plan that we were going to try to even it out," Roseman said. "It's just kind of the way the board fell, then when we got later in the draft, Doug [Pederson] and I would go left, [defensive coordinator] Jim [Schwartz] would kind of pull us to the right side of the board and try to get some defensive players. But we certainly went in looking at the depth of the draft and thinking where it was."

Roseman thought the Eagles might add a defensive tackle because that was considered the strongest position in the draft, but the board did not cooperate.

They waited for their final draft slot to add a linebacker, which is a position that lacks depth. The Eagles had only six linebackers on the roster before the draft because of the team's move to a 4-3 defense, and all starters missed playing time last season. Roseman said the Eagles "discussed that position a lot," and they like the potential of Oregon's Walker. They also are encouraged by the undrafted rookies they're signing at that spot. Those signings are expected to be announced by the team Monday.

"We can't answer a lot of problems, especially with the lack of picks that we had in the draft," Roseman said. "But we took some shots on some guys that we think have some talent, we'll bring them in there, and our guys will always be open here to see if we can upgrade at any spot."

As Roseman pointed out, the odds of hitting on a pick become longer as the draft gets later. So with half of the picks coming in the last 58 spots in the draft, expectations for this class should be tempered. But if Wentz turns out as the Eagles hope, then this draft will be remembered as a good one in Philadelphia.

"It may take a few years for us to figure out exactly what we did this weekend," Roseman said, "but we're excited about the additions that we made."

zberman@phillynews.com

@ZBerm