Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman used the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft to select defensive end Derek Barnett, and two years later he’s still confident that was a good pick.
Although Barnett was a backup as a rookie and then missed most of his second season with a shoulder injury, Roseman says Barnett has shown everything the Eagles wanted to see.
“I’d say every time he’s on the field, he’s rewarding our investment in him,” Roseman said. “We have a lot of confidence in him as a player and he’s a huge part of our football team. He’s shown that this isn’t a guy that’s going into his third year and we haven’t seen what he’s done. We’ve seen what he’s done in big games. We saw what he was doing last year before he got hurt. We expect him to come in and be a huge part of our team.”
The Eagles are counting on Barnett to be a key starter on their defense this year, and show the talent that led Roseman to take him in the first round.