The Andy Weidl Factor

[Crossdog]

Since there is a new tandem constructing the Steelers roster, I wanted to go back and look at how the Eagles did it for 2017-2022. These years reflect Weidl's time there.

Now obviously every team, salary cap, etc is different but I wanted to see if there were any trends. I didn't find anything earth shattering, but since I have the numbers, I thought I'd share.

Draft '17-'22:
In regards to the first (2) rounds, 9 were on offense and 3 were defense. 2 WRs in the first rnd and 2 DL in the first rnd during those 6 years. Overall though, fairly slanted towards the offense here.

Here is the breakdown by position for the first (4) rounds only.
DL(5), DB(5), LB(2), OL(4), WR(4), RB(2), TE(1), QB(1)
No major takeaways here imo.

Outside FAs brought in for '19-'22:
Defense - 18, Offense - 10
Overall, favoring the defense. FA data from '19 and earlier was harder to find. (Spotrac cut me off LOL and wanted me to join their Premium site).

Could be a whole lot of nothing, but it seemed the Eagles favored the offense in the draft and the defense during free agency. Now could that be due to the league favoring the offense and younger players are easier to plug in or just coincidence? I don't think it gives us a clue how they will draft but it will be an interesting trend to see in the upcoming years.

[DesertSteel]

I don't think Weidl will last long before he's hired as a GM somewhere. Maybe one or two years.

[86WARD]

He certainly wasn’t a wizard of the WR…

I’m not sure I could name a worse drafted group of 6 WRs since 2017…

Hopefully the Steelers still have those people in place.

[86WARD]

So Weidl’s Eagles (built through OL and DL) are in the Super Bowl. A result of Roseman and Sirianni letting Weidl do his thing…

Question becomes: Will Tomlin and Khan let Weidl do his thing in Pittsburgh? After this off-season, I think not…I don’t think they will stay out of his way…

[Mojouw]

How much of any of that was actually Weidl? And why did tyeylet him leave?

Just asking because I don't know.

[86WARD]

How much of any of that was actually Weidl? And why did tyeylet him leave?

Just asking because I don't know.

I don’t think they “let him leave”, he left for a better role? VPP to Asst. GM. Probably a pay upgrade and more responsibility…

[Mojouw]

I don’t think they “let him leave”, he left for a better role? VPP to Asst. GM. Probably a pay upgrade and more responsibility…

I guess so. I don't know what is actual role was in Philly. Has that ever been reported?

[86WARD]

I guess so. I don't know what is actual role was in Philly. Has that ever been reported?

At the time of this signing, I remember reading he had a big part to do with their few most recent drafts and that a few of the articles would say the drafts were “under his watch”. Eagles never handed out an AGM title and I know that Roseman (GM) didn’t even have traditional GM dutie because Laurie didn’t trust him…so someone was making those calls and if it wasn’t Roseman, who was it?

[Mojouw]

At the time of this signing, I remember reading he had a big part to do with their few most recent drafts and that a few of the articles would say the drafts were “under his watch”. Eagles never handed out an AGM title and I know that Roseman (GM) didn’t even have traditional GM dutie because Laurie didn’t trust him…so someone was making those calls and if it wasn’t Roseman, who was it?

Joe Douglas? Berry?

It's hard to tell. Also, looking at their draft history, there isn't a massive focus on OL.

https://www.pro-football-reference.c.../phi/draft.htm.

In fact, there's more bad picks than good along the OL. The biggest thing is that hit the jackpot with late round OT.

I bet Weidl is quality player personnel guy. That's not an issue.

But the data doesn't seem to support that he's a OL guru or pays particular attention to one position group or another.

I'm.not sure I really like several of those Eagles draft classes.

They seem to have buoyed their roster with key FA signings. That'll be a change.

[86WARD]

Since 2017, he’s gotten 6 out of the 9-10 starting trench guys through the draft. A couple of the other were veterans that were in place when he arrived in 2016 and I think Hargrave was brought in at that time…that’s pretty good…I’d take that ratio for a Super Bowl Roster. Not household names but that’s fine…

Any article about Weidl leaving Philadelphia and going to Pittsburgh says he was critical in constructing the Eagles roster, so he must hold some sort of weight there?

[Mojouw]

Since 2017, he’s gotten 6 out of the 9-10 starting trench guys through the draft. A couple of the other were veterans that were in place when he arrived in 2016 and I think Hargrave was brought in at that time…that’s pretty good…I’d take that ratio for a Super Bowl Roster. Not household names but that’s fine…

Any article about Weidl leaving Philadelphia and going to Pittsburgh says he was critical in constructing the Eagles roster, so he must hold some sort of weight there?

I don't think those numbers are right.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/depth/...delphia-eagles

Going from that it's only 4 guys. LT, both guards, and Sweat.

There's also more OL NOT on the roster than on it during the same period.

All these articles claim this and that but I’ve never seen any data to back it up.

Looking at that starting depth chart there’s a number of pre Wiedel guys and a large number of FAs and trades.

Again, Wiedel seems strong. But really he’s got this OMG offensive lineman! rep and I don’t see it. Did Colbert get an OL savant rep from Foster and AV? No. So why does Wiedel from a 7th round LT and 2nd round guards?

I’m not trashing the guy. I don’t know enough to have reason to. But I’m not expecting big changes or improvements because I don’t see a track record to support that either. I realize the Steelers internet has decided it’s gonna happen but how did that conclusion get made?

[86WARD]

You have Barnett, Sweat, Mailata, Goedert, Dickerson and Davis are all starters. Then a couple are still on the roster as back ups.

Clearly the guy didn’t just sit in an Eagles golf shirt doing nothing…not sure why you won’t accept that he had a big part of the Eagles draft. I mean there are endless articles stating that he had a hand in picking those players, Roseman didn’t do it and nothing says anyone else did…What evidence are you looking for? I mean, realistically, there’s no clear evidence that Kevin Colbert made the picks in Pittsburgh…people say he did, but how do we know it wasn’t Art Rooney or Mike Tomlin making those picks?

The other thing about Weill is when the media in Philadelphia interview the Eagles front office about draft picks, it was Weill that was addressing the media. Not Roseman…I think that says a lot as well.

Lastly, a guy that worked with Bill Nunn and credits Nunn as his mentor and teacher, brings a lot to the table.

[Mojouw]

You have Barnett, Sweat, Mailata, Goedert, Dickerson and Davis are all starters. Then a couple are still on the roster as back ups.

Clearly the guy didn’t just sit in an Eagles golf shirt doing nothing…not sure why you won’t accept that he had a big part of the Eagles draft. I mean there are endless articles stating that he had a hand in picking those players, Roseman didn’t do it and nothing says anyone else did…What evidence are you looking for? I mean, realistically, there’s no clear evidence that Kevin Colbert made the picks in Pittsburgh…people say he did, but how do we know it wasn’t Art Rooney or Mike Tomlin making those picks?

The other thing about Weill is when the media in Philadelphia interview the Eagles front office about draft picks, it was Weill that was addressing the media. Not Roseman…I think that says a lot as well.

Lastly, a guy that worked with Bill Nunn and credits Nunn as his mentor and teacher, brings a lot to the table.

I’m not saying he didn’t. I don’t see evidence of a special focus on OL nor hitting on those more than most. That’s all.

[polamalubeast]

Steelers GM Omar Khan said not much changes in the draft process. Andy Weidl and the scouting dept. help set the board. Then Khan, Mike Tomlin and Art Rooney II decide on the picks.