A look at the Philadelphia Eagles' 2023 NFL Draft class
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Eagles were busy and aggressive during the 2023 NFL Draft.
General manager Howie Roseman wheeled-and-dealed to make several trades, stockpiled on some former Georgia football players and added veteran running back and Philadelphia native D'Andre Swift on a Day 3 trade with the Detroit Lions to add more explosiveness to the Eagles' offense.
Here's a look at every player in the Eagles' 2023 NFL Draft class:
DT Jalen Carter
The Eagles were aggressive from the start during the NFL Draft.
The Birds swapped first-round picks with the Chicago Bears (No. 10 for No. 9) and sent a 2024 fourth-round pick to select Jalen Carter, the defensive lineman out of Georgia rated by some as the best non-quarterback prospect in the whole entire draft.
Carter is a menace in the defensive trenches. At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, he has elite quickness for a player of his size.
Carter won back-to-back national championships at Georgia in 2021 and 2022. Last season, he had 32 total tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles.
But, as good as Carter is on the football field, off-the-field concerns led teams at the top of the draft to pass on the talented defensive lineman.
Carter slipped in the draft after he was involved in a crash that left Georgia teammate Devin Willock and recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy dead. Carter was booked on misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing and entered a deal with authorities, where he pled no contest.
Carter received 12 months of probation, had to pay a $1,000 fine and was ordered to do 80 hours of community service along with a driving course.
The Eagles are hoping leaders like Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox and former Georgia players on the roster like Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean will be able to keep Carter in check so he can reach his full potential in the NFL.
LB Nolan Smith
With the 30th overall pick, the Eagles selected Carter's teammate on Georgia: linebacker Nolan Smith.
Smith was a player the Eagles were targeting at the No. 10 overall pick, but he fell to the end of the first-round.
Smith is a bit undersized at 6-foot-2, 238 pounds for a pass rusher, but he's a quick-twitch athlete who plays much bigger than his size.
Last season with the Bulldogs, Smith played in eight games and had 18 tackles and three sacks. He suffered a season-ending torn-pectoral muscle midway through the year.
Smith got comparisons to Eagles' pass rusher Haason Reddick during the draft process.
Smith has the fastest 40-yard dash and the highest vertical among all defensive lineman at the 2023 NFL combine.
OL Tyler Steen
It didn't take long for Roseman give offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland a new prospect to develop.
The Eagles selected Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Steen with the 65th overall pick in the third round.
Philadelphia sent a third-round pick (No. 62 overall) to the Houston Texans for No. 65, a sixth-round pick (No. 188 overall) and a seventh round pick (No. 230 overall).
Steen started every game at left tackle for Alabama after transferring from Vanderbilt, where he started in every game from 2019-2021. He only allowed two sacks on 469 pass block snaps in 2022, where he protected No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young's blind side.
The Eagles announced Steen as a guard when they made the selection. They currently need to fill the starting right guard spot after Issac Seumalo left in free agency. They also lost tackle Andre Dillard.
Steen and second-year offensive lineman Cam Jurgens could be battling out in camp for the starting guard spot.
S Sydney Brown
Eagles fans can thank the Arizona Cardinals and Jonathan Gannon for this selection. Well, kind of.
Right before the draft started Thursday night, the Eagles settled a tampering issue with the Cardinals when the team hired Jonathan Gannon as their head coach, and it led to the Birds swapping third-round picks with the NFC West team.
The Eagles jumped from No. 94 overall to No. 66, where they selected Illinois safety Sydney Brown. Philadelphia also sent the Cardinals a fifth-round pick in 2024.
Brown, at 5-foot-10, 211 pounds, earned first-team All-Big Ten honors last season and led the conference with sixth interceptions, which ranked tied for third in the FBS.
Brown join's a safety room with Reed Blankenship, Terrell Edmunds, Justin Evans, K'Von Wallace and Andre Chachere.
CB Kelee Ringo
The Eagles added another former Georgia Bulldog in the fourth-round when they selected cornerback Kelee Ringo.
Initially, the Eagles weren't supposed to pick until later on Day 3, but they dealt a 2024 third-round pick to the Texas to move up and select Ringo at No. 105 overall.
Like Carter and Smith, Ringo also has two national championship rings from playing at Georgia.
At 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, Ringo has the size and speed to become a dependable cornerback in the NFL. He ran his 40-yard dash at 4.36 seconds.
Ringo will have time to develop behind James Bradberry and Darius Slay in year one.
QB Tanner McKee
The quarterback factory continues.
With the No. 188 overall pick in the sixth-round, the Eagles selected Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee.
McKee was four-star recruit coming out of Centennial High School in California and turned down offers from Alabama, Texas and BYU. He served a two-year mission in Brazil before arriving at Stanford.
In 2022, he started all 12 games, recording 2,947 yards, 13 touchdowns, eight interceptions and had two rushing scores.
McKee will compete with Ian Book as the Eagles' third quarterback.
DT Moro Ojomo
With their final pick in the NFL Draft, the Eagles selected Texas defensive tackle Moro Ojomo at 249th overall in the seventh-round.
Last season, Ojomo recorded 32 total tackles, including 5.5 for loss and three sacks in 12 games, including five starts.
Ojomo was born in Nigeria and moved to the United States when he was 7 years old.
At 6-foot-3, 292 pounds, Ojomo is a "powerful defensive lineman" but he "doesn't really have the get-off quickness to exploit interior blockers as an inside rusher on passing downs."
