Burgundy & Gold Reaction: Is Adam Peters Being Under Fire Rational?

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November 11, 2026

by David Earl

Howie Roseman’s First Stint as General Manager Rocky

The Washington fan narrative today on Howie Roseman’s first stint as General Manager of the Philadelphia Eagles from 2010 to 2014 is often viewed through the revisionist lens of his later Super Bowl success, but his actual start was rough. During his early years as general manager, Eagles fans were incredibly skeptical of Howie Roseman and didn’t really trust him at all. One narrative was that he never played or coached football so fans on sports talk radio constantly crushed him as a “spreadsheet guy” and a front-office politician who somehow survived the firing of Andy Reid after the ugly 4–12 season in 2012. It didn’t help that his early first round draft picks felt like complete disasters to the fan base, from picking a 26 year old firefighter in Danny Watkins who gave up a 11.2% pressure rate to reaching for a complete draft bust like Marcus Smith. These picks drove fans completely insane. Even though he hit home runs on late-round guys like Jason Kelce, the general feeling in the city by 2014 was that Howie was great at managing the salary cap but terrible at scouting actual talent. In fact, when head coach Chip Kelly took over and Howie took a back seat from making personnel decisions at the end of 2014, most of the city actually cheered and thought it was the right move.

Of course, Roseman was more aggressive on draft day deals and certainly hit on quite a few players early on, such as defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, edge rusher Brandon Graham, and right tackle Lane Johnson during this time thus that cannot be ignored. That said, an honest evaluation of Roseman’s early draft record reveals drafts with costly, high-profile misses that set the franchise back in critical areas. His blind spots were on full display with the infamous selection of the firefighter, Watkins, in the first round of the 2011 draft, an historic bust who allowed an 11.2% pressure rate as a rookie before being out of the league after two seasons. Roseman repeated his first round miscues in 2014 by reaching for linebacker Marcus Smith, who contributed a weak four sacks in Philly. These blunders were compounded by many forgotten early-to-mid-round draft picks such as Jaiquawn Jarrett, Curtis Marsh, and Josh Huff, proving that his early evaluation process was heavily prone to overthinking and overvaluing short-term athletic traits over true on the field football talent. So Eaglez fans impatience was paid off by Jeffery Lure’s patience. We all should consider this story because jumping to ask Josh Harris to fire Adam Peters is asking for him to act in a way reminiscent to Dan Snyder. To see Howie Roseman’s complete draft classes from 2010-2014 that will be at the end of this column.

The Adam Peters Frustrations Understandable But Patience Should Be Observed

When watching Washington’s mixed results on the field, many fans are quick to label general manager Adam Peters a poor talent evaluator, but a broader look at his executive moves could reveal a normal learning curve filled with standard rebuilding pains. After the initial excitement surrounding his first three drafts (initial grades shown below), frustration has naturally set in due to the mediocrity emerging from the second and third rounds of his 2024 draft class. While Mike Sainristil’s sudden regression after a promising rookie year feels like a failure of coaching and development rather than an evaluation error, there is no denying that Ben Sinnott looks nowhere near starting caliber, and Brandon Coleman was a complete bust at left tackle before finding a place as a guard. As the top pick of this class, Jayden Daniels, has recently planted some seeds of doubt among some fans via recent inconsistent play, occasional in game situational awareness, and a concerning injury history; however, he has shown glimpses of being a franchise player, such as his leadership in bringing the team together against the Eagles in Week 8. I personally believe Daniels will be fine going forward and with how long Washington has gone starving for a franchise quarterback, I don’t believe that the team should even consider moving on from him at this time.

The 2025 draft class might appear to lack an elite blue-chip prospect, but it has produced valuable role players and depth alongside Josh Conerly Jr., who looks like a legitimate anchor at right tackle despite needing to clean up his frustrating pre-snap penalties. Peters looks to have hit on second round pick cornerback Trey Amos, who is rapidly developing into a lockdown number-one boundary corner if he can stay healthy. Right on its heels, the latest 2026 class is shaping up to be his deepest collection of talent thus far with Sonny Styles playing like the legitimate game-changing middle linebacker Washington has lacked for years. Antonio Williams is a very good third round find at wideout, and Joshua Josephs is flashing serious potential as a heavy-rotation edge rusher. He did give up on running back Kaytron Allen too quickly, but the ongoing developmental upside of center Matt Gulbin will determine if he can take that next step as he appears more overwhelmed at time. As for quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, it appears Adam Peters may have found a potential backup quarterback of the future.

Ultimately, evaluating a general manager requires distinguishing between a missed draft pick and a coaching staff’s failure to foster raw talent. Just as the Eagles reaped the rewards of exercising patience with Howie Roseman during his up-and-down initial stint running their front office, Washington team owner Josh Harris recognizes that true roster overhauls do not happen overnight. It is crucial to remember that the completely void of talent roster Peters inherited was far more dreadful than the initial team Roseman originally took over in Philadelphia. While Peters certainly has clearly missed evaluations on his books like Sinnott and Jer’Zhan Newton, his ability to balance those out with premium acquisitions like Amos and Williams buys him grace. Moving on from the coaching staff is a completely fair conversation, but giving up on Adam Peters this early could be a massive mistake for a franchise that desperately needs front-office continuity to finally get it right. Besides, what message would it send to up in coming general Managers seeing Josh Harris not having patience for Adam Peters? Here is how Adam Peters drafts and initial draft evaluations have gone so far:

NFL Draft Year Sports Illustrated Grade NFL Network / NFL.com Grade
2024 Draft Class A+ A-
2025 Draft Class B B
2026 Draft Class B+ B

2024 Draft Class

Round 1, Pick 2 (Overall #2) — Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU)

  • Career Stats: 29 games started, 536/813 (65.9%), 5,806 passing yards, 39 passing TDs, 12 INTs, 1,405 rushing yards, 10 rushing TDs.

Round 2, Pick 4 (Overall #36) — Jer’Zhan “Johnny” Newton, DT (Illinois)

  • Career Stats: 33 games played, 42 total tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 12 QB hits.

Round 2, Pick 18 (Overall #50) — Mike Sainristil, CB (Michigan)

  • Career Stats: 41 games played, 138 total tackles, 21 passes defensed, 4 interceptions.

Round 2, Pick 21 (Overall #53) — Ben Sinnott, TE (Kansas State)

  • Career Stats: 34 games played, 44 receptions, 482 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns.

Round 3, Pick 3 (Overall #67) — Brandon Coleman, OT/OG (TCU)

  • Next Gen Advanced Stats: 6.5 sacks allowed, 6.8% pressure rate.

Round 3, Pick 36 (Overall #100) — Luke McCaffrey, WR (Rice)

  • Career Stats: 28 games played, 32 receptions, 365 receiving yards, 1 touchdown.

Round 5, Pick 4 (Overall #139) — Jordan Magee, LB (Temple)

  • Career Stats: 22 games played, Core special teams contributor and rotational weakside defensive depth.

Round 5, Pick 26 (Overall #161) — Dominique Hampton, S (Washington)

  • Career Stats: 14 games played, Provides secondary safety depth and coverage team support.

Round 7, Pick 2 (Overall #222) — Javontae Jean-Baptiste, DE (Notre Dame)

  • Career Stats: 31 games played, 22 run stops, 14 total pressures, 4.5 sacks.

2025 Draft Class

Round 1, Pick 29 (Overall #29) — Josh Conerly Jr., OT (Oregon)

  • Next Gen Advanced Stats: 8.0 sacks allowed, 7.2% pressure rate allowed in early starts, which dropped down to a lock-down 3.4% in the second half of the year.

Round 2, Pick 29 (Overall #61) — Trey Amos, CB (Ole Miss)

  • Career Stats: 17 games played (11 starts), 48 total tackles, 9 passes defensed, 2 interceptions.

Round 4, Pick 27 (Overall #128) — Jaylin Lane, WR (Virginia Tech)

  • Career Stats: 16 games played, 18 receptions, 214 receiving yards, 2 punt return touchdowns.

Round 6, Pick 26 (Overall #205) — Kain Medrano, LB (UCLA)

  • Career Stats: 12 games played, Key special teams coverage contributor and backup linebacker.

Round 7, Pick 27 (Overall #245) — Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt, RB (Arizona)

  • Career Stats: 15 games played (9 starts), 164 carries, 805 rushing yards, 8 touchdowns.

2026 Draft Class

Round 1, Pick 7 (Overall #7) — Sonny Styles, LB (Ohio State)

  • Rookie Stats: 9 games started, 54 total tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 interception.

Round 3, Pick 8 (Overall #71) — Antonio Williams, WR (Clemson)

  • Rookie Stats: 9 games played, 14 receptions, 185 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns.

Round 5, Pick 13 (Overall #147) — Joshua Josephs, EDGE (Tennessee)

  • Rookie Stats: 9 games played, 6 total quarterback pressures, 1.5 sacks.

Round 6, Pick 1 (Overall #187) — Kaytron Allen, RB (Penn State)

  • Rookie Stats: 9 games played, 42 carries, 188 rushing yards, 1 touchdown.

Round 6, Pick 23 (Overall #209) — Matt Gulbin, C/OG (Michigan State)

  • Developmental Backup: Projected as a high-upside interior gap/zone blocker with good leverage.

Round 7, Pick 13 (Overall #223) — Athan Kaliakmanis, QB (Rutgers)

  • Rookie Stats: Came in for relief of Marcus Mariota completing 46% of his passes with 1 TD and 1 Int, Actively serving as the roster’s third-string developmental quarterback.

 

Howie Roseman’s Draft Class 2010-2014

2010 Draft Class

Round 1, Pick 13 (Overall #13) — Brandon Graham, DE (Michigan)

  • Status: Active. Longest-tenured active defender in Eagles history (15 seasons). 1 Pro Bowl. Has over 70 career sacks, including his famous strip-sack on Tom Brady in Super Bowl LII.

Round 2, Pick 5 (Overall #37) — Nate Allen, S (South Florida)

  • Status: Retired. Played 5 seasons with the Eagles. Had 11 interceptions in Philly before finishing his career with the Raiders and Dolphins. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 3, Pick 22 (Overall #86) — Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, DE (Washington)

  • Status: Deceased. Played 1 season with the Eagles. Finished his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 4, Pick 7 (Overall #105) — Trevard Lindley, CB (Kentucky)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 1 year with the Eagles, recording 1 career interception. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 4, Pick 23 (Overall #121) — Keenan Clayton, LB (Oklahoma)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 2 seasons with the Eagles. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 4, Pick 24 (Overall #122) — Mike Kafka, QB (Northwestern)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 1 season with the Eagles. Currently an NFL offensive coordinator. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 4, Pick 27 (Overall #125) — Clay Harbor, TE (Missouri State)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 3 seasons with the Eagles. Caught 114 career passes across multiple NFL teams. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 5, Pick 3 (Overall #134) — Ricky Sapp, DE (Clemson)

  • Status: Retired. Never played a regular-season snap for Philly due to injury. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 5, Pick 28 (Overall #159) — Riley Cooper, WR (Florida)

  • Status: Retired. Spent all 6 of his NFL seasons with the Eagles. Totaled 169 catches, 2,418 yards, and 18 touchdowns. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 6, Pick 31 (Overall #200) — Charles Scott, RB (LSU)

  • Status: Retired. Traded away before his rookie regular season started. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 7, Pick 13 (Overall #220) — Jamar Chaney, LB (Mississippi State)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 3 seasons with the Eagles. Logged 161 total tackles in Philly. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 7, Pick 36 (Overall #243) — Jeff Owens, DT (Georgia)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 1 season with the Eagles after suffering a rookie-year injury. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 7, Pick 37 (Overall #244) — Kurt Coleman, S (Ohio State)

  • Status: Retired. Played 4 seasons with the Eagles. Carved out an 11-year NFL career with 21 total interceptions. 0 Pro Bowls.
2011 Draft Class

Round 1, Pick 23 (Overall #23) — Danny Watkins, OG (Baylor)

  • Status: Retired. Lasted just 2 seasons in Philly before being cut. OL Profile: Allowed an 11.2% pressure rate as a rookie and gave up 6.5 sacks; run blocking ranked near the bottom of the league before he left football to be a firefighter. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 2, Pick 22 (Overall #54) — Jaiquawn Jarrett, S (Temple)

  • Status: Retired. Lasted only 1 season with the Eagles before being released. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 3, Pick 26 (Overall #90) — Curtis Marsh, CB (Utah State)

  • Status: Retired. Played 3 seasons with the Eagles, primarily on special teams. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 4, Pick 19 (Overall #116) — Casey Matthews, LB (Oregon)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 4 seasons with the Eagles, recording 111 total tackles. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 4, Pick 23 (Overall #120) — Alex Henery, K (Nebraska)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 3 seasons with the Eagles. Finished his career making 82.4% of his field goals. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 5, Pick 18 (Overall #149) — Dion Lewis, RB (Pittsburgh)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 2 seasons with the Eagles. Later became a lead back and Super Bowl champion with the Patriots. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 5, Pick 30 (Overall #161) — Julian Vandervelde, OG (Iowa)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 4 seasons in Philly over multiple stints. Allowed 0 sacks in minimal backup snaps. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 6, Pick 26 (Overall #191) — Jason Kelce, C (Cincinnati)

  • Status: Retired. Spent his entire legendary 13-year career with the Eagles. 7 Pro Bowls, 6 First-Team All-Pros. OL Profile: Allowed a microscopic career pressure rate under 2.5%, gave up less than 1.5 sacks per full season, and was an elite, generation-defining run blocker.

Round 6, Pick 28 (Overall #193) — Brian Rolle, LB (Ohio State)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 2 seasons with the Eagles. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 7, Pick 34 (Overall #237) — Greg Lloyd, LB (Connecticut)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 1 season with the Eagles and did not record a stat. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 7, Pick 37 (Overall #240) — Stanley Havili, FB (USC)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 1 season with the Eagles. 0 Pro Bowls.
2012 Draft Class

Round 1, Pick 12 (Overall #12) — Fletcher Cox, DT (Mississippi State)

  • Status: Retired. Spent all 12 seasons of his career in Philly. 6 Pro Bowls, 1 First-Team All-Pro. Finished with 70 career sacks in 188 games.

Round 2, Pick 14 (Overall #46) — Mychal Kendricks, LB (California)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 6 seasons with the Eagles. Logged 459 tackles and 14 sacks in Philly. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 2, Pick 27 (Overall #59) — Vinny Curry, DE (Marshall)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 8 total seasons across two stints with the Eagles. Finished with 32.5 sacks. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 3, Pick 25 (Overall #88) — Nick Foles, QB (Arizona)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 5 total seasons over two stints with the Eagles. 1 Pro Bowl. Forever famous for his Super Bowl LII MVP run and the “Philly Special.”

Round 4, Pick 28 (Overall #123) — Brandon Boykin, CB (Georgia)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 3 seasons with the Eagles, highlighted by a 6-interception season in 2013. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 5, Pick 18 (Overall #153) — Dennis Kelly, OT (Purdue)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 3 seasons with the Eagles as a swing tackle. OL Profile: Allowed a 6.8% pressure rate and 4 sacks in limited starting action; posted standard, solid run-blocking grades. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 6, Pick 24 (Overall #194) — Marvin McNutt, WR (Iowa)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 1 season with the Eagles and did not record a regular-season catch. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 6, Pick 30 (Overall #200) — Brandon Washington, OG (Miami)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 0 seasons with the Eagles after being waived during final roster cuts. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 7, Pick 22 (Overall #229) — Bryce Brown, RB (Kansas State)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 2 seasons with the Eagles. Ran for 878 yards and 6 touchdowns as a fast backup. 0 Pro Bowls.
2013 Draft Class

Round 1, Pick 4 (Overall #4) — Lane Johnson, OT (Oklahoma)

  • Status: Active. Playing his 14th season with the Eagles. 5 Pro Bowls, 2 First-Team All-Pros. OL Profile: Premier right tackle of his era who held the NFL record for consecutive games without a sack allowed; career pressure rate sits at a microscopic ~2.9% and averages under 1 sack per season while consistently ranking as an elite run blocker.

Round 2, Pick 3 (Overall #35) — Zach Ertz, TE (Stanford)

  • Status: Active. Spent 9 seasons with the Eagles. 3 Pro Bowls. Caught 579 passes for 6,267 yards and 38 touchdowns in Philly, including the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl LII.

Round 3, Pick 5 (Overall #67) — Bennie Logan, DT (LSU)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 4 seasons with the Eagles as a premier starting interior run-stuffer. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 4, Pick 1 (Overall #98) — Matt Barkley, QB (USC)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 2 seasons with the Eagles. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 5, Pick 3 (Overall #136) — Earl Wolff, S (NC State)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 2 seasons with the Eagles. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 7, Pick 6 (Overall #212) — Joe Kruger, DE (Utah)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 1 season with the Eagles on injured reserve. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 7, Pick 12 (Overall #218) — Jordan Poyer, S (Oregon State)

  • Status: Active. Spent less than 1 season in Philly after being mistakenly cut as a rookie. Made 1 Pro Bowl later with Buffalo.

Round 7, Pick 33 (Overall #239) — David King, DE (Oklahoma)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 0 seasons with the Eagles after being cut from the practice squad. 0 Pro Bowls.
2014 Draft Class

Round 1, Pick 26 (Overall #26) — Marcus Smith, LB (Louisville)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 3 seasons with the Eagles. Recorded just 4.0 total sacks in Philly and is widely remembered as a major draft reach. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 2, Pick 10 (Overall #42) — Jordan Matthews, WR (Vanderbilt)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 4 total seasons across three separate stints with the Eagles. Caught 249 passes for 3,029 yards and 21 touchdowns. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 3, Pick 22 (Overall #86) — Josh Huff, WR (Oregon)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 3 seasons with the Eagles. Primarily a return specialist with 2 kickoff-return touchdowns. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 4, Pick 1 (Overall #101) — Jaylen Watkins, CB (Florida)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 4 seasons over two stints with the Eagles. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 5, Pick 1 (Overall #141) — Taylor Hart, DT (Oregon)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 3 seasons with the Eagles. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 5, Pick 22 (Overall #162) — Ed Reynolds, S (Stanford)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 2 seasons with the Eagles. 0 Pro Bowls.

Round 7, Pick 9 (Overall #224) — Beau Allen, DT (Wisconsin)

  • Status: Retired. Spent 4 seasons with the Eagles. Was a reliable rotational piece on the Super Bowl LII championship team. 0 Pro Bowls.
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