Howie Roseman took the podium midway through the third round of the NFL Draft and acknowledged the confluence of decisions that hastened his arrival to the “end” of the Eagles‘ night about an hour earlier than expected.

Indeed it was. The Eagles used the No. 54 overall pick to select Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers and finalized a trade for 28-year-old edge rusher Jonathan Greenard roughly five minutes later, leaving the front office to turn in early once the card for Miami tackle Markel Bell with the No. 68 pick was submitted to the league.

Here are five takeaways from Roseman’s flurry of moves:

1. Howie Roseman isn’t focused on what Eli Stowers’ can’t do.

The 6-foot-4, 239-pound converted quarterback put together one of the most impressive combine performances in recent memory with as 4.51-second 40-yard dash and 99th percentile broad and vertical jumps, showcasing the type of explosiveness and vertical speed that inform the upside he has as a premier pass catcher running down the seam or working in the middle of the field.

Stowers was productive in college as a receiving threat, too. He caught 62 passes for 769 yards and four touchdowns last season as a matchup nightmare capable of working the seams, finding soft spots in zone coverage or climbing the ladder for difficult catches in the middle of the field.

That’s what Stowers can do at the next level if afforded the right role in the Eagles offense, but it comes with some important caveats: The former four-star quarterback recruit requires a great deal of projection to be counted on in any capacity as a blocker. Vanderbilt often took him off the field in obvious run situations and even instances when he needed to work upfield to block defensive backs weren’t always a smooth experience.

For that reason, it’s fair to ask how exactly the Eagles view the one-dimensional nature of Stowers’ game, to which Roseman said the following …

“We’re trying to find out what the guy can do really well,” Roseman said. “If you focus only on what guys can’t do, you’re going to have some negatives for some of the top players in the draft. When you find guys that have unique skill sets, we have a lot of confidence in our coaches and our staffs to develop players. Especially when they have high football IQ and high character and we know they’re tough, it’s exciting.”

The mention of the “coaches and staff” is an important one here. Roseman’s bet on Stowers is more than just an infatuation with the player, it’s a belief that the Eagles will find a way to get the most out of the 23-year-old with the “unusual” traits the organization covets.

And for what it’s worth, our draft expert Fran Duffy did point out that Stowers’ limitations aren’t due to a lack of willingness, something echoed by Stowers in a video conference with reporters shortly after the Eagles selected him.

2. The Eagles defense plugged its biggest hole on Friday.

For as good as the group looked even going into draft weekend, the absence of a true No. 1 atop the edge rusher depth chart after Jaelan Phillips’ departure stood out and justified the momentum toward the Greenard trade that now gives the Eagles exactly that.

The Eagles sent the 98th pick in this year’s draft along with a 2027 third-round pick in next year’s to the Minnesota Vikings for Greenard, who also signed a four-year, $100 million contract with the Eagles in tandem with the trade.

Although Greenard is coming off a down year with just three sacks, the move gives the Eagles an edge rusher capable of replicating the spark Phillips gave the defense at the midway point of last season. It’s also worth noting the two third-round picks the Eagles gave up in the deal were effectively balanced out by compensatory picks: The third in this year’s draft was a comp pick for Milton Williams and the ’27 third-rounder will be counterbalanced by the compensatory pick the Eagles are due for losing Phillips in free agency.

“We felt that we had a really good D-line,” Roseman said. “But we wanted to elevate it to another level.”

Safety is still a hole that needs filling, but the premium the Eagles place on pass rush made a trade like this one a necessary one. It did leave me wondering just how solid the group would have look had the team taken Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren instead of Stowers in the second round, though.

Another quick note on the Greenard trade: The lead-up to the deal was long enough in the making that Greenard was in town Friday before the trade was finalized, which freed him up to go to the Sixers‘ playoff game against the Boston Celtics.

The Eagles using their first two picks in this year’s draft not only on pass catchers, but ones that will require creativity in their usage even further underscores the sea change coming for the Eagles offense and Jalen Hurts at the center of it this upcoming season.

Both Stowers and first-round receiver Makai Lemon did most of their best work in college working over the middle of the field and finding space against zone coverage. Neither would be ideal “line up and win your one-on-one” type players, although Stowers especially should be a matchup advantage in specific scenarios.