PHILADELPHIA − It was as brilliant as it was unexpected when Eagles general manager Howie Roseman traded up in the second round to pick cornerback Cooper DeJean in the second round of the draft.

That made back-to-back cornerbacks for the Eagles in the draft, at a position the Eagles hadn't drafted in the first round since 2002. They hadn't even drafted one in the second round since 2017.

Roseman was sending a message that the Eagles had to get younger at cornerback. And that will happen as soon as Quinyon Mitchell, the first-round pick at No. 22 on Thursday, and DeJean, taken at No. 40, are ready.

GETTING DEJEAN: Eagles trade for Iowa CB Cooper DeJean in Round 2 of NFL draft 2024. Our scouting report

GETTING JALYX: Eagles make 3 trades, pick edge Jalyx Hunt in Round 3 of NFL draft 2024. Our scouting report

So imagine Roseman's delight when he could draft two cornerbacks the Eagles had rated as first-round picks.

"We didn't have 32 first-round guys," Roseman said. "So when you get that opportunity to get two first-round guys, especially picking where we were, we felt like it was an opportunity, and it was obviously an area we wanted to address.”

To get DeJean, the Eagles traded both of their second-round picks, at No. 50 and No. 53, to Washington. They got back a third-round pick at No. 78, and the two teams exchanged fifth-round picks (the Eagles improving their position from No. 161 to No. 152).

This is when Roseman did something he said he didn't want to do Thursday night when he was asked if he contemplated moving back instead of drafting Mitchell at No. 22.

"Sometimes you try to get too cute, and we can't afford to get too cute," Roseman said.

And then he did just that.

The Eagles had targeted Jalyx Hunt with their third-round pick. Hunt, however, is as raw as sushi. He began his college career at Cornell as a safety. He transferred to Houston Christian and eventually converted to edge rusher. Hunt is 6-foot-4, 252 pounds, and he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.64 seconds.

"He's got freaky tools in his body," Roseman said. "He's an explosive guy. If you watch his best plays, he's doing things that are unique. He can bend. He can close. He can finish. He's long. He's an extremely smart kid, obviously, coming from Cornell."

But then Roseman admitted that Hunt needs to be developed, and that at edge rusher, "we didn't have to add there."

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That type of risk is a great one to take − for a Day 3 pick.

Roseman was burned doing that before. In 2020, he gambled in the third round on a linebacker also with “freaky” athleticism in Davion Taylor. He lasted one season.

Roseman, perhaps knowing that, traded back from No. 78 to No. 86 because he felt that he could still get Hunt there. Then he traded back again, from No. 86 to No. 94 because he again still felt he could get Hunt there.

By doing that, Roseman ended up with two more fourth-round picks, at No. 123 and No. 132. That gives the Eagles three fourth-round picks (they're also at No. 120) to go along with three fifth-round picks and a sixth-round pick on Saturday for Rounds 4-7.

Great. But here are some of the players the Eagles missed out on by going from No. 78 to No. 94 at positions of need, many from the Power 5 conferences that the Eagles had plucked from since the Taylor miss, to great success: tackle Matt Goncalves, running back Blake Corum, wide receiver Roman Wilson, guard Zak Zinter, linebacker Marist Liufau, running back MarShawn Lloyd and edge rusher Adisa Isaac.

In order, those players were from Pittsburgh, three from Michigan, Notre Dame, Southern Cal and Penn State.

And if Hunt was still available at No. 94, perhaps he would've still been available at No. 120, although Roseman insisted that wouldn't have been the case, that other teams were onto Hunt.

"You think you get a guy from Houston Christian, and nobody is going to know (about him)," Roseman said. "You kind of are going, 'All right, maybe I can get this guy on the third day,' and then you start seeing a bunch of mock drafts with his name in it in the second and third round ... so then you realize there are no more secrets."

Look, it's quite possible that Hunt will develop into the next Haason Reddick after spending his rookie season learning from 15-year veteran Brandon Graham, in addition to Josh Sweat.

There's also Bryce Huff, who coincidentally was an undrafted free agent by the Jets in 2021 before blossoming into getting 10 sacks in his third season. That led the Eagles to sign Huff to a free-agent deal for three years worth as much as $51.1 million.

The Jets' gamble on Huff paid off, but it wasn't much of a gamble because Huff was undrafted.

"I think one of our scouts, after we picked (Hunt), said, 'Man, where can this guy be in two years? What kind of pass rusher?'" Roseman said.

If he pans out, that’s still two years down the line, and little use to the Eagles now, when the Eagles still need a No. 3 receiver, offense line depth and a linebacker.

Contrast that to DeJean's situation. There are few questions about him. After all, he came from a Big Ten program and competed against the top players in college football, such as Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who went No. 4 overall to the Arizona Cardinals.

Even Mitchell, who played at a non-Power 5 conference school in Toledo, had a chance to cover Harrison in a 2022 game.

How did Mitchell do?

Well, Harrison caught the only touchdown pass that Mitchell gave up in his collegiate career.

But you can hardly fault Mitchell, who had good coverage. Harrison made a great catch in the corner of the end zone, somehow managing to get his feet in bounds at the same time.

DeJean can attest to that kind of experience against top players as well. Hunt, at Houston Christian, can't.

"Playing in the Big Ten, it’s a pretty physical game," DeJean said. "That’s what I love about the game of football, how physical it is, and being able to go out and hit people each and every down. Having those matchups on the outside as well, and also being able to come downhill and be an impact in the run game."

It'll be a few years before we know if that applies to Hunt, or if it was a wasted pick.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Eagles GM aced Cooper DeJean pick, gambled on Jalyx Hunt in NFL draft