Portal:Philadelphia/Selected article/August 2008

The list of Philadelphia Eagles first-round draft picks began three years after the professional American football team based in Philadelphia joined the National Football League (NFL) in 1933 as a replacement team for the defunct Frankford Yellow Jackets. After the AFL–NFL merger, the Eagles were moved to the current NFC East division. Every April, each NFL franchise adds new players to its roster through a collegiate draft held at the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", more commonly known as the NFL draft. Teams are ranked in inverse order based on their previous season's records, with the worst record picking first, the second-worst picking second, and so on. Two exceptions to this order are made for teams that played in the previous Super Bowl: the Super Bowl champion picks last, and the Super Bowl loser picks next to last. Teams often trade their picks to other teams for different picks, players, cash, or combinations thereof; thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual pick to differ from its assigned pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round. The Eagles' first selection as an NFL team was running back Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago. The Eagles have selected number one overall three times: Berwanger in 1936, Sam Francis in 1937, and Chuck Bednarik in 1949, as well as second overall five times, and third overall three times. Three eventual Hall of Famers have been drafted by the Eagles: Steve Van Buren, Bednarik, and Bob Brown. The team's most recent first-round choice was Brodrick Bunkley, a defensive tackle from Florida State University.