Milton Williams vs. Jordan Davis: How the Eagles Chose Draft Capital Over the Better Player

Sometimes the most painful personnel decisions in the NFL aren't the ones you get wrong in the draft. They're the ones you get wrong in free agency — when you watch a player you developed walk out the door because you convinced yourself someone else was better.

Milton Williams is having a dominant year with the New England Patriots. He's a legitimate Super Bowl MVP candidate. And he's doing it wearing a different uniform because the Philadelphia Eagles chose to keep Jordan Davis instead.

The Versatility Gap

The difference between Milton Williams and Jordan Davis has never been about effort or talent. It's about versatility — and it's not even close.

Williams can line up at the 0-technique, the 1-technique, the 2, the 3, the 5, and even the wide 9. He's a Swiss Army knife on the defensive line, capable of creating pressure from virtually any alignment. His ability to shift between positions makes him a nightmare for offensive coordinators who can't predict where the disruption is coming from.

Jordan Davis, by contrast, remains limited to nose tackle and 1-technique duties. He's an immovable object in the middle of the line — valuable for run defense — but his inability to rush the passer from multiple positions caps his impact. In a league that increasingly values versatile interior defenders who can affect the quarterback, Davis's skill set is inherently limited.

Gary Cobb of Fox 29 put it plainly during Monday's National Football Show: "Milton Williams is the more complete player." While Cobb acknowledged that Davis has closed the gap in recent years, the fundamental assessment hasn't changed. Williams does more things at a higher level.

A Third-Round Pick the Eagles Developed — Then Lost

What makes this situation particularly painful is that the Eagles found Milton Williams in the third round and developed him into the player he is today. They identified the talent, coached him up, and watched him improve every single season. Williams was a 500-pound bench presser who got better every single year — the kind of ascending player every franchise covets.

And then they let him walk in free agency.

The reasoning was understandable at the time: Jordan Davis was the 13th overall pick in the 2022 draft. Organizations tend to protect their high draft investments, even when the evidence suggests the later-round pick has surpassed them. The Eagles kept the higher draft pick, not the better player.

"I hope Milton Williams wins the Super Bowl MVP." — Dan Sileo and Zander Krause

That quote from both hosts of The National Football Show isn't spite. It's recognition. They want to see the player the Eagles let go receive the ultimate validation for what he's become — even if it means highlighting Philadelphia's mistake on the biggest stage.

The Jordan Davis Problem

Jordan Davis was drafted 13th overall and it took five years for him to consistently show up in shape. That's not a throwaway criticism — conditioning matters in the NFL, and a player who struggles to maintain his body at a professional level is a player who will always carry questions about reliability.

To his credit, Davis has improved. His run defense has been stout, and his motor has gotten better each season. But improvement from a baseline of underperformance is different from dominance, and Davis has never reached the level that his draft position suggested he would.

Meanwhile, Jalen Carter — the other premium defensive tackle investment — has stayed relatively stagnant in his development. The Eagles invested significant draft capital in their interior defensive line and got competent-but-not-elite production. Milton Williams, the third-round afterthought, became the star they were hoping Carter and Davis would be.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Even in a limited sample, the evidence was there before Williams left. In just 24 games where Milton Williams played significant snaps versus full seasons of production from other Eagles interior linemen, Williams still outperformed them. The per-game impact was obvious to anyone willing to look past draft position and evaluate actual on-field production.

The Eagles had the data. They had the film. They had years of watching Williams develop in their own building. And they still chose to let him leave because organizational inertia favors first-round picks over third-round finds.

A Lesson in Player Evaluation

This isn't just an Eagles problem. It's a league-wide bias. NFL front offices routinely overvalue draft capital when making retention decisions. A first-round pick gets every benefit of the doubt. A third-round pick has to prove himself twice — once on the field and again in the boardroom where contract decisions are made.

Milton Williams proved it on the field. The Eagles' front office didn't see it — or worse, they saw it and chose to ignore it because the sunk cost of Davis's draft position was too significant to abandon.

Now Williams is a Super Bowl MVP candidate with another team, and the Eagles are left wondering what their defense could have looked like if they'd kept the better player instead of the bigger investment. It's a cautionary tale that every NFL front office should study: evaluate production, not pedigree. The draft slot doesn't play on Sundays. The player does.

Watch the full episode on The National Football Show on JAKIB Sports YouTube.