Maclin is the Man
Philadelphia Inquirer Sports Columnist Bob Ford writes about the Eagles, the Phillies, the Sixers and the Flyers.
Maclin is the Man
Bob Ford, Inquirer Sports Columnist
If you wanted a top tight end from the first round of the draft for the Eagles, or a running back, you were disappointed.
But if you were standing in the long time waiting for an elite receiver to pair with DeSean Jackson, the selection of Jeremy Maclin of Missouri with the 19th pick of the first round is a good one.
Combined with Jackson, Maclin will give the Eagles amazing versatility and another top return threat. Several draft boards and rankings listed Maclin as high as the 5th or 6th best prospect in the draft.
The Eagles obviously agreed with that assessment, tossing a sixth round pick to Cleveland in order to move up two spots and grab him.
"He fell a little bit and fell into our lap," Andy Reid said. "We thought he was the best player available and completely trusted the board on that."
Maclin, 6-foot-0 and 200 pounds, came out after his sophomore season with the Tigers.
You can envision Maclin, and/or Jackson, being interchangable in the slot, out of the backfield or split wide.
"He's run a ton of reverses and all the little gadgets things that go with it. There are a lot of things you can do with him."
More to come.
Comments (29)
Let's see, rookie WR.. gonna cost ya 20 mil, vs a 30 year old gonna cost ya 40 mil, and last maybe two years, no brainer there...know what I would have done...great job AR and JB.— merlinknghts- I just read that a commenter on this article called a 6'1" 200 pound WR, a little receiver. That says it all, people are just have no knowledge of what football is.— G
- for who? for what ?— whatthe?
- I think the much maligned front office has had a great offseason! if they have anywhere near good second day drafting I will call it an A+ offseason. I believe number 5 will be pleased.— morituri
- I watched this guy take apart Northwestern in his last game. He's the real deal.— Blinq
- I am really happy with this draft so far!! We got one of the top WRs AND one of the top RBs. No whining here!
Personally, I think comments should be eliminated from post-draft articles - mainly because absolutely NO ONE knows how any players will do for at least a year and more than that. Along with that, there are so many idiotic comments from obvious simpletons with no football knowledge. This organization has always been adamant about drafting the BEST available player - too many of you are in love with what "breaking draft" stories that ESPN provides (e.g., Moreno). He wasn't there, Boldin wanted too much money, and I like what their decision was...- I like the pick. The way it's shaping up, they could get a good RB in the second round.
Maclin was projected by most to go 8th to Jacksonville...I'm starting to like this pick... I saw his highlights- he caught plenty underneath, and uses his downfield blockers effectively. Certainly not a bad pick at all!— kjuggs77- looks like hes buring Giant defenders for a TD in photo— peteike
No excuses now, Donovan...time to step up and lead us to a SB win.....Jackson, Maclin, Curtis=Speed. Teams will have to play a lot of nickel. Then watch Westbrook get free underneath. If the knee is healthy, WestB should have a huge year. Now let's get another RB with the 2nd round pick....- Charles Casserly (NFL Network, former NFL GM) just called the Maclin pick "The Best Value Pick In The First Round". Casserly knows a thing or two - he's the GM who had the guts and brains to take Mario Williams over Reggie Bush.— knighn
- Remember he is 6'1" 200 now but he is only 20 a sophmore. In 2-3 years he might round out to 6'3" 225. and be a fairly big fast target— lateofphilly
- Maclin on many draft boards is listed as one of the top 10 players in this draft. On some he's ahead of Crabtree. He was the best payer available. Terrific pick. He's very versatile, PR, KR....Read his bio before posting nonsense. Kids a gamebreaker, 102 catches as a sophmore...read knuckleheads— Facts before ignorance
- This guy is exactly what 5 asked for. A weapon....— Grazman
- The Cards weren't serious about trading Boldin...they just tried to make a token effort to appease Boldin. Maclin is 8 years younger than Boldin. He was a top 10 talent...when a guy falls into your lap like that, you make the move. Plenty of guys like Randy Moss, Jerry Rice, etc. fell down in the 1st round and somebody jumped on them and got a steal. You don't draft back-up players in the 1st round when there are impact players on the board. I'm amazed at how many people think Maclin is a Jackson-clone just because they are both very fast and return kicks. Geez, do some homework people. It takes about 1 minute to get info on Maclin and see that he's 2 inches taller and 25 pounds heaver than Jackson. Maclin is 6'0 and 200 lbs. That is a good-sized NFL receiver. He's not huge, but he's decent size...he's not a mini-guy like Jackson.— JimG
- now if the kid produces, then you'll never hear people criticize this pick again... Kinda like when Mcnabb was drafted— Ruiz the Great
- This is a great pick. More speed + new offensive line = Bombs Away.— mikechris
- Aw, shucks gc2332! You beat me to it. Good post. Too many readers post in opposition to every move the Eagles make before thoroughly thinking it through. That's called rationalizing.— essell
- Only thing I can say here is Andy Ried is going for flexibility. With Demps playing some defensive safety, he can have Maclin and Jackson do some punt returning, WR duties and not tire-out either one during game day. Not a bad pick....but I still would have gotten Pettigrew, or Donald Brown, or Britt. Hopefully we can still get McCoy if he's still on the board when our pick comes up in the second round.— tony b
- Eagles wont ever pay older players long big money contracts. So that meant no Boldin or Gonzalez. They go young, maybe this works well in a few years also. Heard Nicks was a Boldin type, went to Gmen.— peteike
- If they could have gotten Boldin they would have. I'm sure there was a very good reason they didn't. Same as everyone else in the NFL.— jonjon75
- Boldins not out of the picture, he will still be avail at pre-season when he's sitting out and making AZ's life a pain... then someone can get him for even less and a 2010 pick instead. Biggest drawback on AB is he wants 10mil a year and he's just not worth that type of money, Not sure Eagles would over pay like that. But they did blow it on Gonz, he's a hall of fame, best TE ever, and still has skills??? Could have been great in the Red zone for Mcnabb... Bottom line is I think all the teams are waiting for these WR's (Boldin, Stinko, Edwards) to make things worse for the other teams before they take them... That's win win, You make the other teams' go through what The Igles went through with TO, get desperate, then get a Red Zone WR for less. (except Stinko... send him to Buffalo with TO)— Raaaannndall
- Maclin is 6'1— JRossPhils
- Great receiver. Probably the most exciting player in this draft. When you have DeSean Jackson and three other solid receivers, this looks like a poor choice. But he will make defensive coordinators nervous.— tacklinjoe
- Hey genius99, Depending on which website you look at, Maclin is listed as either 6'0 or 6'1. And for the record, Boldin is 6'1 and wasn't going to be traded to anyone, at least not for what the Cardinals wanted in return. And Gonzales is 33 years old and won't be playing for much longer.— gc2332
- The Eagles again messed up. They could have got Bolidn or Gonzalez and they get a unproven little receiver. We now have 3 Wr's that are under 6'0"— sportsgenius99
- A steal at 19...great pick!— grales
- Just because he fell into your lap Andy, does not mean you now have to eat him Red.— christopherkmaddaloni
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About this blog
Bob Ford has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 1981, and is still trying to figure it all out. A former beat writer covering the Phillies and the 76ers, Ford became a general sports columnist for the Inquirer in 2003, following in and occasionally falling in the deep footsteps of Bill Lyon, Frank Dolson and many distinguished others. He comes to the Philly.com blogosphere after award-winning success as designer/editor of the fabulous Pen & Pencil Club softball blog. Likes: Palestra, inside-the-park home runs, sunny days. Dislikes: phony people, cloudy days, rewrites.
Reach Bob at bford@phillynews.com.
Bob Ford
Inquirer Sports Columnist
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