Arrogance and the Danny Watkins Pick
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Arrogance and the Danny Watkins Pick
Paul Domowitch, Daily News NFL Columnist
Andy Reid coughs and he is accused of arrogance. He trades up last year for an undersized pass-rusher that most teams had pegged as a 3-4 rush linebacker and he is accused of thinking he’s smarter than you and me and the personnel men of the NFL’s other 31 teams.
So, when he drafted a 26-year-old fireman with the 23rd pick in the first round Thursday night, it hardly was a shock when the e-mails started pouring in accusing Big Red of, yep, arrogance.
Not sure I see it, though, at least in this case. Listen, I did a two-part video for philly.com last week, listing 10 possible guys the Eagles might take in the first round, and Danny Watkins wasn’t one of them. So, I’m not going to sit here and tell you I saw it coming.
But the reason I didn’t see it coming had nothing to do with Watkins’ age or ability. Hell, in my mock draft yesterday, I had him going to Bill Belichick and the Patriots at No. 28. Belichick’s picture is right next to the word arrogance in the dictionary. It’s also right next to the word genius.
I didn’t see it coming because I didn’t think they would go with a guy who played left tackle at Baylor but will be playing guard in the NFL. I thought that if they took an offensive lineman in the first round, it would be a tackle, not a guard.
They didn’t get very good play at either right guard or right tackle last season. But I felt they could fix the problem at right guard by sliding Mike McGlynn, who subbed for injured Jamaal Jackson at center last season, over to that spot. The biggest problem in my mind was Winston Justice at right tackle.
Justice was serviceable two years ago when they first plugged him in at right tackle after he washed out on the left side. Last year, well, last year he was about a $100 cab ride from serviceable. And I’m not sure he’s ever going to be much better than that. Considering that he protects Michael Vick’s blind side, that’s not a good thing.
I’m pretty sure they would have taken Boston College tackle Anthony Castonzo if he had fallen one more spot. But the Colts grabbed him at 22. Next best tackle on the board was Wisconsin’s Gabe Carimi. In my pre-draft ratings, I had he and Watkins pretty much even. Gave Carimi a 48 on a 1-to-60 scale. Gave Watkins a 47.
What the Eagles’ decision to take Watkins over Carimi tells me is that they are giving strong consideration to the possibility of moving left guard Todd Herremans over to right tackle this season and using Watkins and McGlynn at the two guard spots. That or Reid thinks Howard Mudd can turn King Dunlap or Austin Howard into a legit right tackle.
I'm pretty high on Howard at the tackle spot, but the left tackle spot in this offense. I still don't see why the birds don't just flip the line.
But i also agreed domo, IMO the Eagles will shoot Herrimans out to right tackle ( and he will be very good out there) and have the two white guys play guard. I think this is a good idea and honestly taking age out of it I think Watkins is a better player than the other Ol that was left in this draft. My only complaint can be dispelled if they sign one of the top CB's in free agency. This pick makes me believe they have talked to or put out feelers to one of the top corners. Perhaps they are going to go for it and resign Mikel and sign Nnamdi or they have a deal with the Cards worked out for Peterson and Kolb (hey a guy can dream can't he =-))— andyreidisfat- I think he steps right in and starts. At #23... really that's what you're asking for in my opinion. If he can't replace Nick Cole, then yes... I'll agree, bad pick.— Elbarad
- this just goes to show you how dumbd Dumo really is...
but in all fairness there is no point in these mock drafts. Seriously, almost all of them are always wrong. The Eagles sportswriters like to mock Banner on "doing things over and over again and expecting different results" but yet are always mostly wrong on mock drafts all the time - with all teams not just the Eagles- so why continue doing them? Insane, right?— tremo12 - I'm skeptical about Herremans being a significant upgrade from Justice at RT. I think McGlynn will be the primary interior line backup, which given the Eagles injury track record means he'll be playing at some point this season. I certainly agree that they'd have taken Constanzo if they could, and I'm surprised they didn't take Carimi after that. Interesting to see how they address the D tonight.— sg
I am OK with the pick although the arrogance part for me came when at the press conference Reid said "Watkins was as good as anybody available in the draft".— Earl J- Actually, he said any OL in the draft. But Reid is the last guy I would defend. — Bob1
- Let me spell the genius/arrogance debate out for you mathematically:
Reid + 0 rings = Arrogant
Belichick + 3 rings = Genius
Simple, ain't it?
Personally, I think he's going to be a fan favorite in no time, and I agree with Elbarad that he is going to be expected to start this year barring a disastrous camp.— evolutionary - Howard Mudd is key here. I'm sure he was involved in the pick, and to be honest none of us have 1% of the credentials to doubt the guy. Even Andy doesn't have the creds to doubt the guy given that he has actually won a Super Bowl. If Howard Mudd wanted this pick, I give him the benefit of any doubt.— vman12
- I'm just glad they took a living, breathing player and didn't trade pick 23 for a third rounder and five seventh round picks.— igle_fan_99
- I'm just glad they took a living, breathing player and didn't trade pick 23 for a third rounder and five seventh round picks.— igle_fan_99
- Doesn't matter. This defense is going to get TORCHED.— p-diddy
- Agree, unless there are some serious changes... — PhilliefaninAZ
- EVERYBODY knows the Eagles need a guard AND a tackle. Last night they got the guard. What's left to talk about? Round two the Eagles need a Tackle or a Corner. No mystery, let's hope they get lucky. Free agency would have giving the Eagles more flexability, but that didn't happen. So we'll see what happens today.— craig123
- An Offensive Line of - from left to right: Peters, McGlynn, Jackson, Watkins and Herremens is a SERIOUS upgrade from last year. Assuming Jackson is healthy, which all reports say, he is. There are some straight up nasty SOBs on that line (McGlynn, Herremans, Watkins). Nasty is a good thing!— 5NOT4
- Given the Eagles track record with players over 30 yrs. old, they just used a 1st round pick on a guy that projects to be here for all of 4 years. Dont you envision your 1st rounder being a cornerstone for 10 years?— Higgs11
