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Email this postGrading the Eagles draft
From Paul Domowitch:
The trade for Lorenzo Booker and the additions of return man DeSean Jackson (Cal) and defensive tackle Trevor Laws (Notre Dame), give the Eagles three players who should be able to make a contribution right out of the gate.
Multiple picks in the fourth round made cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu (Wisconsin) an affordable investment.
Grade: B+
Now it's your turn ...
Domo - as somene who follows team, I defer to your grade. It seems like they did get three impact players esp. if Desean turns out to be for real and not Jeremy Bloom. "Red shirting" Ikeguonu was a good risk too.
After looking at the draft, I'm giving them a C. I had them at about a B+ before today's embarassment.
The Eagles draft was pretty good, but could have been better. They had a few good picks, including the corner back from Wisconsin and Desean Jackson out of Cal will make an immediate impact for the return game. But, how can they honestly be a B+, without a first round pick? Really, the draft for them was average at best for this year. Next year is another story entirely, but as for this year, I give them a C at best.
The first two picks were fine. The McGlynn and King picks will show up in two years as both will still be on the team. Jake is interesting because if, if he recovers he will be in the defensive backfield for a few years. The pick from Cal on the OL is also not as bad as some think.
This is at best a C+. I will never understand the Bryan Smith 3rd round pick. Seriously, a 25 year old, vastly undersized defensive end is not what the Eagles there. Just a terrible pick.
The trade down in the second round when Tyrell Johnson was there and the Eagles needed a safety, I don't get.
Otherwise, who knows. But a B+ is very, very generous for this haul.
B .............Be careful.
I'm on line with Domo's grade, if not even going slightly higher. Jackson could be a guy like a Wes Welker, except with a higher chance of breaking a big play. Laws gives them another tackle to work into the fray, keeping the line fresh and allowing the linebackers a little more freedom.
It's funny to see the complaints, because had the Eagles taken a receiver like Jackson in the first round, people would be thrilled. Instead, they were able to back up, get the guy in the second round and pick up an additional first round pick for next year. That's not a bad thing, but instead a huge weapon that could be used for a trade, or making a splash next year.
Ultimately, the grade for this draft will be dependent on what happens with Lito and with the extra 1st they got back from the Panthers...if they use those chips to make a run at a #1 WR between now and the beginning of training camp, I don't think you'll hear a lot of complaints.
My opinion hasn't changed from yesterday. The rest of the NFL identified value in players 1-46... not the EAGLES. In addition, the Eagles needed aan every down receiver or a red zone (TALL) receiver such as Hardy. All the receivers in the draft, and the Eagles couldn't find "1" prospect. The Eagles are solid in assessing lineman, they need to hire a talent evaluator for receiver selections; they obviously have no one in-house. Jackson is a return specialist, and not any every down receiver.
I grade Domo's pedophile Beard an A+
I have no idea how the Eagles did. Did they draft guys at positions where they had holes? Yes. But does that mean they will pan out? It's pretty hard to grade when the students haven't even shown up for class yet.
The only grade that can be given any team's draft is an "incomplete." Before things "play out" on the field, everything is a guess. Since one aspect of the Eagles draft was acquiring another first round pick for next year, it will take at least two years, and possibly more, to evaluate this year's effort. This is especially true since several of the picks are clearly projects, such as the Wisconsin DB and Bryan Smith, who will be converted to OLB.
I have trouble with all this "instant analysis," which is little more than a collection of subjectively based opinions.
The proper comparison for DeSean Jackson is not Wes Welker, who is an outstanding possession receiver. The player I think (that is, hope) he would be like is Devin Hester. He's a great return man and a deep threat, but he's too small and not strong enough to be an every down receiver. Still, didn't we need a deep threat?
I live on the west coast and have seen a lot of him on TV and, to use an overworked phrase, he is the "real thing."
D. Im a big college football fan and watch many games. I key in on games with preseson Heisman candidates. Desean Jackson was one of them. He was awful this year, I know he had a bad thumb, but dont expect him to be a Wes Welker slot guy. He will only be good returning kicks, even then, I though Jeremy Bloom would of been just as good. Same type of return style? Ronnie Brown got hurt and Lorezon Booker still couldnt play for the worst team in the league. How good does Domowitch think he is? They did too many trades. Why trade for next year. If they picked Greg Olson last year instead of trading there pick, he would be the starter this year. McNabb only has a year or two left, dont keep building for the future.
it doesn't do much for this year, but the eagles might have gotten the equivalent of 3 1st rounders for next year:
1-regular pick
2-carolina
3-Ikegwuonu. if he rehabs fine (and no reason to see why not), he would have been a first round easy in 2009. - i'd gamble a mid-round pick for that kind of payoff...
assuming they don't trade next year's picks for magic beans, that means three 1st round-level talents coming onto the field in 2009.
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About The Daily News' Eagles Blog
Les Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News since 2002. Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
Paul Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982. He has spent most of his 26 years at the paper covering the Eagles and pro football. A native of Wilkes-Barre and a graduate of Wilkes University, where he spent 3 years as the sports editor of the school paper and zero semesters on the dean's list, Domo came to the Daily News from the Fort Worth (Tx.) Star-Telegram, where he covered some very bad Texas Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose two sports coats to blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley, who is a University of Oklahoma grad and is dangerous to be around following a Sooner loss, have been married 27 years and have raised 2 terrific daughters – Allison, 23, who attends Boston University School of Law; and Amy, 21, a sports marketing major at Clemson. When he's not writing about football, Domo enjoys reading Robert Parker, John Sandford and Harlan Coben novels and playing pickup basketball when his arthritic hip doesn't object.
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