IS TAKING DOC TO SEE THE DOC
Even presumptive starter Brent Celek assumes the Eagles will take at least one tight end among the 12 selections they hold in the April 25-26 draft.
“I think they have to — you only have [journeyman veteran Matt] Schobel and me,” Celek said. “With this offense, you need three tight ends. Who knows where that will be? That’s their decision.”
If the Eagles really believe in Celek as a starter, they won’t reach for a tight end with one of their two first-round picks. Many observers think Oklahoma State’s Brandon Pettigrew is the only first-round-worthy tight end talent in this draft.
There are several decent tight ends who could complement/understudy Celek, likely to be available later in the draft. Most of them aren’t strong blockers, however. The proliferation of spread offenses in college seems to have turned the position into a haven for oversized wideouts.
Where the Eagles select a tight end will depend on when a player they covet is available, but also where they rank tight end among their list of needs. Our Paul Domowitch is virtually certain the Eagles will take a running back in the first round. Les Bowen suggests it will be an offensive lineman.
According to nfldraftcountdown.com, these are the top five tight ends available ...
1. Brandon Pettigrew, Oklahoma State
2. Jared Cook, South Carolina (the Eagles were reportedly among the teams that worked him out after his Pro Day last week).
3. James Casey, Rice
4. Chase Coffman, Missouri
5. Shawn Nelson, Southern Miss.
The site has its top four tight ends ranked in the top 64 players (first two rounds). Pettigrew is 30th, Cook 47th, Cofmann 50th and Casey 52nd.
For more on Celek, click here.
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.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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