Eagles draft: Looking to Day 2
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Eagles draft: Looking to Day 2
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
Brandon Graham, the Eagles' newest defensive end, will be introduced to the media today at 4 p.m. at the NovaCare Complex. But the Michigan product was last night's news. Let's look ahead to Day 2 of the NFL draft, and specifically the second round where the Eagles have two picks.
The Eagles own the fifth pick (37th overall) and the 23d (55th) in tonight's second round. The four teams picking ahead of the Eagles first are the Rams, Vikings, Bucs and Chiefs. St. Louis, obviously, took Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford first overall last night. Minnesota traded out of the first round. Tampa drafted DT Gerald McCoy at No. 3. And Kansas City grabbed safety Eric Berry with the fifth selection. That gives the Eagles some idea where they stand with the board reset.
Where will they go? Will they continue to address their needs on defense and take a defensive back? Will they get an offensive lineman to help protect Kevin Kolb? Will they simply take the best players on their board? There is also the possibility they trade No. 37 and get back one of those third round picks they gave up for Graham. Anything is possible.
It should be another night of drama, nevertheless. Here are the positions the Eagles are most likely to fill tonight, and the best available players left on the board:
CORNERBACK
Chris Cook, Virginia (6-2, 212)
Brandon Ghee, Wake Forest (6-0, 192)
Jerome Murphy, South Florida (6-0, 196)
Dominique Franks, Oklahoma (5-11, 194)
Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, Indiana (Pa.) (6-0, 207)
Cook is the next best guy on the board, but Murphy has been steadily rising up the ranks. NFL Network's Mike Mayock has been pushing the kid. I think we can trust Mike as a talent evaluator. Owusu-Ansah would be an intriguing prospect and one the Eagles could get at No. 55. They're not afraid of taking lower college level players with high picks (see: Bryan Smith and Chris Gocong).
SAFETY
Nate Allen, South Florida (6-1, 207)
Taylor Mays, Southern Cal (6-3, 230)
Chad Jones, LSU (6-2, 221)
Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech (6-2 209) 4.51
Allen is better suited to the Eagles' defensive scheme, but Mays is a more athletic player. Could be a tough call if the Eagles go safety with the 37th pick. We know that the Chiefs aren't in the running for either player.
TACKLE
Rodger Saffold, Indiana (6-5, 316)
Charles Brown, Southern Cal (6-6, 303)
Bruce Campbell, Maryland (6-7, 314)
Vladimir Ducasse, Massachusetts (6-5, 332)
Jared Veldheer, Hillsdale (6-8, 312)
Yesterday, I had the Eagles trading down and taking Saffold. If he's still there at 37, I'm not sure if the Eagles can pass. Andy Reid reiterated again last night the importance he places on the big guys up front on both sides of the ball. It wouldn't be uncharacteristic for the coach to go DE-OT 1-2.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Brian Price, UCLA (6-1, 303)
Terrence Cody, Alabama (6-4, 349)
Lamarr Houston, Texas (6-3, 305)
Linval Joseph, East Carolina (6-5, 328)
Lot of talent left here. The Eagles worked out Price. Cody would fill a hole, although he's probably better suited to play nose tackle in a 3-4.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER
Sergio Kindle, Texas (6-3, 250)
Daryl Washington, TCU (6-2, 230)
Koa Misi, Utah (6-3, 251)
Jason Worilds, Virginia Tech (6-1, 254)
Kindle should go in the first couple of picks tonight, but if he fell it would be hard for the Eagles to pass up a possible step-in-right-away-and-start strong-side linebacker.
INSIDE LINEBACKER
Sean Lee, Penn State (6-2, 236)
Brandon Spikes, Florida (6-3, 249)
Donald Butler, Washington (6-1, 245)
GUARD
Jon Asamoah, Illinois (6-4, 308)
RUNNING BACK
Toby Gerhart, Stanford (6-0, 231)
Montario Hardesty, Tennessee (6-0, 225)
Jonathan Dwyer, Georgia Tech (5-11, 229)
Dexter McCluster, Mississippi (5-9, 172)
Ben Tate, Auburn (5-11, 220)
If McCluster is there at 55 I think the Eagles may have to take him. I can't get out of my mind sitting next to Eagles offensive coorindator Marty Mornhinweg at the Senior Bowl and him repeatedly pointing out McCluster as he made play after play.
Looks like andy's 'outsmarting' the rest of the NFL again.— innominatedoc- Wonder if the Chiefs will pick Clausen.— Joe Lis lives
- innominatedoc... what do you have wrong with what he's done? I'm sorry, but the guy drafts well, I don't see what people have against his drafting...— JMick1215
- I just dont like giving up the picks we could have grabbed grahm or pieere paul or morgan one would of dropped to 24 then packaged the 2 3rds to with maybe the 55th aand grabbed wilson or mccourty then with 37 grabbed nate allen now we may get allen but who is cover dez bryant and miles austin— igglephanchris
- mccluster/spikes/kindle can't lose with any of them. i really like taylor mays, but i'm afraid he is roy williams part II.— sasquatches
- Taylor Mays and Justin Walton.— Relocator
heard a telling stat on graham this morning - he had the most tackles behind the line of scrimmage, of any player in college football last year, and he did that on an AWFUL defense at michigan. morgan is an all-around classis defensive end, but not a great pash rusher, not to mention the fact that he was playing on a much better defense. so comparing those 2, clearly graham is more of a standout impact player. as for pierre-paul, we tried the combine workout wonder with mamula and we all saw how that worked out...— CosmoK- as for today, i'd love to see them take kindle. as stated above, he's a step right in and start OLB, which the birds need bad. what they have is not good enough. MAYS cannot and will not be the pick - nobody knows him better than pete carroll, and he passed him up for a safety when they picked earl thomas; if mays is that good, figure carroll would have traded down and taken him instead or taken him right there at 14.— CosmoK
- First off people saying Andy this, Andy that... pay attention. From what I read last night Roseman and the staff made the pick, then they had Andy give the final stamp. Roseman is more in control than people are letting on.— absinthetic8
- I heard from a friend that the Eagles are currently attempting to trade with the Steelers for Big Ben. Anybody else hear that? If it's true, that would be awesome. It would be a steal to give up some picks to get a proven winning quarterback.— Joey Jo Jo Jr Shabadoo
- hoping for fs-nate allen and cb-jerome murphy to complete the secondary since marlin jackson's knees and ellis hobbs' neck injury are question marks this season...— uscwee
- Hey Joey Jo Jo, Great Simpsons name!— dseidman
Eagles just traded the 55th pick this year, 2011 1st rounder and 2nd rounder for Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh's 2010 2nd rounder and 2011 5th rounder. Welcome Big Ben. Please stay away from the ladies.- I wouldn't be surprised to see them pick Jimmy Clausen if he's still on the board (sarcasm). I like Brandon Graham, but they overpaid for him. Check the draft value charts. They could have waited and paid less. Our primary needs were (and still are) FS and CB and we had one of the top two FS's within our grasp. I also hated giving up both 3rd rounders. I like Sean Lee a lot. I know we don't need an inside LB but I think he's potentially a great player. Sergio Kindle will be hard to pass up if he's available. Andy's play calling is very predictable....but he's in another world when it comes to drafting.— innominatedoc
- Kindle's knee may need microfracture surgery, hence the reason he dropped, and the Birds need as much help in the backfield as they do at LB. Nate Allen and one of the CB's with the 55 pick and hopefully you strike gold with both or the secondary is going to get torched next year. Guess the hole at C doesn't get addressed with anything other than another reach by AR and crew and that will haunt the O all year.— Bleue
