WOULD RATHER BE IN CLEARWATER
Our sister blog here at philly.com -- Eaglesomethingorotherian -- guaranteed yesterday that the Eagles will take a running back in the first round of the NFL draft and continued to trumpet the idea with support from ESPN analyst and former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski today.
Since blogs get buried under new blogs faster than newspapers get placed in the bird cage, there's really little risk in making a guarantee. Who'll remember what was written in Eaglesomethingorotherian a month from now?
To be clear, there's nothing guaranteed when it comes to the Eagles and draft days. Show me somebody who raised their hand when asked if they saw the Eagles trading out of the first round the last two years and I'll show you a liar.
The Eagles have never taken a running back higher than the third round during coach Andy Reid's tenure and it would not be surprising if they waited until after the first round to take one again.
Anything said about draft picks beforehand has to be measured with some level of skepticism, but given the Eagles' track record and the history of running backs, general manager Tom Heckert's words from the NFL owners meetings today were interesting.
"I think over time it has been proven that you can find backs later on," Heckert said. "We obviously haven't been great at it. We got Brian (Westbrook), but if you look around the league there are guys taken in the fourth and fifth round. I think it's probably an easier position to find than offensive tackle or defensive end, so those are the guys you better take early."
Now does that sound like a man in a hurry to use a first-round pick on a running back? And the point about good running backs being available in later rounds is a great one. What do Steve Slaton, Frank Gore, Marion Barber, Brandon Jacobs and Michael Turner all have in common? They were all taken in the third round or later.
That's not to say that the Eagles won't use a first-round pick on one of the top four projected running backs, a list that consists of Georgia's Knowshon Moreno, Ohio State's Chris Wells, Pitt's LeSean McCoy and UConn's Donald Brown.
Heckert likes them all, but he mentioned the first three as good fits for the Eagles because they also can catch the football.
"That's obviously a big thing for us," Heckert said.
So maybe the Eagles will take a running back in the first round and maybe they won't. If you're betting, go with offensive tackle, a position the organization believes is much more important.
