Editor's Note: If you are under the age of 18, easily offended or have no sense of humor, please skip this post.

New Eagles cornerback Ellis Hobbs has been on pretty much every radio show in the Philadelphia area this week, talking about how he'll fit in with the Birds.

So initially I wasn't even going to write about him because I figured most of you have already heard what he had to say.

But ESPN 950's Mike Missanelli opened up a whole new can of worms when he asked Hobbs to give the listeners something they might know about him.

Hobbs said he's an artist and will be graduating on May 9th with a degree in fine arts animation.

Apparently, Missanelli thought Hobbs said he was graduating with a degree in "foreign arts animation," which prompted the cornerback to explain what his major was about.

"Sometimes we would go into a building, we would have to draw that," he said. "You know, draw an apple from a weird perspective. You know, drawing naked bodies. Sometimes it was boys, which I could care less for. And sometimes it was women."

Missanelli obviously was not going to let that comment go without a follow-up and asked for more on the drawing of nude models.

"Some good, some bad man," Hobbs said. "Now don't get me wrong. Just cause they were women doesn't mean they were all the greatest of women. But just different types of bodies, some fat, some skinny, some out of whack and some not."

And the male models?

"It was awkward, trust me. It was awkward," Hobbs said. "But it's kind of like your job now. You gotta be a professional about it. But trust me man, it was some weird times.

"I used to always get razzed by my teammates because they knew what I was doing. Sometimes I would have my drawings with me. They're like 'Man you drawing [male body part] now?' So I was like 'Man trust me. It's not my fault man. They make me.'"

Suddenly, we're reminded of a young Seth from Superbad.

More actual football content later. I promise.

Brian Westbrook's message is clear.

He'll help rookie running back LeSean McCoy get adjusted to the NFL game, but Westbrook says his job is to keep the 20-year-old off the field.

"My job as an older guy as well as a guy that’s competitive is to help them out, help them be the best player that they can, but also for me, my job is to keep those guys on the bench as long as I can, and try to remain on this team and in this league as long as I can and that’s just the bottom line," Westbrook told the midday guys Anthony Garagno and Ike Reese during a WIP interview.

Westbrook warned fans about expecting too much from Jeremy Maclin and McCoy during their rookie seasons.

"And so I would caution the fans and different people of saying that these kids are going to be able to jump on the field right away and contribute right away," he said. "Hopefully that’s the case, but that doesn’t happen very often in the NFL."

Going into the draft, McCoy critics questioned his blocking abilities.

Westbrook emphasized that the rookie will need to concentrate on that aspect if he wants to get on the field.

"The truth is, especially when I came into the league, and still true now, if you continue to get No. 5 hit,  you ain’t gonna play too much at all anyway. That’s just the bottom line," he said.

If you examine Westbrook's comments (or listen to the interview), they shouldn't be viewed negatively. By all accounts, he's one of the most-respected and well-liked guys in the locker room.

There should be little doubt that he'll be a great mentor for McCoy.

But on the other hand, it certainly cannot hurt if he has an added chip on his shoulder. The Eagles obviously felt they needed to get younger at running back and found a guy who, if successful, would be Westbrook's eventual successor.

A couple other things Westbrook talked about in the interview:

On the Eagles' offseason moves and if they signal a move towards a more balanced attack:

"I truly believe that we’re gonna take a more active role in trying to run the ball more this year," he said, clarifying that was his own opinion, and Andy Reid had said no such thing to him.

"Of course we’re gonna throw the ball a whole lot, but I think now we have the talent up front to be able to run the ball a little bit more effectively."

On the need for RBs to be well-rounded in Reid's system:

"The running back has to worry about blitz. You have to know the blocking protection of the offensive line. You have to be able to run routes. You have to be on the same page as the quarterback, as well as be able to run the ball. … In this offense you could be a great runner but we’re still gonna throw the ball 70 percent of the time."

One more rundown of Eagles draft grades and evaluations.

We've done this twice already: part one and part two.

And finally, I'd like to start up a weekly reader mailbag here at MTC. I respond to every e-mail (if you haven't heard back from me, it's coming), so I figured I might as well do so as a blog post.

So send me your questions, funny comments, observations, etc. and we'll try to get this thing going. I'll pick some of the e-mails and respond to them every week.

Here are the draft links:

Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News gives the Eagles a B:

Andy Reid has his offense of the future locked into place with QB Kevin Kolb, McCoy, WR DeSean Jackson, Maclin and Ingram. The Eagles had the best fifth round of this draft with Ingram, Harris and Tupou.

Vinnie Iyer of the Sporting News looks at nine first-round moves that created the most interesting aftershocks, including the Eagles trading up and getting Jeremy Maclin:

It helped: Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb. DeSean Jackson had an immediate impact last season, and with him and Kevin Curtis flying around, Maclin can make his mark as a big-play threat as well. It hurt: Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin. The Eagles traded up to get Maclin, all but ruling out them going after a veteran No. 1 receiver. Boldin will be "stuck" with the reigning NFC champions. 

Clifton Brown of the Sporting News gives the Eagles an A:

Their offense has become more dangerous. Jeremy Maclin is a threat as a receiver and a returner. Running back LeSean McCoy can make people miss and can catch the football. Tight end Cornelius Ingram fits their system as a receiver. And they traded Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters before the draft.

Matt Bowen of the National Football Post compares Maclin to DeSean Jackson:

Maclin was as high as No.7 on some experts boards, but he fell because he isn’t a polished route runner worthy of a top-10 pick and is more of an athlete learning the position out of the spread system in college. I think Philly took him because it had him rated high, but to me he’s the same player as DeSean Jackson.

Scott Wright of draftcountdown.com wonders whether Maclin is the best fit for the Birds:

Almost everyone viewed Jeremy Maclin as a Top 10 talent and if the Raiders weren’t being run by a crazy man that is probably where he would’ve gone. The Eagles jumped at the opportunity to provide Donovan McNabb with the playmaker he has been asking for, even trading up a couple of spots just to make sure they got him. This is a great value pick and the Eagles definitely needed a wideout, however I have some reservations about whether or not another speedster like Maclin is the best fit. If they were going to use their first round pick on a wideout anyway then why not just trade it to Arizona for Anquan Boldin ?

During the past couple days, I've provided links here at MTC to what the national "experts" are saying about the Eagles draft.

Some of you have asked me for my opinion (while others could care less), so here's my take.

The LeSean McCoy pick at No. 53 in the second round made the draft for the Birds.

Going into last weekend, the Eagles needed to address running back. Regardless of what you think about Brian Westbrook or how many years he has left, the Birds had zero depth behind him.

And please don't bring up Lorenzo Booker.

If you looked at the running backs on the board, the top tier had four guys: Knowshon Moreno, Beanie Wells, McCoy and Donald Brown.

Moreno was the guy the Eagles reportedly targeted, but he got snatched up by the Broncos at No. 12.

And according to the print guys who cover the team, the Birds didn't really think Wells was a good fit.

That left the Eagles with several options. Take either Brown or McCoy at No. 21. Trade down and pick one of them later in the first round or early in the second. Go in another direction with their first pick and hope one of them dropped to No. 53 in the second round. Or target a sleeper running back in the later rounds and forget about Brown and McCoy altogether.

They went with the third option, gambling that McCoy would be there at 53, and it worked out perfectly.

You know during your fantasy drafts when a player you love somehow drops, and you pray that the guys ahead of you don't take him? That's what happened with the Birds.

When they traded up to get Jeremy Maclin, my excitement was tame. Not because I didn't like him, but because I thought they might miss out on one of the top four backs.

And I still wonder what their plan would have been had McCoy been gone at No. 53. Take a second-tier guy? Hope to sign a veteran? Rely on Booker to play a bigger role?

Talk about choosing among some brutal options.

But the Eagles don't have to worry about that. They got Shady.

My first job out of college was at PennLive.com in Harrisburg. McCoy was a senior at Bishop McDevitt. People couldn't get enough of him. Traffic spiked for any story that had his name in it, not only locally, but nationally as college football fans and alumni wondered if their schools would land him.

I remember putting together photos online at PennLive.com when McCoy fractured his ankle in the fourth game of his senior season. You probably know that part of the story, but I remember his distraught teammates with tears in their eyes when Shady went down.

I'm no scout, but the Eagles got their running back, and got him at a value that you have to be happy with at No. 53.

Without McCoy, the Birds would have still needed to address running back depth and would have been in a disastrous position if Westbrook went down.

When we look back in a few years and evaluate the '09 class, McCoy will be guy we zero in on. And that's a good thing.

Interesting nugget in a New York Daily News Giants chat with writer Ralph Vacchiano today.

Vacchiano was asked why the Giants didn't try to trade up for Jeremy Maclin, instead letting the Eagles grab him at No. 19.

Here's what he said:

Did they "try" to move up? I suppose that depends on your definition of the word. I don't know that they made an actual offer, but they made enough calls that they were aware of the asking price. They just decided it was too high and that they were better off staying put. They never wanted to move up that high anyway. And remember, in order to trade up, someone has to want to move down. Would the Browns have wanted to drop all the way to 29? I just don't know. If they weren't willing, then there's no way a deal could have gotten off the ground. I had been told that Maclin was the highest rated WR on the Giants board, even over Crabtree. So I'm sure they gave it some thought as he started falling. It just wasn't ever close to becoming a reality.

Pretty interesting that the Giants reportedly had Maclin rated above Michael Crabtree.

And it appears they were not alone in their assessment.

NFL insider John Czarnecki of FoxSports.com wrote that Maclin was the top receiver on 18 teams' boards. I'm no math major, but even I know that's more than half the teams in the league.

The Giants, meanwhile, picked up North Carolina WR Hakeem Nicks at No. 29. They also picked up big target Ramses Barden out of Cal Poly in the third round and Wisconsin tight end Travis Beckum.

As of now, it looks like Nicks and Steve Smith could be the team's starting receivers. While the team's identity will undoubtedly be a run-heavy offense behind Brandon Jacobs, will those weapons get it done when Eli Manning needs to make a play? And don't forget, Derrick Ward is gone also.

I'll offer my take on the Eagles' draft tomorrow, but the mindset of moving up for Maclin looks even better now than it did when the deal went down.

Note: Thanks to reader/chatter Yahmpy for the link to the Giants chat in the comments section of our last post.

View gallery

Here are some more draft grades and evaluations from around the Internet.

For part one of the roundup, click here.

And thanks to readers Alan, Jef, Jamie and Gary for sending some links along.

SI.com's Peter King likes the value the Eagles got on Day 1:

Now, no one knows if Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy are going to be players. But getting them at 19 and 53, respectively, constitutes the best value picking of any team on day one of the draft, as happened last year with DeSean Jackson in the middle of Round 2.

Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports gives the Eagles a B-minus:

Maclin should be another instant impact guy, like DeSean Jackson was last season. McCoy doesn’t have elite speed, but he can make defenders miss and could develop into an NFL starter. Ingram will be a liability in run-blocking. After Maclin and McCoy, there may not be many future starters.

SI.com's Ross Tucker lists the Eagles among three teams whose drafts he loved:

They got arguably the best receiver in the draft, Jeremy Maclin, at No. 19 and the most elusive and pure runner, LeSean McCoy, at No. 53. The Eagles also got another receiving threat in sleeper tight end Cornelius Ingram from Florida. Oh, and did I mention they got the most talented left tackle in the league in Jason Peters via trade and a guy nicknamed "Macho" (Victor Harris)? You gotta love it.

Larry Weisman of USA Today gives the Eagles an A:

Traded a No. 1 previously to Buffalo for Pro Bowl LT Jason Peters. Traded up to get WR Jeremy Maclin, who may become the weapon so often deemed lacking from this offense. First time the Eagles used a No. 1 pick since 2006. RB LeSean McCoy is much like Brian Westbrook in style and should adapt quickly to the Eagles Offense. CB Victor "Macho" Harris, taken in the fifth round, could have gone higher and ought to fit well in Philly's aggressive scheme. Got CB Ellis Hobbs from New England for two No. 5 picks. Wow.

FoxSports.com's Alex Marvez says the Eagles have a need at kicker:

David Akers made just two of his six attempts from 47 yards and beyond in 2008. The Eagles would be wise to closely monitor NFL waiver wires in the preseason for strong-legged kickers that get released by teams with established veterans.

More draft grades are rolling in, and the consensus seems to be that the Eagles had one of the best weekends in the NFL.

Here's a roundup of some links this morning. I'll add more throughout the day.

And before we hear your seething comments, yes, we realize draft grades right now are meaningless since the players have not even stepped on the field yet.

But we're draft degenerates, so we're doing this anyway.

Oh, and don't forget to check out Paul Domowitch's grades from the Daily News.

ESPN.com's Todd McShay, who called LeSean McCoy the biggest steal of the draft, offers his evaluation:

On paper, the Eagles appear to have one of best classes of 2009. Granted, Jeremy Maclin has a lot of developing to do as a route-runner, but his RAC skills project perfectly in Philadelphia's West Coast offense and should be able to at least help as a No. 3 wideout and return man this year. McCoy is the best pass-catching back in this draft and should pay dividends by initially taking the load off Brian Westbrook. Long term, he should develop into the full-time starter two or three years down the road. TE Cornelius Ingram was a steal in the fifth round as was WR Brandon Gibson in the sixth.

John Czarnecki of FoxSports.com gives the Eagles an A:

When rating this draft, start by remembering the Eagles used a first-round pick for Buffalo offensive tackle Jason Peters, who has Pro Bowl talent. Peters will team with ex-Bengal Stacy Andrews to give Donovan McNabb two new protectors on the outside. Then, the Eagles lucked into Missouri receiver Jeremy Maclin, who was rated No. 1 at his position on 18 teams' draft boards. Then in the second round, Pitt running back LeSean McCoy was another steal with 53rd overall pick. McCoy will give Brian Westbrook a breather this season. Virginia Tech cornerback Victor Harris has only 4.6 speed, but he should be a core special-teams player. Harris did have 15 interceptions. You have to like the trade with New England in order to land cornerback Ellis Hobbs, who gives the Eagles some added depth in case they ever deal unhappy starter Sheldon Brown. Florida TE Cornelius Ingram could be a steal if his knee is OK.

CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco gives the Eagles an A-plus:

If you count adding left tackle Jason Peters and corner Ellis Hobbs, they had an amazing week.

ESPN.com's Matt Mosley likes the Eagles' draft:

The Eagles could have easily panicked and taken UConn's Donald Brown, who is a nice player. But they would have been fixated on a need instead of taking the best value. The Eagles bided their time in the second round and then pounced on former Pittsburgh running back LeSean McCoy, who reminds a lot of folks of Westbrook. He has tremendous lateral speed, and most importantly, he is an instinctive runner. In the Eagles' offense, you can't have a player lumbering around looking for the right angle. You need someone who can find seams in a zone-blocking scheme.

If you come across more links/grades, e-mail me.

The draft grades and evaluations have already started to roll in, and we'll round them up all week here at MTC.

Some quick ones to get us started.

ESPN's Todd McShay named LeSean McCoy his steal of the draft tonight on SportsCenter. McShay will undoubtedly become a favorite of Eagles fans. He also picked the Cowboys when asked which team had the worst draft, adding that he doesn't think Dallas got a single impact player.

Meanwhile, Paul Domowitch of the Daily News gives the Eagles an A-plus.

And Ray Didinger said on TV tonight that the Eagles are one of five teams he awarded with an A.

Again, those are just for starters, but it sounds like national opinion is going to be pretty high on the Eagles' performance this weekend.

Here is video of Eagles sixth-round pick, Washington State wide receiver Brandon Gibson: