Eagles draft outlook: Guard, center
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Eagles draft outlook: Guard, center
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Over the next 10 days, I'll go position-by-position, taking a look at the Eagles' current roster, in an attempt to determine where their biggest draft needs are. Yesterday we did offensive tackle.
Next in our series is the interior of the Eagles' offensive line - guard and center.
The situation: Let's start with the one stable position: left guard. Todd Herremans gives the Eagles a quality player there, both in the run game and the pass game. Put him down on your depth chart without hesitation. The only caveat would be if the Eagles had an offensive tackle go down and Herremans had to switch positions.
Beyond him, though, there are a lot of question marks. And pretty much everything stems from the injury to center Jamaal Jackson. Until Jackson returns, what are the team's options at center? The most obvious one is Nick Cole, who slid into that spot during the two games against the Cowboys last season. I'm the only man in America who thinks Cole could be OK with a training camp's worth of practices at center under his belt. Everybody wants to kill him for the Eagles' losses to Dallas, but if you really look at those games, Cowboys nose tackle Jay Ratliff was not nearly the factor he was in the teams' first meeting earlier in the season. The problems Cole encountered were with the snap and with communication. Not saying those should be swept under the rug, but they are areas that could improve as he gets more reps.
Which brings us to right guard. Ideally, that would be the spot Cole filled. He proved to be a better option than both Stacy Andrews and Max Jean-Gilles there last season. But looking at the current roster, if Cole's at center, Andrews and Jean-Gilles would battle it out at right guard. At the end of last season, the coaching staff was more confident in Jean-Gilles than Andrews. But Andrews has the higher ceiling, if he's healthy and playing well, of course (a big IF).
Depth: Let's start at center. Other than Jackson and Cole, there's Dallas Reynolds, Mike McGlynn and A.Q. Shipley. McGlynn is a fourth-round draft pick from 2008, who has seen limited action.
Reynolds was signed as an undrafted free agent out of BYU following last year's draft. He was cut before the season and then signed to the practice squad before Week 16. He stayed their until joining the active roster before the Week 17 matchup against Dallas.
Shipley, a Penn State product, spent last season on the Steelers' practice squad. The Eagles signed him in January.
McGlynn would also be an option at guard.
My take: If the Eagles go offense with one of their first- or second-round picks, an interior lineman would make the most sense. If it's a center who can come in and play right away, great. Cole can slide over to right guard.
If it's a guard who can come in and play right away, you take your chances that Cole can improve and start at center until Jackson gets healthy.
In other words, it would be surprising if the Eagles don't select an interior lineman fairly early. But, as I'll mention in all these posts, it will depend on who's high on their board and who's available when they pick.
As we've learned in recent years, Andy Reid and company will surprise us.
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Shipley played very well for PSU and deserves an honest look.— psuwelsh- Totally agree with your evaluation of Cole. If you break it down play by play his one-on-one blocking against the Cowboys was actually pretty good. His problem at center was making the calls and getting all the o-lineman organized. But that can be fixed with a training camp and preseason games.— soulman386
- I think they go young--and I don't think that youngin' is Cole; I guess it could be Shipley. Though it would be a departure for them, trying to grab one of the top centers early-ish would pretty much push J. Jackson--the last "old guy"--off the offensive line, and complete the youth movement there as well. You've got to think that at a pricetag of 5.2 Mil, the job at RG is Shirley Andrews' to lose; I can't say I fully understand why they re-worked his contract, I would have preferred a neat cleanup of the failed Andrews experiment--I still think Shirley and his bird legs aren't suited to the interior line. Time for Castillo to live up to his rep as one of the best and churn out a starter from the miasma of McGlynn's, Gibson's and Tupou's. The screen game has really suffered since we lost Spongebob.— JofreyRice
- Doesn't Andy like to draft tackles and play them at guard? That would be my expectation IF he believes Jackson is the answer at Center.
- Going young doesn't necessarily apply to the line since those guys can play a long time. It's why Runyan and Thomas played as long as they did. Eagles usually draft Tackles and convert them to guards. This should be factored in. Cole may be fine with a training camp under his belt. I'd probably look at drafting a center though.
- Here we go again - drafting a fat guy in the first round - could turn out to be a big bust - we know there's D talent out there to be had in the first round - we will probably miss it if we go this way— Tom Man
- shipley blows.— theanswer80333
- 24 is not a good spot to pick at for their positions of need. the top corners, safties and OT's will be gone. Will Pouncey the C/G from florida be there at 24? Maybe, maybe not. IMO they trade up to get the guy they want. Maybe Earl Thomas, the S from Texas, maybe an OT who slips (highly doubtful) maybe the Corner from Boise who also returns kicks and might take a little pressure off Jackson. I just don't think they'll stand pat in this draft unless it starts to go very favorably for them. As far as drafting "fat guys" in the first round, I count 2-Bunkley and Patterson first rounders. They don't have a first round pick starting on the OL. Jackson and Cole were undrafted free agents, Herremans was a 4th I believe, so was MJG. Dunlap was a 7th, McGlynn a 5th.— dlivesay
- Isn't the answer obvious - drafting Florida's Pauncey with our first pick?— LA Mike
- Cole can slide around the field and play all four o-line positions at the same time that Herreman's not playing. Who else do they have?— Boru
- PSUWELSH, why don't we just draft ALL Penn State players? We all know they are the greatest?— NC Dennis
- divesay: Thank you for pointing out that Reid has NOT used the 1st round for interior linemen specifically, and the O-line generally (other than Tra Thomas, his first-ever draft choice). Even Stacy Andrews, drafted by Cincy, was a 4th round pick. LA Mike: The only guy they'd pick in Round 1 for interior line is Pouncy - he can play on day 1, and can play G or C. I'd be fine with that, but I don't see it happening, given Reid's history. And I can't see them picking an OT in round 1 either. There are too many good players in this draft for EVERYONE to be gone by #24. BUT, if the Eagles feel dicey, like last year at #21, they can move up 2 or 3 spots and take their guy. And my crystal ball says "their guy" is Kyle Wilson, CB, Boise St. Now, I admit, I made most recent draft predictions in e-mails and prior to my registration at this site, but here's a list of my "crystal ball" selections over the past decade: Patterson; Bunkley (trade up req.); Sh. Andrews (trade up req.); Lito (best corner avail @#26 '02 - better than QJammer); Derrick Burgess (Round 2); And last year, I tagged every e-mail from January forward w/ "MACLIN/McCOY 2009!" Round 1 - Kyle Wilson; Round 2 - Darryl Washington, OLB, TCU; Round 2 - Chad Jones, S, LSU. So, now that I've been registered here since last year's training camp: "Wilson/Washington/Jones 2010!"— montgomeryhopkins
- No O-line picks in the first 4 rounds please!!! This team is already loaded with players in those positions. Draft defense, defense, DEFENSE!!!— Philadelphiafreedom81
- The Eagles are going to have alot of feelers out there to trade up in the first round. Just like in the last few years, I expect them to be wheeling and dealing again. The biggest trade up move would be to draft either free safety Berry or Thomas. They will definetly draft a corner with one of their 1st 2 picks. No doubt they like Wilson from Boise but he may not be there at pick 24. The Steelers and Texans who draft 18th and 20th could be candidates for him so we'd need to get ahead of them. If they dont, they will most likely go for Kareem Jackson CB from Alabama at pick 37. I like Alabama players as they are coached to be winners. If they are unable to trade up in the first round, Pouncey could be the pick. If that scenario takes place, look for a Darryl Washington or Koa Misi at LB to be our late 2nd rounder. Chad Jones or Morgan Burnett at FS could also be taken at this spot if we go with Pouncey in 1st round. In the third round, I can see them going for a either a DE or DT. There is a good chance they are looking to replace Trevor Laws at DT and the kid from California Aloalo would look good as his replacement. There are a few good small college DEs out there and they could be our late 3rd rounder. Guys like Carrington and Lane could provide depth for us at DE with that 3rd round pick. One thing for sure.. as much as we think we know what Reid may be thinking.. he will fool us.— bradco
- Pouncey may not be there if he isnt you must go Thomas or Weatherspoon. Take Weatherspoon then Nate Allen in 2nd.— fman727
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