The Eagles' 1st-round pick
Here's a look at where the Eagles are slotted to draft in the first round of April's draft, along with a very early look at some of the positions they need to address.
The Eagles' 1st-round pick
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
We don't know a lot about what the offseason landscape in the NFL is going to look like.
But we do know there will be a draft on April 28-30.
And now, since the Eagles got bounced in the first round of the playoffs, we know where they will pick: No. 23.
NFL.com lays out how the draft order is determined. The top 20 picks go to teams that missed out on the playoffs, and the final 12 are slotted by playoff performance. The Super Bowl champ picks 32nd, and the Super Bowl loser 31st.
The championship round losers get 29 and 30. The divisional round losers 25 to 28. And the wild-card round losers 21 to 24.
This year, the wild-card round losers were the Colts, Eagles, Saints and Chiefs. The Saints finished 11-5 so they get No. 24; the Eagles, Chiefs and Colts all finished 10-6. The tiebreak is determined by opponents' strength of schedule. The Eagles' opponents had a better winning percentage than the Colts' or the Chiefs'. That's why they're 23rd.
Of course, none of this means that the Eagles will actually pick 23rd. They've pulled a first-round trade in each of the past four drafts.
Overall, the Birds have eight picks: one in the first round, one in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the seventh. The remaining pick from the Donovan McNabb deal turned out to be a fourth-rounder since he did not reach the goals that would have made it a third-round pick.
While it's probably a little early to begin speculating on who the Eagles might be targeting, it's interesting to note that draft needs seem eerily similar to a year ago. After back-to-back losses to the Cowboys to end last season, the Birds made their pass-rush a priority. They let Darren Howard and Jason Babin go, and traded Chris Clemons (and a fourth-round pick) to Seattle for Darryl Tapp. In the draft, they traded up for Brandon Graham in the first round. The Eagles spent their first five picks on defense and two of their first three on pass rushers.
The issue of who would replace Sheldon Brown at right cornerback wasn't really addressed. The team's philosophy was that it would be OK with Ellis Hobbs as long as the pass rush got to opposing quarterbacks. Well, we all know how that turned out. Right corner was an issue all season and remains an issue this offseason.
As for the defensive line, Graham will be coming off a torn ACL, and Daniel Te'o-Nesheim showed no signs in limited action that he's ready to contribute. In other words, it would not be surprising to see the Eagles draft defensive line early once again.
And, of course, there's the offensive line. The left side is good with Jason Peters and Todd Herremans. The Eagles should be OK at center with either Jamaal Jackson or Mike McGlynn. And the right side is where they need to make decisions. Is Winston Justice the player they rewarded with an extension during the 2009 season? Or the player they benched against the Packers? Could McGlynn fill in at right guard? Max Jean-Gilles showed improvement in 2010. Can he build on that next season? Is Nick Cole anything more than a backup? Those are the questions on the O-line. Some of them existed last season, but the Eagles did not use any of their 13 picks on an offensive lineman.
There are many holes, and with the uncertainty surrounding free agency, April's draft could have added importance. It's entirely possible (and even likely) that the Eagles will have not added a single player to their roster by the time the draft rolls around.
Then again, if the rookie are not allowed to sign or practice with the team in the offseason, it might be unrealistic to expect them to contribute right away anyway.
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Comment removed.- Loopy you racist
— HighDrama 
SWITCH TO A 3-4 DEFENSE.- We don't even have 3 good LB's now, good luck getting 4. — zonaindie2
- Eagles should trade down. They well may be able to acquire the entire 7th round to address their many needs.— dasher
- Please Andy for the sanity of all Eagles fans everywhere DO NOT DRAFT A DEFENSIVE LINEMAN in the 1st round (or the 2nd for that matter!). Your track record says it all. Sign a proven DL free agent and draft OL. First year Defensive Ends hardly contribute anyway.
- With a track record of performance consistently good enough to disappoint fandom, Eagles should get a top talent evaluator and maybe look for a relacement for AR. He can't take them to them to the promised land. Eagles lost 3 straight games they should have won.— prudential2
- NO!!!! No fill ins at right guard!!!!. No more, well we signed Stacey Andres as right Tackle, but he could play guard, or Nick Cole, CAN play center or guard, or we could roll Jason Peters to Guard, and start King Dunlap, or what ever other short cut method Andy Reid thinks he can use. Sign or Draft a quality guard!!!. Especially if Justice is going to be your tackle. Stop exposing your QB's to so many hits.. The Philadelphia Eagles Eagles under Andy Reid have taken a Page from Groundhog Day. It's the same story every year. Good enough to make playoffs, but far to many holes at positions on the field and in - game philosophy to beat good teams 3 weeks in a row, as required to win SB. It's clear he's going not going to run the all, so load up the line. And by load I mean get players with high ceilings to play on thaty O-line, to keep youor QB vertical, and allow your TE's and RB's to get out into pass patterns. instead of blocking or chipping on every pass play, which in our case means every play..So if Jackson and Macline aren't open 25 yards down field, maybe someone else will be.— shamdog
- We could have had a top corner or center in the draft last year, but we chose Graham who was somewhat disappointing and then got hurt. I would like to see a cornerback and a right tackle chosen high, but Andy marches to his very own drummer. Its a shame every playoff that drummer plays TAPS...— JohnFC
- You got that right JohnFC. For no apparent reason the Eagles gave up on Jason Babin - who went on to have a Pro Bowl years with the Titans - and proceeded to draft another DE, Graham, who was adequate at best. Plus a truly bizarre pick with Te'o-Nesheim. It appears that the Birds were trying to be too clever in their drafting, rather than sensible. And to think that Hobbs could be flawlessly plugged in at right CB for Brown was inane.
The OBVIOUS current draft needs start with an elite CB and a first rate OL to play RG or Center. Yeah, yeah probably too obvious for Reid, Roseman et al ... Sigh.— CarpGuy - Although they'll probably trade Te'o-Nesheim to someone like the Jags and he'll end up with 15 sacks next year.... — HighDrama
- Nice metaphor on the TAPS theme but drums are more appropriate for an execution. Similar to those we keep seeing in January.— Charon
- Groundhog day, without the humor of Bill Murray.— Eephus
- funny, Eephus. please no more D and O line draft picks that don't pan out. get a LB or CB and stop drafting undersized players— brownrice
- I predict we'll draft in the first round a DE who is 5'10" and 235 lb. We love little guys!— 4thand10
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