Caught in the Draft

Each day, staff writer Bob Brookover takes a look at the Eagles' draft classes during the Tom Heckert-Andy Reid era. Today, the Class of 2003.

Five Years Ago ...

It has been well documented in these parts that the Eagles’ selection of defensive end Jerome McDougle with the 15th overall selection in the 2003 draft didn’t work out so well. A variety of injuries, including a gunshot wound to the abdomen in 2005, have limited McDougle to 33 games in five seasons. He has registered just three career sacks and is the only first-round pick from the Class of 2003 who never started a game. McDougle, 29, missed all of last season because of a ruptured triceps tendon, and it would be shocking if he made the team this season.

Not as well-documented, at least around here, is how things went on the other end of the deal that allowed the Eagles to move up 15 spots to draft McDougle. With the 30th overall pick the San Diego Chargers received from the Eagles, they selected cornerback Sammy Davis from Texas A&M. Davis started 16 games and had two interceptions as a rookie in 2003, but after intercepting just one pass in his next two seasons, the Chargers declared him a bust and traded him to the San Francisco 49ers. More about that later.

With the second-round pick the Chargers obtained from the Eagles for McDougle, they took safety Terrence Kiel, who also was from Texas A&M. Three months after being drafted, Kiel was shot three times during a carjacking in Houston, but he recovered and became a productive four-year starter for the Chargers.

But before last season, the Chargers released Kiel, and it’s believed they did so because of what happened Sept. 26, 2006. In the middle of a practice, Kiel was arrested on multiple drug charges; he later pleaded guilty to shipping codeine-based cough syrup to Texas. He was replaced in the Chargers’ starting lineup by former Eagles safety Clinton Hart. Kiel is no longer in the NFL.

As for that trade that sent Davis to the 49ers, San Diego got wide receiver Rashaun Woods in return. The 49ers had draftedWoods in the first round in 2004 after trading down with the Eagles, who took Shawn Andrews with the pick. That move worked out well for the Eagles. Woods continued to be a bust for the Chargers and is out of the league.

The gist of the story: That McDougle trade didn’t work out well for anyone.

Grading Eagles’ Class of 2003

Position Player	Round	Pick	Points	Comment
DE Jerome McDougle	1	15	3	3 career sacks, 0 starts
TE L.J. Smith	2	61	10	15 career TD catches
WR Billy McMullen	3	95	2	Traded for Hank Baskett
DE Jamaal Green	4	131	1	Released in 2005
G-T Jeremy Bridges	6	185	0	Starter for Carolina
S Norman Lejeune	7	244	0	Played 7 games (Miami)

Totals: 6 picks, 16 points, 2 players remain.

Comment: This was by far the worst draft of the Reid-Heckert era.

Each player in the 2003 NFL draft was given a point total for his production with the team that selected him. The players were not given points for what they did with other teams. They got four points for making the Pro Bowl, three for each season they started all 16 games, two for each season they started at least half their team’s games, and one for playing in at least half their team’s games.

Overall Draft Class Of 2003

Top Five
New England Patriots	10 picks, 54 points
Chicago Bears	12 picks, 54 points
New York Giants	11 picks, 53 points
Dallas Cowboys	7 picks, 52 points
Arizona Cardinals	7 picks, 50 points
Bottom Five
Denver Broncos	10 picks, 14 points
Miami Dolphins	9 picks, 14 points
Atlanta Falcons	6 picks, 14 points
Washington Redskins	3 picks, 14 points
Eagles	6 picks, 16 points

Best overall pick: Troy Polamalu, S, Pittsburgh Steelers: He’s been to four Pro Bowls in his five seasons and was the best defensive player in the game the year the Steelers won the Super Bowl.

Eagles’ best pick: L.J. Smith, TE, 2d round: The only productive pick for the Eagles in this awful draft.

Worst overall pick: Charles Rogers, WR, Detroit Lions: The second overall pick played in just 15 career games in three seasons.

Eagles’ worst pick: Jerome McDougle, DE, 1st round: The star-crossed defensive end is a close runner-up to Rogers as the least productive player in the first round of the 2003 draft.