Eagles may opt for offensive tackle

By Bob Brookover

Inquirer Staff Writer

Tell a football fan his favorite team is about to use its first-round draft pick on an offensive lineman and you'll probably get the same reaction as when you tell your kid it's time to go to the dentist.

Sure it's painful to watch another team pluck a big-name wide receiver or a stud running back while your squad gets a beefy mauler who is graded by the number of pancakes he registers and how clean he kept his quarterback in college. Like the dentist, however, it's sometimes necessary, and this may just be the right year for the Eagles to use their first pick on one of the big men paid to protect the quarterback.

Although coach Andy Reid has a reputation for loving offensive linemen, the Eagles have focused on defensive linemen in the first rounds of his drafts. Four of Reid's eight first-round picks have been defensive linemen, including three tackles.

The only time Reid used his first-round pick on an offensive tackle was in 2004, and the selection of Shawn Andrews was a solid one. Andrews, of course, has become a two-time Pro Bowler at right guard, but Reid and general manager Tom Heckert have both said that they have not ruled out moving him back to tackle at some point.

"That's definitely a possibility," Heckert said. "We don't think there's any question he can do it. He played right tackle in college and he was very good, and we think he can play tackle. That's something to think about. Todd Herremans can play right tackle. I think we do have some options there. Obviously, it's great to have guys that can play both positions. The more the merrier. If you have five guys like that, you're in really good shape."

When the Eagles think about their future at the tackle position, they're probably thinking about 2009. William Thomas will turn 34 and Jon Runyan will turn 35 this November. Both veteran tackles are in the last year of their contracts, and even though Heckert said the organization has not soured on Winston Justice, the Eagles probably would not mind having an insurance policy.

Heckert admitted it is difficult to foresee when Thomas and Runyan will be finished.

"It's tough because they're both still playing very well," he said. "I don't know if you can say, 'He's got three years left.' Those two guys are both doing everything they can to continue to play. Obviously, they're older, but they're not showing signs where you say, 'Wow, we better do this thing quick because they're on their last legs.' With those two guys, that's not the case."

Heckert said this is a deep draft at offensive tackle, and there also is a guard from Virginia who perfectly fits the description of a lineman who can play both positions. Branden Albert started 11 games at left guard last season and filled in for two games at left tackle. He might have been a left tackle at Virginia if D'Brickashaw Ferguson, a first-round pick by the New York Jets two years ago, was not playing the position when Albert arrived as a freshman.

Though Albert is considered the best guard prospect in the draft, the idea of playing tackle has not been erased from his thoughts. When asked to compare himself to some NFL linemen at the scouting combine earlier this year, Albert named two Pro Bowl left tackles: Dallas' Flozell Adams and Seattle's Walter Jones.

This draft class also has some outstanding tackles who played the position exclusively in college, but some of them are not going to be available when the Eagles pick 19th overall. Michigan's Jake Long has already reached a contract agreement and will be the first overall pick by the Miami Dolphins.

Boise State's Ryan Clady is also a projected top-10 pick, and it seems unlikely that the Eagles would be able to move up to get him in the draft. If the Eagles remain at No. 19, they may have a shot at Vanderbilt's Chris Williams or Pittsburgh's Jeff Otah.

Otah, 6-foot-6 and 322 pounds, would be an interesting pick because he is a local kid from William Penn High School in New Castle, Del. He also attended Valley Forge Military Academy but did not start playing football until his senior year in high school. Heckert, however, does not consider Otah a project. Heckert also thinks the five linemen projected to go in the first round are all close in ability.

"I think if you talk to a bunch of different teams, you'd find that they have those five guys, including Jake Long, with different grades. I think they're all going to be good players."

And there's a decent chance that one of them is going to be playing for the Eagles, because this is a team that does love its linemen.

"Everybody knows in our offense that we throw the ball, and you'd better be able to protect the quarterback, so I think that's the main thing," Heckert said. "You would hate to have one of your tackles go down and you don't have anybody to replace him. It's going to cause you problems."

Justice vs. New York Giants last season is proof of that.

"If there's a lineman out there that you think is good enough to play, it just overrides the other positions," Heckert said.