Posted: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 2:20 PM | 44 comments |
 

Should McNabb have been the top pick in '99?
options
 
Should Donovan McNabb had been the top pick in 1999? (David Maialetti / Staff Photographer)

Just one link to pass along on this Saturday afternoon.

Dave Goldberg over at NFL Fanhouse is doing "redrafts" for every draft between 1998 and 2007. In other words, knowing what we know now, where would each player get taken?

The last one Goldberg did was the 1999 draft, and he makes the argument that Donovan McNabb would be the No. 1 pick.

Looking at the other options, it's tough to argue differently. Here's Goldberg's list of the top 10:

1. McNabb
2. Champ Bailey
3. Edgerrin James
4. Torry Holt
5. Aaron Smith
6. Jevon Kearse
7. Patrick Kerney
8. Donald Driver
9. Antoine Winfield
10. Jon Jansen

Thoughts? Would any of those players have given the Eagles a better chance to win over the past decade? I would say no. But it depends, of course, on who the Birds ended up with at quarterback instead of McNabb.

Writes Goldberg:

Anywhere else, a quarterback with his resume would be revered. But QBs now seem measured by Super Bowl victories and he doesn't have one. Still, a 216-to-100 TD-interception ratio works for anyone and so do 3,249 yards rushing, five NFC East titles and five conference championship games. Knowing this, who wouldn't take him No. 1?

In 1998, the Eagles took Tra Thomas at No. 11. Goldberg puts him at No. 10 in his redraft.

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Posted by Sheil Kapadia @ 2:20 PM  Permalink | 44 comments
44
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:29 PM, 03/20/2010
    Agree. But he still needs to be playing somewhere else now.
    — hop251
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:33 PM, 03/20/2010
    hop251 said it best. AR's best draft pick without question was McNabb in '99. Maybe the best QB in franchise history. But I'm tired of groundhog day in the playoffs.
    — dragoon6
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:45 PM, 03/20/2010
    it boggles the mind the topics these guys come up with....it is a complete "what does it matter"? what's on tap for Monday "should Randall have finished his career as an Eagle"?...get a life, it is springtime!!!
    — Frank_Drebin
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:02 PM, 03/20/2010
    It's equivalent to being the best surfer in Iowa. Bottom line: McNabb = No Super Bowl championships. Oh, by the way, he is not a Hall of Famer.
    — EaglesPhilliesIrish
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:06 PM, 03/20/2010
    Frank_Drebin this is what we are left with when you hire unqualified journalists who can not even use spell check properly. Real journalism died a long slow death and now we are left with TMZ and the Negative News Now Networks. In New Orleans Archie Manning had either a losing season or a .500 season ever single year he started yet he's the pride and joy of New Orleans. Here in Philly we blame the greatest QB to ever don a Eagles uniform as if he is the reason we haven't won a title and we will win one once we release him. What kind of logic does that make?
    — Nothing but the truth
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:32 PM, 03/20/2010
    McNabb is the anti-Dawkins. It's impossible to relate to him. His body language and reactions to plays on the field can only be described as goofy. At least once a year he has a press conference that leaves everyone scratching their heads. The vaunted TD to INT ratio goes in the tank in the playoffs. Concussions and choking under pressure have a few things in common: nausea, shortness of breath, malaise, poor decision making. Maybe he had a concussion at the end of the Super Bowl, but I doubt it. Let's get on with the Kolb era.
    — Denali
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  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:59 PM, 03/20/2010
    Wolf, get a clue. Ricky Williams is running for 12,000 yards a season? Really? James doesn't make the HOF. And McNabb, the greatest QB in team history, has been an overall disappointment? Here's one that I know to be true: Wolf has a learning disability.
    — beegal99
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:03 PM, 03/20/2010
    What a total waste of space this is! Can we please get to some real Eagles coverage please?
    — Panthro22
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:07 PM, 03/20/2010
    nothing but the truth, very well said. I get fans of other teams asking me all the time why so many fans hate on McNabb and how good he is, which is sad that our QB gets more respect from opponent's fans and not his own. We go one more run with McNabb, no extension till after the season, and if he doesn't earn a new deal, you franchise him and then trade. Get the OL fixed and add whatever other pieces they think they can and get ready for next year.
    — Bleue
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:13 PM, 03/20/2010
    Yeah and Kennedy should have been in a closed roof car in Dallas in November 1963.
    — JSaq
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:09 PM, 03/20/2010
    One can always depend on wiffie to make a complete a*s of himself even on a non topic like this. Ricky Williams QUIT on his team wiff. How many suspensions for drugs? He only came back because he owed a ton of $$. Edge WAS a fine player but no HOFer and how many SBs did he win wiff? BTW, how do you put up 12K a season? Put the bottle of JB down wiff.
    — tpizza
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:43 PM, 03/20/2010
    I think when he is not here next year we will see how overrated Andy is as a coach. Donovan made him look like a better coach than he is. When Kolb is the QB and the results are the same it will put the focus on the reason for the Eagles travails squarely where it belongs, on Reid and Banner. Meanwhile, if he goes to Arizona or Minnesota-two teams with solid receivers and ground games that have to be respected (if not necessarily dominant, which Arizona's is not)-it is likely we will be seeing him lifting the Lombardi trophy. Which will result in much gnashing of teeth among Eagles' fans.
    — BillHicksLives!
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:24 PM, 03/20/2010
    Absolutely he should have been. He's a HOF QB, and championship caliber. The Eagles will win one with him this year.
    — libertyof76


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About Sheil Kapadia
Sheil Kapadia is in his fourth season writing about the Eagles and the NFL for philly.com. His earliest memories as a sports fan include several trips to Veterans Stadium with his Dad. He's not a beat writer or an Insider, but is here to discuss the NFL 365 days a year. E-mail him at skapadia@philly.com or by clicking here

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