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Getting a fast rush from Eagles' Graham

Within minutes of being selected with the Eagles' top draft pick, speed-rusher Brandon Graham told reporters he hopes to have an immediate impact this year.

The Eagles' first-round draft pick Brandon Graham, is looking to make an impact this season.   (Charles Fox / Staff Photographer)
The Eagles' first-round draft pick Brandon Graham, is looking to make an impact this season. (Charles Fox / Staff Photographer)Read more

Within minutes of being selected with the Eagles' top draft pick, speed-rusher Brandon Graham told reporters he hopes to have an immediate impact this year.

The team clearly hopes so. With the Eagles using three of their 13 draft choices on defensive ends, they sent an obvious message: bolstering the pass rush is key to revamping a defense that slumped through a subpar 2009.

"In the National Football League, you have to be able to put pressure on the quarterback. You put pressure on the quarterback, it makes everybody better," coach Andy Reid said after the draft. "So, we went out and brought in some guys we felt can rush the passer."

At the top of that list is Graham. Fellow ends Daniel Te'o-Nesheim and Ricky Sapp followed in rounds three and five, respectively.

They all have the speed Reid covets, versatility and, according to the coach, "relentlessness." They are also each considered small for defensive linemen.

The team and the media will get their first look at all three in green Friday, when a three-day minicamp opens at the NovaCare Complex. Rookies begin arriving Thursday.

The highest expectations are attached to Graham, who cost the Eagles three draft picks in a trade that had them jump 11 first-round slots.

The Eagles traditionally rotate their linemen, opening up opportunities for playing time. They have Graham slotted as an end in their 4-3 system. Reid said Sapp would begin as a lineman, but the high school sprinter who many analysts had rated as a second- or third-round talent presents other intriguing possibilities. At Clemson, he played the "bandit," a linebacker-end hybrid. Reid said he could fit in the Eagles' similar "joker" slot or as a strong-side linebacker.

Te'o-Nesheim is seen as a flexible lineman who could play some tackle as well. He left Washington as the school's all-time sack leader.

Recent history, however, show that even top-rated linemen can struggle when they first face NFL pass blocking.

Of the five defensive ends taken in 2009's first round, three finished the year with no sacks, and a fourth had only two. The fifth, the Redskins' Brian Orakpo, racked up 11 sacks and a Pro Bowl berth, but he did it as a linebacker.

Among 2008's first-round defensive ends, two had zero sacks as rookies, one had two, and Chris Long, taken second overall, notched eight.

In the third round that year, the Eagles took defensive end Bryan Smith. Also considered small for the position, he lasted one season with the team and represents the latest in a string of disappointing defensive end selections.

In 2007, the Eagles drafted Victor Abiamiri, who has been slowed by injury and whose status on the team now looks shaky. The drafting of three more ends seems to be a clear indication that his selection hasn't panned out.

Jerome McDougle, taken 15th overall in 2003, was saddled with injuries and also shot during a robbery. A sixth-round selection in 2000, John Frank, didn't make the team.

Derrick Burgess, drafted in 2001, played four years with the Eagles and left for the Raiders, where he promptly set the team's single-season sack record and made two Pro Bowls. Raheem Brock, a 2002 seventh-rounder, never signed an Eagles contract but caught on with the Colts and has been a regular contributor.

The Eagles did strike pass-rushing draft gold with Trent Cole, a 2005 fifth-rounder taken as a linebacker and converted to defensive end. He, too, is considered small but fast and hardworking.

The Eagles have done well filling the position through other means, trading for Hugh Douglas and luring in Jevon Kearse as a free agent.

Reid said Graham has a similar body and playing style as Douglas. For this season's sake, the team has to hope he can produce similar results. Fast.

Parrish signed

The Eagles signed punter Ken Parrish to a three-year deal. Parrish was with the team for training camp last year but did not make the team. Returning punter Sav Rocca signed a one-year deal last week.