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Saturday, April 25, 2009

UPDATED: To read about second-round pick LeSean McCoy, click here

How about that -- a wide receiver in the first round, 19th overall, after a tradeup with the Browns. The Eagles hadn't taken a wideout this high since Kenny Jackson went fourth overall in 1984. A tradeup two slots, which cost one of the Birds' two sixth-round picks, 195th overall. Obviously, the Eagles were pleased to see Missouri wideout Jeremy Maclin last this long. The NFL Network's Mike Mayock looks like a genius -- as far as I know he's the only person who had the Birds taking Maclin, in his final mock, Mayock correctly predicting that Knowshon Moreno would be gone.

When do they get a running back? Well, unless something changes, the next pick is 53rd, in the second round.

Andy Reid just addressed the media, calling Maclin "very intelligent, very fast."Jeremy Maclin

Reid indicated the Eagles had targeted another player -- Knowshon, perhaps? -- but presumably after that player disappeared, they were excited to see Maclin sliding. Many mock drafts had him going in the top 15; almost no mock drafts had Maryland wideout Darrius Heyward-Bey going in the top 15, but that's Al Davis for you. He took Heyward-Bey seventh, leaving Michael Crabtree for San Francisco at 10, where ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. had Maclin going in Kiper's final mock draft. Then came a long string of teams that weren't looking for wideout help.

The Eagles decided they were, and Reid said when they heard a couple of other teams also were looking at moving up to take Maclin, they made a deal with rebuilding Cleveland, which seems to have the goal of stockpiling as many picks out of this draft as possible.

Reid said the Birds talked to Maclin at the Combine, but did not bring him in for a visit, because they figured they had no shot at getting him.

"We thought he was going to go quite a little bit higher than he did," Reid said.

"I think it worked out for the best," Maclin said in a conference call with reporters at NovaCare. "I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I can't complain, going to this organization ... They've got all the guys in the right spots to be contenders every year, one of the best quarterbacks in the league, you've got (Brian) Westbrook, (Kevin) Curtis, DeSean (Jackson) -- I couldn't ask for a better situation."

Maclin confirmed that he'd had very little contact with the Eagles, except for the combine.

Jackson set a pretty high standard for rookie wideouts and returners. Maclin said he thought he could match that.

Reid said Maclin "kind of fell in our lap." He said there are "a lot of things you can do with him."

Maclin played in a spread at Missouri, often as a kind of H-back. Reid talked of "flexibility and versatility."

Obviously, this ends the Anquan Boldin drama, from the Eagles' end, anyway. Shockingly, agent Drew Rosenahaus' prediction that Boldin would be traded by the end of the first round today did not come true. Could the Eagles have traded their pick and gotten Boldin, instead of Macklin? Probably. But they didn't do that and no one else in the first round who needed a wideout did that, either. That would include the Giants, who took a guy I liked a lot, North Carolina wideout Hakeem Nicks.

Until Boldin actually gets traded, nobody knows what it would have taken to get him, despite ESPN's breathless "updates" of things that apparently never happened.

For more from Maclin and Andy Reid, click here for the transcripts.

  Here is some background on Maclin:

Height: 6-0
Weight: 198
College: Missouri
Hometown: Kirkwood, Mo.
40-yard dash: 4.48 seconds at combine
Early entry: Played two seasons at Missouri before declaring for the draft after his sophomore year
 

Numbers: Scored 32 times in 28 games … Third player in NCAA history to average more than 200 all-purpose yards per game for his career … Set major college freshman record for all-purpose yards with 2,776. Scored 16 TDs on 199 touches … As a sophomore, became sixth player in NCAA history with more than 2,800 all-purpose yards in a season … Second player in history with more than 2,000 yards receiving and 2,000 yards in kickoff returns in a career … For his career, averaged 73.18 yards per game on kickoff returns, 82.68 yards per game receiving, 20.61 yards on punt returns and 23.86 yards rushing … First freshman in school history to earn first-team All-America … First Big 12 player to score on a kickoff return, punt return, rushing attempt and reception in multiple seasons.
 

As a receiver: As a freshman, second on the team with 80 receptions for 1,055 yards (13.2 avg) and nine scores. As a sophomore, was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation's top receiver … Sixth player in Big 12 history to catch more than 100 passes (102) in a season, gaining 1,260 yards (12.4 avg) with 13 touchdowns … 22 of his 55 first-down catches in 2008 came on third down.
 

As a returner: 1,346 return yards in 2007 was 2 yards short of the NCAA record. Had two touchdowns with a 12.3-yard average on 25 punt returns and a touchdown with a 24.2-yard average on 43 kickoff returns … In 2008, tallied 270 yards on 23 punt returns (11.7 avg) and a TD,
 

As a runner: In 2007, was second on the team with 375 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 51 carries (7.4 avg.). In 2008, was second on the team with 293 yards and two scores on 40 carries (7.3 avg).
 

Earlier:

Well, Denver was supposed to draft for defense at 12, but it took Knowshon Moreno. The Broncos signed every running back in free agency -- Correll Buckhalter, LaMont Jordan, J.J. Arrington. Now they've drafted the guy much of Eagles Nation coveted. Are they installing the single wing, or what?

More important, what do the Eagles do now? We don't know if they coveted Moreno as much as their fans did. They certainly could get another running back at 21 -- they might even be able to trade down and get a decent one. Defensive end Robert Ayers is still on the board, as we type. A cornerback, maybe? Tight end Brandon Pettigrew?

He doesn't fit the Eagles' offense, in terms of his receiving rep, but if "Beanie" Wells is there, do you have to take him?

We'll find out eventually.

****

In the meantime, RIP Bea Arthur.

 

Posted by Les Bowen @ 5:42 PM  Permalink | 73 comments
73
Comments   
Posted 05:46 PM, 04/25/2009
BBAX
they are going with a d back... no sense in keeping sheldon brown around.
Posted 05:56 PM, 04/25/2009
JimG
Depending on who else gets taken between now and 21, I might be more willing to trade this year's 1st round pick in a deal for Boldin. Moreno is already off the board...if Maclin, Pettigrew and Vontae Davis go before we draft, it might be worth trading that pick in a deal for Boldin with another draft pick for next year's draft. The Eagles could still pick up a RB and TE with their 2nd and 3rd round picks.
Posted 05:58 PM, 04/25/2009
timgod99
Hey, Eagletarian...Could the Knowshon pick be part of a larger Moreno/Schefler for #21 + trade?
Posted 06:07 PM, 04/25/2009
mikeb7121
we don't need that stiff Davis, he sucks like his brother
Posted 06:21 PM, 04/25/2009
JimG
Hmmm, any chance that Maclin was selected as part of a deal for Boldin? If the Cards could get Maclin with that 1st round pick, then some sort of Boldin deal might make sense for both teams.
Posted 06:28 PM, 04/25/2009
mikeb7121
Maclin are you kidding me we have a receiver like that in jackson
Posted 06:28 PM, 04/25/2009
nicolosi54
What the hell is Reid smoking? He needs a running back and he get a midget wide reciever.
Posted 06:31 PM, 04/25/2009
PhillyTrue
This pick makes no sense right now. Unless this is a part of a trade, I'm not sure I like it. We have Jackson, Curtis, Avant, Brown and Baskett. Did we really need a WR in the 1st round?
Posted 06:33 PM, 04/25/2009
fman727
great move! we can use him and deasen to return punts, he loves to catch the slant... we go 4 wrs, we have 2 wrs with 4.35 speed on the outside.
Posted 06:34 PM, 04/25/2009
dawk2020
Uhhhm...what 21 pick? You think they got the 19 for a 6th? Maclin WAS their first round pick.
Posted 06:34 PM, 04/25/2009
wokmaster
Bad pick...should have taken Pettigrew.
Posted 06:35 PM, 04/25/2009
JimG
Come on guys, get a clue. Maclin is 6'0, 198 lbs and he'll obviously put on some muscle before the season. Jackson is 5'10, 175 lbs. Maclin is 2 inches taller and almost 25 lbs heavier. 6'0 and 200 lbs is not a "midget" WR.
Posted 06:35 PM, 04/25/2009
dawk2020
Oh, sorry - just realized the "what do we do at 21" was posted earlier.
Posted 06:37 PM, 04/25/2009
1stStateTarHeel
BLACK SATURDAY!! Eagles don't get the RB they wanted and the Flyers lose a 3-0 lead and lose the series to the pens and Cindy Crysby. Not a good day for Philadelphia. Did we really need to trade up to get this guy??
Posted 06:37 PM, 04/25/2009
The Roz
OOK great I like getting the WR, NOW LETS TRADE UP TO GET RB WELLS, WE NEED A BIG BACK, OUR DEFFENCE IS FINE
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Les BowenLes Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News since 2002. Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.

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Paul DomowitchPaul Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982. He has spent most of his 27 years at the paper covering the Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo came to the Daily News from the Fort Worth (Tx.) Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually wa s boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose two sports coats to blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley, a University of Oklahoma grad and very dangerous to be around following a Sooner loss, have been married 29 years and have raised 2 terrific daughters – Allison, 26, a lawyer and graduate of Boston University School of Law; and Amy, 23, who graduated from Clemson and works in marketing and sales for a professional baseball team.