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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
McCoy pick made the draft

During the past couple days, I've provided links here at MTC to what the national "experts" are saying about the Eagles draft.

Some of you have asked me for my opinion (while others could care less), so here's my take.

The LeSean McCoy pick at No. 53 in the second round made the draft for the Birds.

Going into last weekend, the Eagles needed to address running back. Regardless of what you think about Brian Westbrook or how many years he has left, the Birds had zero depth behind him.

And please don't bring up Lorenzo Booker.

If you looked at the running backs on the board, the top tier had four guys: Knowshon Moreno, Beanie Wells, McCoy and Donald Brown.

Moreno was the guy the Eagles reportedly targeted, but he got snatched up by the Broncos at No. 12.

And according to the print guys who cover the team, the Birds didn't really think Wells was a good fit.

That left the Eagles with several options. Take either Brown or McCoy at No. 21. Trade down and pick one of them later in the first round or early in the second. Go in another direction with their first pick and hope one of them dropped to No. 53 in the second round. Or target a sleeper running back in the later rounds and forget about Brown and McCoy altogether.

They went with the third option, gambling that McCoy would be there at 53, and it worked out perfectly.

You know during your fantasy drafts when a player you love somehow drops, and you pray that the guys ahead of you don't take him? That's what happened with the Birds.

When they traded up to get Jeremy Maclin, my excitement was tame. Not because I didn't like him, but because I thought they might miss out on one of the top four backs.

And I still wonder what their plan would have been had McCoy been gone at No. 53. Take a second-tier guy? Hope to sign a veteran? Rely on Booker to play a bigger role?

Talk about choosing among some brutal options.

But the Eagles don't have to worry about that. They got Shady.

My first job out of college was at PennLive.com in Harrisburg. McCoy was a senior at Bishop McDevitt. People couldn't get enough of him. Traffic spiked for any story that had his name in it, not only locally, but nationally as college football fans and alumni wondered if their schools would land him.

I remember putting together photos online at PennLive.com when McCoy fractured his ankle in the fourth game of his senior season. You probably know that part of the story, but I remember his distraught teammates with tears in their eyes when Shady went down.

I'm no scout, but the Eagles got their running back, and got him at a value that you have to be happy with at No. 53.

Without McCoy, the Birds would have still needed to address running back depth and would have been in a disastrous position if Westbrook went down.

When we look back in a few years and evaluate the '09 class, McCoy will be guy we zero in on. And that's a good thing.

Posted by Sheil Kapadia @ 12:31 PM  Permalink | 29 comments
29
Comments   
Posted 12:53 PM, 04/28/2009
rwright611
I have to say I wasn't upset with the pick of Maclin, but it left me wondering "what about running back??" There's no assurances in the draft, but it appears so far that the gamble worked out.
Posted 12:56 PM, 04/28/2009
slovakstud18
bishop mcdevitt..the same high school as a one ricky watters...great pick
Posted 01:11 PM, 04/28/2009
lagunita
Speaking of the draft...the NFL Channel destroyed ESPN in covering the draft. I kept switching back and forth and at the end it was no contest. Mayock, Eisen and Gruden were exceptional. Keyshawn was terrible...all ESPN really has to compete with anymore is Kiper and he's not enough.
Posted 01:37 PM, 04/28/2009
philly10
MACLIN AND MCCOY WILL BOTH BE FUTURE ALL-PRO PLAYERS..AND THIS DRAFT WILL BE KNOWN AS THE EAGLES BEST DRAFT EVER.
Posted 02:11 PM, 04/28/2009
jwad56
How can anyone say this was a good draft. Both the top picks could bust. Remember when everyone thought the Bunkley/Justice draft was good. It took Bunkley 2 years to get on the field and when Justice got on the field he let up 8 sacks in one game. You can't say this is a good draft yet. You can like it but to say this is the best draft ever is idiotic.
Posted 02:23 PM, 04/28/2009
Dierte
well jwad56...basically Maclin is a top 5 pick (18 teams had him as the #1 WR on the board, above HARVIN!! (philly10) and Crabtree) and we got him at 19?! McCoy is a top 4 RB and we sat there at 53 and pretty much had him fall into our lap!! Cornelius Ingram may very well be the steal of the draft as he was rated by the majority as the 3rd best TE and we got him in the 5th round?! Macho Harris is a two-all ACC CB who is a playmaker and we got him late. Gibson is a two time all pac10 player and was drafted in what the 7th? Oh yea....you can basically add Jason Peters in there as our 28th pick, two time pro bowler, not to mention a 4 year starter at CB in Ellis Hobbs...Granted I agree with you that until about 4 years down the road you can't label it as the best draft ever, but stop being such a negative fool and enjoy this draft, cause it doesn't happen often!
Posted 02:45 PM, 04/28/2009
StopThePanic
Any draft pick can bust. It's an inexact science. That being said, the Eagles landed three players in positions of need who were selected below their draft status. Maclin was a top 10 prospect, Shady was a first-round back and Ingram had a second-round grade. Great drafts are all about maximizing value. The front office did that better than any team in the 2009 draft.
Posted 03:02 PM, 04/28/2009
76er
He has a "Shady" agent and I hope he's mature enough to say no when family and friends keep bugging him. He'll be pretty close to home and distractions.
Posted 03:18 PM, 04/28/2009
fugazi3000
i don't think you can't get too up or down on a draft because you get a lot of busts who were top picks and good players emerge from later pics. Freddie Mitchell was a first round pick, BWest a third rounder. i mean, i'm fine with what they did, but lets see who is on the field during the season.
Posted 04:09 PM, 04/28/2009
Rokit
As much as I hate to admit it, I think our best shot at winning a Super Bowl is with McNabb. Kolb hasn't shown me anything. So we need to do something sooner rather than later. That's why we should have traded for Boldin. Maclin might be a future pro-bowler but we won't know that and how long will it take for him to get to that level? I hope I'm wrong but I don't think this draft gets us any closer to the SB.
Posted 04:32 PM, 04/28/2009
phillyinsd
I liked the Eagles' picks. Sure, we won't know for a few years how good the draft was, but how long has it been since Philly has been this excited about their off-season acquisitions? As far as draft coverage, I agree that ESPN was terrible. I can't stand Chris Berman. I thought the the NFL network was pretty good, but on day 2 they gave zero information when the Birds traded their pick; I had to search online to see what had happened.
Posted 05:10 PM, 04/28/2009
NEMark
Sheil, you're right! The Eagles were very lucky that Shady lasted all the way to 53. I think their 2nd day moves weren't very good. I wish they had drafted Ramses Barden, the big wr that would help McNabb out in the red zone. I guess they thought replacing Greg Lewis with Maclin is enough of an upgrade at the receiver positions. We'll see. Instead, Barden will be helping Eli and the Giants against our short cb's. There were a couple CB's and TE's that I think they should have taken instead of the ones they ended up with. However, they were more interested in getting more day 2 picks for next year, which didn't seem smart to me. I thought that 3rd rounder should have gotten them a 2nd round pick next year.
Posted 05:52 PM, 04/28/2009
MIKEZ
This was a great draft for the Eagles and I agree that our best shot still includes McNabb. I can't get over how an entire city of fans trashes Kolb for one pick against one of the best defenses in the league. Donovan was awful the entire half and threw 2 picks and fumbled. Kolb moved the ball extremely well and got picked by Reed on e of the best ever and then all I read from our so-called fans is Kolb showed nothing. Tough town of critics!!
Posted 05:57 PM, 04/28/2009
BadgerVMD
It's amazing to read the "we should have done this" comments. I wonder what people would have said if they did trade for Boldin? A whole new set of complaints would have arised. This was a great draft from the standpoint of value versus evaluated skill. We ended up with 2 starters by the end of the draft (Peters and Hobbs) which no other team can say (except maybe the Browns who got 3 players for the Sanchez trade but not sure they were starters) and added some players with huge potentials. I think this team is stronger than last year's team even without factoring in the potential skill the draftees can add. At least I didn't read anymore comments about the RB Jennings.
Posted 06:58 PM, 04/28/2009
StopThePanic
Ramses Barden can't run or beat a jam. He won't be much use to the G-Men when he's undercut by one of the Birds' cornerbacks for a pick six. By the way, Ingram will be a huge help in the red zone. He's a much better option than reaching on a stiff like Barden. Giants have drafted five receivers in the last three years. Moss, Smith, Manningham, Nicks and Ramses. Any of these guys really scare you?
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About Moving the Chains
Sheil Kapadia is a sports producer for philly.com. His earliest memories as a sports fan include several trips to Veterans Stadium with his dad, most of which turned out disappointing results. He's here to discuss the NFL 365 days a year. E-mail him at skapadia@philly.com or by clicking here

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