8 picks, 1 veteran, 6 trades and 18 draft picks changing hands later, the Eagles have their 2009 draft class. Going into the draft, I predicted that the Eagles would follow their previous trend of not picking for current needs, but for future needs. I couldn’t be happier that I was wrong. I’ll go through pick-by-pick and say my thoughts on the pick, and also try to iron out all the deals that were made on draft day. The bolded picks are the ones they went into the draft with (prior to the Peters trade).
To see how I felt about the 2008 draft, check out last year’s preview
Pick #21 (1st round) – traded, along with a 6th round pick for Pick #19. Used to select WR Jeremy Maclin.
There are two separate reactions associated with this pick. You had the initial reaction, and then the retro-active reaction once we landed McCoy in the 2nd. My first reaction, quite honestly, was disappointment. I know Maclin was a top-10 talent, but the need for RB was so strong that I was really pulling for Chris Wells or Donald Brown here. I personally wanted Wells because Reid drafting a true power back in the 1st would signal a change in philosophy that would allow us to have a decent running game. Didn’t happen. Then, the retro-active reaction was something like “man did they get lucky that McCoy dropped to them, I would have been OK with him in the first - HOLY CRAP WE GOT MACLIN TOO!” Suddenly, with a good RB on board, the Maclin pick looks genius and your mind is racing about having 3 4.4 40 guys in Jackson, Curtis and Maclin wreaking havoc in the West Coast offense.
As for Maclin himself, getting a top-10 player at #19 is always a good thing (thanks, Al Davis). There are some concerns about how well he will be able to get off the line of scrimmage after playing in the spread in college and I would not expect him to have the same impact that DeSean Jackson did last year. But, I do think the speed of him, Jackson and Curtis will give Reid a lot to work with, not to mention Jason Avant being the safety-valve on 3rd down. There’s a lot to be excited about with our WR core for the first time in awhile. Pick Grade: B (not higher because there is no way they would have known McCoy would be there at #53)
Pick #28 (1st round) – traded, along with a 4th round pick for OT Jason Peters
The best available OT here was Eben Britton. Anyone think that he’s better than Jason Peters? Didn’t think so. Pick Grade: A
Pick #53 (2nd round) – RB LeSean McCoy
The pick that made the draft. The Birds needed a running back, and they got a shifty back who can catch out of the backfield and learn from Brian Westbrook before he eventually takes over. I don’t know who they would have taken had he not fallen, and I don’t want to know. My friends and I were looking at every team ahead of us and rationalizing why they didn’t need a back. When we saw him answer the phone when the Eagles were up, there was much rejoicing. To top it all off, the kid is an Eagles fan, so he’ll be happy to be here. He’ll be our Buckhalter this year, and we should know pretty fast what we have in him.
Only 2 concerns. First, his nickname is “Shady” and I don’t know why. If you know, tell us. Second, when they panned out with him on the phone to show Drew Rosenhaus’ face, I’m pretty sure every Eagles’ fan gasped, cursed or hissed at the television. Despite this, it’s still a slam dunk pick. Pick Grade: A
Pick #85 (3rd round) – traded to the Giants for Pick #91 (3rd) and #164 (5th). Pick #91 was then traded for Pick #137 (5th), #213 (7th) and a 2010 3rd round pick. Pick #164 was then traded for a 5th round pick in 2010 and Pick #222 (7th). Pick #222 was traded to the Colts for a 6th round pick in 2010. OK, you ready? Ultimately this pick was traded for a 2010 3rd, 5th and 6th round pick, a 2009 5th round pick and a 7th round pick (used to select OG Paul Fanaika).
Classic Eagles (or Patriots) maneuvering. They obviously didn’t think they would get a good value so they turned their 3rd rounder into a 3rd rounder next year and got two 5ths, a 6th and a 7th for their troubles. They treat this like a business, and that is a great long-term business deal. This is the type of move that sets us up for long term success (success being making the playoffs) while other teams struggle year after year. As frustrating as management can be sometimes, they are smart. If you count whatever pick we get for Lito, the Eagles already have 11 picks for next year’s draft. Pick Grade: N/A
Pick #141 (5th round) – traded, along with pick #137 (acquired for 3rd rounder) to the Patriots for CB Ellis Hobbs
The Eagles used one of their “free” picks to get Hobbs, so they really only gave up one 5th rounder that they started the day with. For acquiring a 25-year CB who played in every game for one the best franchises in NFL history? That’s a great deal. Hobbs gives us insurance in case Sheldon Brown goes Lito Sheppard on us (check my ‘08 draft review for my prophetic take on the Lito situation) and gives us depth at one of the most important positions on the team. The Eagles do lose points however, for trading for another CB who is unhappy with his contract. Pick Grade: B+
Pick #153 (5th round) – TE Cornelius Ingram
Man, I’m trying not be too gushy here, but this was the 2nd straight pick that the Eagles picked exactly who I wanted, so it’s tough. Ingram is someone who I would have been pretty happy about using our 3rd round pick on. Instead, due to the plethora of TE’s and his ‘08 injury, Ingram (ranked as the 44th best player, and 2nd best TE by Scouts Inc.) dropped all the way to the 5th. Ingram is a great athlete (he also played basketball at Florida) and has game-breaking ability. Though not a blocking TE, I think he’ll force his way onto the field early on. Easily the best value pick for the Eagles, and arguably the best of any team. Pick Grade: A+
Pick #157 (5th round) – CB Victor Harris
Usually the Eagles start picking developmental prospect (read: Bryan Smith last year) after they get what they want, but here they actually took a productive player from a big school at a position of need! Victor “Macho” Harris will add depth at corner and maybe safety as well. We needed a corner out of this draft, and we got 2. Pick Grade: B+
Pick #159 (5th round) – OT Fenuki Tupou
Andy couldn’t help himself. An Eagles draft without a couple OL wouldn’t be the same. Even though we don’t have a need for a starting tackle for the next 5-6 years, the Eagles grabbed one here. Depth is always good, and is important on the OL, so in reality, I’m fine with this pick. I think that OL is the safest position to draft late in the draft, especially if you have an elite OL coach like Juan Castillo. Tupou and 7th rounder Paul Fanaika will hope to be the next Jamaal Jackson or Artis Hicks. Pick Grade: B
Pick #194 (6th round) – WR Brandon Gibson
Gibson doesn’t do anything spectacular, but does everything well. Might just end up as a special teams guy, or might end up as the “replacement” for Greg Lewis. Pick Grade: B
Pick #230 (7th round) – LB Moise Fokou
Fokou was the 3rd player with a Samoan name to be drafted by the Eagles in this draft. No analysis there, just interesting. As a 7th round linebacker, we are probably looking at the practice squad at best. No 7th rounder has made an impact for the Eagles since Koy Detmer in 1997. I don’t expect this to be any different. Pick Grade: B-
SUMMARY
It’s hard to say anything bad about a draft where the Eagles got a starting OT before hand and then filled 3 skill positions with guys that they got at a great value. I saw all 3 players they got in the 1st round of one mock draft or another leading up to the draft. Add Ellis Hobbs to the mix, and this is easily to most successful draft since I’ve been following the Birds. Obviously, the true measure of success won’t come for a couple years, when we will see how these guys perform on the field, but from what we know now, this draft was as good as anyone could ask for. Could we have traded for Anquan Boldin instead of getting Maclin? Maybe. But who knows what kind of contract demands he had and what kind of mess that would lead too. I’d have be happy to get him, but I don’t think they made the wrong move.
Overall Grade: A
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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Pete, great work, I’ve been looking forward to reading this. One note about the 7th rounder though…remember Raheem Brock? The Eagles drafted him out of Temple in the 7th round and then ran out of rookie salaries after signing all of their other players. He was released and (I think) is still starting at DE for the Colts, a franchise that won a Super Bowl with him as a bookend. I think the Brock situation made Andy realize that taking players with every pick is not as smart as trading for future, better picks; less risk of running out of $$. So Brock “technically” is a successful Eagles 7th Round pick, just wanted to throw that in there.
Pete, good writeup; Only one thing bothers me, the top three picks all had a major injury. Do organizations have different approaches as far as passing on guys for this reason? What is your opinion?
Good post. Had to chime in about “Shady.” It’s just a nickname derived from his first name, and this kid is electric. Watch his youtube highlights from when he was in high school. He was by far the top ranked high school player in the country and then he broke his ankle. Up until then he had a full ride waiting for himself at USC. BTW, same high school as Ricky Watters.
In addition to being a Philly sports fan I am a Gator fan and incoming freshmen at Florida and I can tell you Ingram is a steal in the 5th…he was a first round talent before he tore his ACL and guys (even Jeremy Maclin) recover from that better than ever nowadays…he might not be the best blocker but he has recovered from the knee injury and with his hands of glue, speed and athletic ability he should at the very least push Celek for the starting spot…one problem I had with the draft was that they could have drafted a big back with some potential in Rashard Jennings out of Liberty in the 7th round (instead of Fokou who will never get off the practice squad) who probably could have developed into their short yardage guy and who probably could have beat out Booker and Eckel for the 3rd RB spot but I can’t complain too much, I can’t remeber the last time I was this satisfied with an Eagles draft…Maclin, McCoy and Ingram are great value picks who give the offense a lot more explosiveness….
Jurnee16 and Pete, if Ingram is athletic enough perhaps he can be split wide in the red zone, along with Celek to give us the big target we need.
stu-
I saw Brock, but didn’t include him cause he never did anything for us. but you are right that I should have mentioned him.
dss-
each team does a full physical with a player (usually) before they pick them. Eugene Monroe (went #8) is an example of someone who failed several physicals because of his knee.
my opinion is I have to trust the Eagles doctors unless we start seeing a trend of these types of players getting hurt again in the NFL. but it’s definitely something to watch.
geoff –
thanks for the info.
I remember McCoy’s HS recruitment well. He committed to Miami I believe, and I don’t quite remember the events that led him to Pitt.
jurnee –
good year to be a freshman at UF. football team should be in the NC hunt again. (I hate, hate, hate Urban Meyer though).
Rashad Jennings is a g0od call. Not sure why he dropped that low, people had him rated a lot higher.
Not to be the dictionary police, but:
“…3 4.4 40 guys in Jackson, Curtis and Maclin reeking havoc in the West Coast offense…”
Reeking – smelling bad.
Wreaking – what you do with havoc.
josh b. -
HA! thanks for the catch.
As for the article as a whole, great piece. I’d disagree with downgrading the Maclin pick because they couldn’t be certain McCoy would be available in the 2nd – you take the value pick in that situation, and if you start to worry that the guy you could have reached for but really like will be taken before you pick again, then you move up and take him – that’s the purpose of all of that stockpiling of picks that the smart teams do – so that you have plenty of ammunition to respond to any situation on draft day.
I’m also a little more optimistic about Fenuki Tupou than you are – from some of the scouting I’ve read, he’s got the potential to be a solid backup option at T, and might give us justification to send Winston Justice away, which can’t be a bad thing.
Oh, and I LOOOOVE the Ingram pick, too. Cook, Coffman, etc are glorified WRs – Ingram is a true TE who just hasn’t needed to learn how to block. If he’s got any kind of a work ethic about learning that part of his craft, he’ll be starting by 2010.
“that’s the purpose of all of that stockpiling of picks that the smart teams do – so that you have plenty of ammunition to respond to any situation on draft day” – great point
Just read that the Giants had a deal in place with the Lions at #20 to trade up and get Maclin. that makes me happy that we stole him from them.
I usually do not take much heart to what I hear on the eagles web site but they had a very good interview with Ingram. He states how he spent all Spring and Summer learning how to block becuase coaches told him it was the only way he would be a early round draft pick. Then he got hurt and could not show his skills. Florida had actually set up plays for him to specifically block in packages. He sent that spring game/practice tape around for teams to evaluate. In fact all the interviews with the players were pretty good.
Im with a couple of you, I was waiting all weekend for us to get R. Jennings and could not figure out why with all those picks we did not grab him or why he slid so far. We did sign Mendenhall brother though, 6′1″ 225 guy.
gcl –
I would LOVE to see the Eagles draft board one of these years. There are so many guys eliminated for one reason or another and you’d have to think that Jennings was one of those players.
Do they even bother grading out guys like Sanchez and Stafford? Where was Maclin on their board? Who was their #1? (my guess, Jason Smith). Did they have Maclin ahead of Crabtree? (as the Giants reportably did)
Yea they show Andy and Co. in that room with every player on the wall. It would be cool to see how teams really determine a players worth compared to all these mock analyst. Like with R. Jennings, most mocks had him going early 3rd. In reality he was barely drafted. Still over all this was a very impressive off season so far and I think that everyone was too quick to judge just becuase we did not get Boldin.
deepsixersued -
there is no doubt in my mind if he is healthy Ingram can be that guy if he is healthy which it seems like he is since he worked out at the combine and at the UF Pro Day…he is really an athletic freak of nature athlete as evidenced by the fact he was at 85% during the National Championship (5 months after ACL surgery) and tried to get Myer to let him play…I also think he has the frame to add about 10-15 pounds of muscle without hurting his speed to help with his blocking….
and Pete,
as a Gator fan I have no problem with you hating Meyer…I can understand how he rubs opposing teams’ fans the wrong way…I was wondering though, as a Notre Dame fan, if you were among those who wanted him the last two times his name came up in talks for the ND job, or if your hate stems from the fact he didn’t go to ND?
new guys got their numbers….
jurnee16 – I’ve got no hate for him based on turning down ND originally, or his name coming up recently.
I just think he is a silmy, unethical recruiter, which can be said for most of the SEC but we go head to head with FLA for some recruits. His poaching of Omar Hunter was shady and he clearly lied to the kid about ND to get him to come. I’ve never been more excited about an ND recruit than Hunter, and was furious when he left in the night for FLA. Other examples similar to this (Justin Trattou for instance), but it’s really just his recruiting.
I can say he is second to only Pete Carroll on the most-hated list for ND fans.
i dont know how i did that formatting
yeah I can’t argue with that…Hunter said he wanted to be closer to home but who knows…a lot of that recruiting was going on and even worked against the Gators this past recruiting season when 3 guys decommitted close to signing day…to of those decomitts went to Tennessee as a result of Lane Kiffins tactics which have caused him to be even more hated than Meyer or Saban (which is hard to accomplish and he did it in a couple of weeks)….
two of those decommits*
The nickname Shady actually came from his grandmother. As a kid, he would be crying one minute, then smiling the next. She couldn’t figure him out, so she called him “Shady.”
The word on Jennings was he’s a one-dimensional, straight ahead runner who isn’t very smart. Don’t know if it’s true, just what I read.
The Eagles great draft (at least judged by value) was because they had a competitive advantage. They not only had extra picks (2 #1’s), but they had very few dire needs. They have starters and good depth at almost every position, and the money and assets to fill in the holes with trades and FA’s.
They were able to take the best value available at almost every pick. In the case of McCoy and Ingram, their need matched what was available.
Even had they taken other high value guys without landing a RB/WR/TE- they were in a position to address those needs after/during the draft with trades. There were vet RB/CB/TE/WR available to fill those needs, it just so happened that 3 of those positions fell right into their hands- becasue unlike most teams, their hands were not tied.
They were in an enviable position, and so they took advantage of it. Had they not picked up Peters, they’d have been stuck drafting/starting a rookie OT, and it would have been harder to get such great value with every pick.
call me skeptical and cautious but until they put on pads and hit the field, this may as well be a fantasy draft. where is Winston Justice? projection can only take you so far. grade the drafts AFTER the season is over.