Recapping the Eagles’ First Day of the Draft
After trading their first round pick, the 26th overall, to the Dallas Cowboys(!), the Eagles finally drafted in the second round, the 36th overall pick (originally Cleveland’s, it came to the Eagles via the trade with Dallas). After already shocking the fan base, draftniks, and pigskin pundits everywhere, the Eagles took the theme of surprise a step further by selecting Kevin Kolb, a quarterback from the University of Houston.
No doubt, Kolb played well at Houston and has as decent a chance as any college-level quarterback to survive the crapshoot that generates NFL signal callers, but was the need to find Donovan McNabb’s heir that the immediate holes on the defensive side of the ball could afford to be ignored? It’s hard to believe that’s the case.
The acquisition of Takeo Spikes certainly strengthens the linebacking corps and if the Eagles are confident that Jevon Kearse can come back from injury and Brodrick Bunkley has matured enough to play a larger role, then we should be too. However, there are still weaknesses in the secondary created by the departures of Roderick Hood and Michael Lewis that can’t be overlooked.
Typically, it takes several years to determine the level of success a team had in any particular draft, and if Kolb eventually takes over for McNabb, then the Eagles made a good choice for the future. But if the Eagles have trouble stopping the run this season or get burned deep in the passing game, early criticism will probably be warranted.
—————–
The rest of the first day:
- 2nd Round, 57th overall - Victor Abiamiri, DE, Notre Dame. Andy Reid says he “adds to the stockpile” of defensive ends.
- 3rd Round, 87th overall - Stewart Bradley, OLB, Nebraska. Drafted specifically for special teams coverage.
- 3rd Round, 90th overall - Tony Hunt, RB, Penn State. This one makes nearly everyone in the Delaware Valley happy. The Eagles finally get a big back to pound the ball inside.
About this Post
Posted on April 29, 2007 by Tom | Filed Under Eagles, NFL Football, Philly Sports
|
Print This Article |
It seems like almost every NFL team had a draft this year…. except the Eagles. They didn’t upgrade their defensive line, linebackers or backfield.
I can almost live with the Eagles getting next to nothing on Day 1, if it wasn’t for the Cowboys stealing a (most likely) very high 1st round pick in 2008 by nabbing Brady Quinn and exiling him to Cleveland, THEN making themselves look even better by taking the Eagles 1st round pick
The first day tells me a couple of things.
1. They believe in Consedine. And I think he should be given more time before a judgement is made. He was thrown into a starting role last season.
2. They believe in William James.
3. They believe Trotter has a couple more seasons. Unless they see Gaither as his replacement.
4. LJ Smith will be re-signed.
I assume they will take a few DBs today, but they will hopefully sign a CB/S cap casualty before camp.
And the furor over the QB pick is funny because so many fans have been asking for the Eagles to take a QB high for three years and when they do, everyone goes nuts???
One could say they should have traded up to get the safety they wanted, but I had heard they didn’t like Nelson or Griffin and the Miami kid had question marks.
The Eagles didn’t upgrade their defensive line or linebackers? Did you even watch the draft? Victor Abiamiri is a physical DE and Stewart Bradley is a big linebacker. Do you watch college football at all? Don’t take what half of these clueless draftniks say as gospel, because they obviously don’t get it.
I totally agree with you (Dave). If people paid attention, and even looked into the Eagles draft picks they should be somewhat excited.
People should watch the videos of these guys:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/prospects
For the backfield, they got Tony Hunt and if gets in shape and can learn the offense fast enough, possibly also Nate Ilaoa. Hunt could make a big contribution to this team. With Westbrook and him running and catching/running behind this offensive line should be exciting. I hope the Eagles stick with at least some consistent commitment to running the the ball. I loved seeing them grind it out with teams a few times last year. Hunt can help close some games out in the 4th quarter.
It looks like they’ve taken steps to improve the defense against stopping the run also. They obviously are confident in Bunkley and Gocong stepping up. Spikes is a huge upgrade at the weakside LB. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gaither splitting time with Trotter. Bradley could make an impact this year too. I’d love to see them with Bradley, Gaither and Spikes in at LB, with them blitzing Gocong. Plus they upgraded DT - Ian Scott and Reagor will be much better than Walker and Rayburn. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Ramsey get some downs also. Abiamiri could also help this year.
And for QB, well in 2 years, people will either be calling the Eagles stupid or brilliant for drafting Kolb. I think he’s going to be a good QB (but you never know). And I love McNabb (except when he’s throwing balls into the ground) but if he owned the team he would do the same thing. They need to make sure they have a good QB that can make it through the whole season. I hope he can stay healthier if they don’t ask him to do too much, just run the type of offense they ran toward the end of last year.