Philadelphia Eagles 2008 Draft Summary

Hello all. I've decided the best way to approach this topic is not with a round-by-round breakdown of the draft, but with more of a pluses and minuses approach. You know, a "what I liked and what I didn't" sort of thing...

Draft History:

Last year the Eagles traded down and drafted for the future with the selection of QB Kevin Kolb. With that move the organization essentially stated, "our team is good enough to contend right now with the roster we have". Well, the Eagles failed to reach the playoffs in 2007. Kolb may, in fact, be the future of the franchise, but to most Philadelphia fans, the selection reeked of arrogance. For many an Eagles fan, a franchise that is the self-proclaimed 'Gold Standard' of the NFL with zero Lombardi Trophies to show for it, should have been more concerned with the here and now than with the future.

Pre-Draft:

In my Eagles Team Overview Column for the NFL Draft Blitz draft guide, I stated that the Eagles could go a number of directions with their first round pick. If my memory serves me well, offensive line, safety, and wide receiver were all positions that I thought the Eagles might entertain at #19. To summarize, I felt OT would fill a future need, whereas saftey or WR could bring immediate help. I also made cases for a trade-up to obtain a DT or a 'sleeper' pick at RB if it meant adding a weapon to the offense.

April 26th, pick #19:

Well, the Eagles traded out of the first round for the second year in row, this time obtaining a 2nd, a 4th, and a 2009 1st round pick in return from the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers selected OT, Jeff Otah, who many had the Eagles pegged for. Plus, Devin Thomas, Kenny Phillips, and DeSean Jackson were all still on the board. All of whom had been prognosticated to the Eagles in one mock or another. I'm sure heads were hung all across Philadelphia, but by any chart you want to go by, that deal was a no-brainer.

Finally, the Eagles 1st pick (#47, Round #2:)

Before the Eagles even made their first selection, they traded their 4th round pick to Miami for RB, Lorenzo Booker (Eagles fans everywhere ask each other, "Who?"). Booker was a 3rd round selection by Miami in 2006. Then with the 47th selection overall, the Eagles finally made their first pick -- Trevor Laws, DT from Notre Dame. Weren't there still three of the top ranked wideouts on the board?!?!

The rest of the picks:

2 (49) WR DeSean Jackson, Cal
3 (80) DE Bryan Smith, McNeese State
4 (109) Via CAR, G Mike McGlynn, Pitt
4 (115) To MIA for RB Lorenzo Booker
4 (117) Via MIN, FS Quintin Demps, UTEP
4 (131) CB Jack Ikegwonu, Wisconsin (Compensatory Pick)
5 (152) Traded to Minnesota
6 (181) G Mike Gibson, Cal
6 (191) Via CLE, Traded Back to CLE
6 (200) LB Joe Mays, North Dakota St. (Compensatory Pick)
6 (203) LB Andy Studebaker, Wheaton (Compensatory Pick)
7 (224) Traded to Buffalo
7 (230) Via SEA, T King Dunlap, Auburn

What I liked:

-- The Eagles are traditionally a team that likes to rotate it's DTs. In 2007 they got very little production from the rotation outside of starters Mike Patterson and Broderick Bunkley. For what the Eagles like to do defensively, having a capable 3rd DT is imperative. Going into the draft, I felt the Eagles may have made a play to move up if Sedrick Ellis or Glen Dorsey slipped far enough down the board. Instead, the Eagles moved down and got the 3rd or 4th rated DT in the draft. Trevor Laws is considered to be a Mike Patterson clone. Patterson is a former 1st round pick who is coming off his best season as a 3rd year pro. The Eagles will gladly take another guy just like him and I'm sure they loved the value here. Laws should step into the #3 DT position and upgrade the unit.
-- DeSean Jackson, WR, Cal. with pick #49. The 2008 draft saw WRs slide down the board. For many teams, there was no clear-cut, first round prospect at the position. Plus, history shows that rookie WRs have little or no impact in their first seasons. There were plenty of 'experts' that thought Jackson could go in the first round due to his speed, quickness, and versatility as a returner. Many mocks had the Eagles selecting him at #19. Philadelphia added Jackson 30 picks later and immediately upgraded their pedestrian return unit(s) while adding much needed speed to the WR position.
-- Quintin Demps, S, UTEP. Sometimes you need to throw workout numbers out the window and look at productivity when drafting. That's what the Eagles did with this selection. Demps was a very productive safety at the collegiate level. Although he possesses good size and a knack for locating the football (17 career INT's at UTEP), he doesn't have a great 40-time for a safety. But the biggest knock on Quintin Demps is his tackling ability. Although he's not a poor tackler, Demps is not known as an aggressive, hard-hitting player. However, he makes up for that with his ball skills. Plain and simple, Quintin Demps has a nose for the football. The Eagles defense was poor at generating turnovers last year and this pick addresses that need. Demps should be a mainstay on coverage units from day one and can also contribute as a kick or punt returner. My guess here is that he is the heir apparent to Brian Dawkins' throne at FS. Oh yeah, he returns kicks and punts as well.
-- Lorenzo Booker, RB, via trade w/ Miami. The Eagles exhausted all efforts to acquire a true #1 WR in the offseason, so they looked for other ways to improve their offense. How did trading a 4th round pick for a little-known, 2nd year player help? The answer is simple: SPEED. The Eagles actually had targeted Booker going into last year's draft. He brings similar skills to the table as Brian Westbrook. He's quick, shifty, and dynamic as a runner and receiver. Booker doesn't have the leg-strength to break tackles like Westbrook does, but he has better straight line speed. Booker and Westbrook will be paired together on the field at the same time to create mismatches for defenses.

What I didn't like:

-- Rounds 3 through 7 can make or break your team in the long-term. These are the rounds where a team finds hidden gems or they reach for players that just don't pan out. I felt that the Eagles reached for Bryan Smith of McNeese State. He was very productive as a DE at a small college program, but he may project as LB in the NFL. The problem is that he doesn't have the size to be a DE on the next level, nor the speed to play LB. He could end up being a tweener, a career back-up, and a special-teamer. A 3rd round pick, in my opinion, is a little high for such a player.
-- Jack Ikegqonuw, CB, Wisconsin. Once again, I felt this was another reach on Day #2. Ikegqonuw will probably not suit up this year due to injury. Most likely, he'll end up on IR or the PUP this year and he probably could have been had a little lower. Maybe Ikegqonuw ends up being a steal two years from now, but Philadelphia has a history of using mid-round picks on defensive backs. Ikegqonuw could go from a long-term prospect to "camp body" in the matter of one season. Time will tell...

Things that left me puzzled:

-- The Eagles had so many second day picks that I thought they would have tried to move up for some higher-rated prospects. Instead they did quite a bit of moving down and added quantities at the offensive line and linebacker positions. If you look at the Eagles under Andy Reid, often times these "depth" picks end up getting beaten out in camp by undrafted free-agents for spots on the practice squad or the active roster. That's not a knock on the organization's ability to draft. It's more of an observation on the talent gap between a 2nd day pick and an undrafted free-agent. Most of these players are going to be hit or miss anyway. My opinion is that with so many mid and late round picks, trading up for quality would have been the better play.

Trade or No Trade?:

-- With all of the hype surrounding potential trades, I'm sure many Eagles fans were let down by the lack of player movement on draft weekend. Days before the draft, the Cardinals, Bengals, and Lions had all made it clear that their star WRs were not on the trading block. Most Eagles fans were probably holding out hope that these teams were just blowing smoke. That was obviously not the case. But what about Philadelphia parting ways with Lito Sheppard? Many pundits thought this was a foregone conclusion. Well, the Eagles had tried packaging Sheppard for a WR with the aformentioned teams but with no interest. They also tried packaging him to move up in round 1, presumably for OT/OG Brandon Albert - also with little interest. 10 CBs were selected in the first two rounds. Obviously, the depth at corner in the draft factored into the Eagles inability to trade Sheppard. Philadelphia was smart to not trade him just for the sake of trading. Lito is a two-time Pro-Bowler with big-play skills when he's healthy, plus he's only 26 years old. He's still under contract as well. Although Sheppard is unhappy with his current contract, the fact that no team was willing to pay a top pick or top dollar for his services should flip a switch his head: most teams don't think his services are worth the money he wants.

Coming soon.........odds and ends.......

Regards,

Mike