My thoughts on the draft

[greenwing]

I love the first two picks. Should be day one starters and fill a need. After that thought not so much.

 

[iceman42]

Well talking heads and professional sport fans aside ... anytime you follow Reys mock for the 1st 2 picks you as a GM are doing some A+ work. In all seriousness great call Rey on Agholor and Rowe.

I liked the 1st two picks and like most drafts things just have to fall into place or fall out of place, that is where most teams have to go to plan B-plan AZ. Harris I am mixed on -- I'm taking a wait and see approach, he has some teams/scouts/gms who liked him and some who didn't, he looks the part and is an upgrade over Mathews who left. I like Shepherd, think he could be a steal, I will like the 2nd 3rd rounder next year (cant fault them if there was no one they liked left at that slot). Evans and Mihalik are nice at the end of the draft.

Interesting take-aways from the draft Rowe and Shepherd were #2 and #3 in college football in shutting down opposition wideouts, the only one better (albeit lesser games played) was the corner out of LSU.

Grade: not that it matters B .. no + or -.

 

[old duke]

Who is Harris?

 

[iceman42]

Who is Harris?

meant Hicks ... and sadly I cannot edit my post.

 

[old duke]

meant Hicks ... and sadly I cannot edit my post.

No problem!

 

[Susky]

Well talking heads and professional sport fans aside ... anytime you follow Reys mock for the 1st 2 picks you as a GM are doing some A+ work. In all seriousness great call Rey on Agholor and Rowe.

As long as I've known him, Rey has been a pretty damned good predictor of the draft result. He actually does his research, and he takes a realistic view of things, rather than pinning his hopes to some bizarre, pie in the sky scenario.

 

[Northern Eagle]

My 2 Cents, for what it's worth:

Great decision on Agohlor, I've liked this guy since his Sophomore season. Extremely versatile, does a lot of things really well and I've heard comparisons to Reggie Wayne and Emmanuel Sanders. What I didn't know about him is what an impressive human being he is. For those who haven't heard his press conference/interviews I encourage you to go to the Eagles website and listen to this guy. He has amazing maturity and perspective for someone his age that many 40-50 year olds don't have. He is going to be the ultimate team player, no diva here.

I thought Rowe wasn't going to be available to have an opportunity to get him - savvy move to trade up a few spots and secure him. I think moving forward when we're trying to predict DBs the Eagles' might pick, look at this guy. He is their "prototype" and I like the proven experience he brings at 2 positions. Great value pick and addresses major needs on this team.

Must admit I don't know much about Hicks, tested well at the combine, which means athletically he has coverage ability. Not very big but well built for his size. Physical player, natural leader, at least that's what I'm hearing about him. At worst he'll be a key special teams guy.

The rest of the draft is a crapshoot. If we get anything out of Evans/Sheppard/Mihalik consider it a bonus and praise that our new scouting staff has an eye for talent in the later rounds, which means we're headed in the right direction.

I am intrigued by Mihalik - he has the build of a 5-tech DE but played out of position in College. Project guy that if he develops and adds more strength to his frame we could have one of the steals of the draft, but is still a couple of years away.

 

[Northern Eagle]

A couple of other observations:

Chip seems to value Charlie Strong's opinion a lot. Smith last year when he was still at Louisville, and Hicks/John Harris this year. I would keep an eye on Texas' roster to see if they have any draftable guys going into next year's draft.

Chip divulged a bit on their "new" draft strategy, where the coaches and scouts are all "integrated" and giving opinions as opposed to when Roseman was running drafts and creating factions in the process. Only time will tell if Chip is more successful with his approach, though.

I don't know if anyone has read this already but I found it a good read:

Louis Riddick blasts Eagles' front office culture, says scouting changes 'needed to happen there' | NJ.com

 

[SoShady]

Is it me or did Riddick come off like a douche during the first day of the draft? Seemed very tense with him and Chucky on set. The second night was so much better with Wingo and Dilfer.

 

[Funk]

I liked Riddick personally, I don't care for any of the other ESPN blowhards though, Gruden included. The only football guy ESPN has worth paying any mind to is Schefter imo.

 

[old duke]

I watched very little on ESPN. They suck compared with NFL Network. So, I didn't see Riddick, but I always liked him personally.

 

[Screamin Eagle]

I think Chip got caught up in the Mariotta sweepstakes which didn't pan out and now he is stuck with a one-legged QB who somehow feels he has leverage and perhaps does because the Eagles got crap if not for Bradford. Chip I feel mishandled his first off-season, I'm not saying its a bust I'm just saying things weren't managed as well as they should have. The draft seems OK, for the 1st 2 picks....after that, I don't know.

Who is going to keep Bradford upright?

 

[deerpathdave]

I think Chip got caught up in the Mariotta sweepstakes which didn't pan out and now he is stuck with a one-legged QB who somehow feels he has leverage and perhaps does because the Eagles got crap if not for Bradford. Chip I feel mishandled his first off-season, I'm not saying its a bust I'm just saying things weren't managed as well as they should have. The draft seems OK, for the 1st 2 picks....after that, I don't know.

Who is going to keep Bradford upright?

Going to need to save all these one legged QB posts when Bradford plays 16 games and leads the Eagles into the playoffs. I have no issue with calling him an injury risk. That much is clear. You don't get a QB like Bradford for a 2nd round pick if there is not a risk.

And really what is the downside? The Eagles start the same QB they started for the second half of last year. Who BTW put up pretty good stats and could very well improve on that dramatically in year two in the system. Really, the Eagles did a pretty good job of upgrading the QB position this off season.

The "upright" question is a little more valid. The starting 5 is fine, and I guess the Eagles like Gardner and Tobin better than anyone they saw on the board in the 3rd or 4th round. Anyone they draft has to beat out those two to find themselves active on game day. By far the biggest risk the Eagles have is an offensive tackle injury. Barring that, I am expecting a deep run.

 

[Rey]

As long as I've known him, Rey has been a pretty damned good predictor of the draft result. He actually does his research, and he takes a realistic view of things, rather than pinning his hopes to some bizarre, pie in the sky scenario.

Susky, long time no see .. you need to come around more often. Miss those draft and camp get togethers.

 

[old duke]

I think Chip got caught up in the Mariotta sweepstakes which didn't pan out and now he is stuck with a one-legged QB who somehow feels he has leverage and perhaps does because the Eagles got crap if not for Bradford. Chip I feel mishandled his first off-season, I'm not saying its a bust I'm just saying things weren't managed as well as they should have. The draft seems OK, for the 1st 2 picks....after that, I don't know.

Who is going to keep Bradford upright?

La'el Collins, of course!!!!! LOL.

 

[eaglesnut]

And really what is the downside? The Eagles start the same QB they started for the second half of last year. Who BTW put up pretty good stats and could very well improve on that dramatically in year two in the system. Really, the Eagles did a pretty good job of upgrading the QB position this off season.

No, he sucked balls. You are delusional about Sanchez. I wish it was funny instead of nauseating. But yes, the second year in the O he could certainly be better. There are definitely far worse backups we could have. Hopefully we don't have to go to him for any extended period of time. We can get by with him for short spurts. Defenses know they can get mistakes out of him and they proceed to do just that.