Eagles GM Howie Roseman: “We’re going to take the best player on our board”
BREAKING NEWS, Eagles Draft, News, NFLDraft Thursday, April 19th, 2012
I sat in one of the Eagles executive dining room with about 20 other local media persons to have a question and answer session with Eagles GM Howie Roseman. He was very candid and open about the team’s thinking going into this year’s NFL draft which takes place next Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The young GM expressed a great deal of humility regarding the Eagles analyzing their previous drafts. According to Roseman, they have spent plenty examining their mistakes as well as their successes. The guys at the Nova Care Complex have also spent plenty of time seeing what successful teams have done in their drafting.
Again and again Roseman said, “We’re are going to take the best player on our board”. That was the theme of the session with the Eagles GM and he must have said it forty or fifty times. He admitted the team has made mistakes in the past by trying to draft for need or putting too much importance in the Combine or All-Star games.
Our session with Roseman including him giving his take on drafting quarterbacks. One of his initial statements was about the history of drafting franchise quarterback.
“Franchise quarterbacks are picked at the top of the first round”, Roseman insisted. For the most part that is true, except for people like Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. Brady was grabbed in the seven round by the Patriots, Brees was chosen by the San Diego Chargers in round two and Rodgers was taken by the Packers late in round number one.
The rest of the league’s franchise quarterbacks were taken at the top of the first round like Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, and Phillip Rivers. Did I mention that Tony Romo was not even drafted?
Despite talking about the fact that most franchise quarterbacks played a lot of football during the college careers, Roseman talked glowingly about a quarterback, Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill, who has played quarterback for only a couple of years. The Eagles GM talked about Tannehill’s athleticism and time as a wide receiver while at Texas A&M.
With all the talk of the Birds interest in drafting a quarterback Michael Vick is still a young quarterback and they’re very happy to have him.
I have a feeling the Birds are going to grab a quarterback in the second round or later. I could see them grabbing Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden in the second round or Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson later on.
There’s been a lot of speculation that the Birds are going to draft a defensive tackle and Roseman did nothing to change those opinions when he said, “The defensive tackle position is the deepest position in this draft”.
I would assume that defensive line coach Jim Washburn will asked his opinion on the matter. Roseman had nothing but praise for Washburn and how helpful he’s been in preparing for the upcoming draft.
As for what types of defensive tackles they’re looking for, Roseman talked about looking for guys who get off the ball, rush the passer with a passion, display a high motor when comes to getting to the football, and guys who love to play the game.
Roseman said that the trade for DeMeco Ryans gives #Eagles more flexibility on what kinds of qualities they will need in a linebacker. Ryans is a leader.
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Posted by GarryCobb
on Apr 19 2012. Filed under BREAKING NEWS, Eagles Draft, News, NFLDraft.
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Rocko. Word is that on the gridiron burfict plays like a truly shitty football player
Neither Poe or Burfict will be drafted by the Eagles
f Forget about Burfict’s Character issues which are many, he is just not that good and is a box of rocks as far as calling signals and understanding play calls,schemes.. Think of a Ernie Sims, by much slower, Burficts lacks the intellect, discipline and the teamwork that is require to be part of a good Defense.. This is what has done him in as well as his caharacter issues..
I like bruce irvin hes run as low as 4.38… but i dont know how he would fit here… and on tape he is a terror
Bruce Irvin will play OLB in a 3-4. It would be a mistake to ask him to play OLB in a 4-3 and have to read plays and drop back into coverage. He’s an edge rusher first and foremost.
Yea weve already made that mistake with gocong and bryan smith .. actaully he probably could play end in out system .. hes 6’3 250 babin is only 6’4 260
and irvin is faster and i bet stronger with less bodyfat
TO Ceteris,
It wouldn’t be a bad move have Irvin to come in on 20 pass plays a game and smiply rush the passer from various positions from around the formations..
You could stand him up and move him left sid,right , up the middle, etc,etc.
No doubt that he is not a drop backLB in a 4-3 Scheme, but if you have him come in passing situation, he could raise havoc similar to what Clay Matthews does for the Packers.. Give Irvin 20-25 Ssnaps a game and he proabbly gets a sack or two or at the minimum, disrupts the QB and backfield enough to make th eQB get rid of the ball sooner than he wants which means your Seecondary and Safeties won’t have to cover Receivers/TE’s as long down the field.. IIrvin could work and be effective if used properly..
Yes, he could be a situational pass-rusher for a 4-3, especially in the wide-9. I just think that he would be better off in a 3-4 and so a 3-4 will value him more than we would, and hence select him higher. He could potentially start in a 3-4, and as you said, be situational in a 4-3. I think he’ll be off the board by the time it makes sense to draft a situational pass-rusher.
Also compared to trent cole coming out:
Cole Irvin
6 ft 2¼ in 6’3
236 lb 245lbs
4.70 s 4.45
4.22 s 4.03
6.98 s 6.70
38 in 33.5
10 ft 4 in 10 ft 4 inch
15 rep 23 reps
If we knew that Irvin would be as productive as Cole he’d be our 15th pick. Cole was selected in the 5th round. Irvin will be 2nd/3rd.
Schiller – IN MY OPINION I don’t care what everyone else says about the guy. He’s the “diamond in the ruff” and game tape doesn’t lie, the guy’s a beast and so is Poe. If Burfict is trained by MLB Ryans, the NFL would be set on fire with those 2 on the field together.
Rocko, Mayock just last week put on all of his 2012 film to re-assess if people had gotten too caught up on his character issues and combine flop. He came away even less impressed than he had going in even with the concerns. The guy flat out wasn’t very good for the past two years at ASU. He’s now calling him a FA and not even a draft pick. Someone may take a chance on him late in the drat, but hardly worth putting into stock into right now. Sounds like he can be at in the 6th at the earliest.
centerisparibus – I’m not sayin lets use a high draft pick on him but we need to pick him up before the Ravens or Steelers grab him. he can be coached into a good player because he already has killer instincts. Remember, Mayock also said Kolb and Matthews were solid picks and look what that turned out to be. i don’t listen to analysts because that’s just what they are; analysts.
rocko, in all honesty, I do respect your opinion to have a ‘feel’ or just a unique sense about what a pick will turn out too. We all know that proof says it’s no science.
But it seems to me you’re personal evaluation standards are not “how does the guy play on the field over time” it’s “did I see what I wanted to see when I looked into him”.
I prefer the first set of standards (for Burfict or any and every football prospect… or anything not just football too).
I think most of what people are saying about Burfict is the exact opposite: that he isn’t coach-able! His combine interview turned every scout off in a big way because of his inability to take responsibility for anything he did and put all of the blame on coaching. For a guy who’s stock is sinking that’s how he decides to sell himself? Not the brightest apple in the bushel, which makes you question his ability to grasp a defense to boot.
The counter that analysts aren’t very good because they are analysts falls flat imo. This isn’t directed toward Rocko specifically, just a general observation on message boards: I know we all think we are smarter than the analysts, but let’s be honest with ourselves for a minute. These guys get game film; not broadcast film and youtube that we selectively get to see. They get to see plays frame-by-frame. Sure, doesn’t mean they are always right, and they do miss judge alot of guys. But to pretend that you (I don’t mean that at anyone personally) know better because you’ve seen a few ASU games where Burfict (or any other player for that matter) happened to make a good play or two and think that forms a more informed opinion than hours of film study is naive at best. Of course it’s fine to have an opinion on a guy, but to brush off others’ because analysts get a guys wrong is silly.
Besides, a better judge in this case is not whether analysts have said guys will be good that turn out to be busts, rather which guys have analysts called flops that turned out to be worth a flip. That stack of guys is much smaller. It’s why the guys picked in the later rounds more often than not don’t even make NFL rosters.
Here’s my point when it comes to Burfict.
Eagles don’t know how to pick linebackers.
So, if they get Burfict and he don’t succeed that wouldn’t be any difference from what we’re use to.
If he do succeed then it’s a steal for a late round pick….low risk high reward.
centerisparibus – I respect your opinion buddy.
Songs – I agree with your low risk high reward theory concerning Burfict, and the fact that this FO doesn’t know how to pick linebackers; let alone defensive players period.
Schiller – Yes, its “did I see what I wanted to see when I looked into him”; and I’ve also checked out his killer instincts on film as well. He’s 6’3 250 and that’s the kind of nastiness we need around here. I also would love to have Hightower from Alabama. The SEC breeds the baddest players period.
I have to come out and say this, Burfict is too stupid to play in the NFL and that’s what it really gets down to, You want here Scouts or Coaches say it publicly but it’s no secret that he had issues calling the proper plays that were sent into him from the sidelines whileat Arizona State, Burfict would even change the play calls without the Coaches permission and not communicate the correct palyed called to his teammates numerous times which is a big reason he was benched besides get personal fouls/dead-ball fouls in almost every game at the most inopportune times.. The guy is a blockhead and you have to have smart players in todays NFL, too many schemes, formations,specail packages etc,etc that players have to know whats going on and decipher and understand lots of detailed information in a very short period of time and especially as a MLB where you are the main signal caller for your Defense, if your getting into fights with your Defensive Coaches like Vurfict was, it’s pretty difficult to see any team or Coaches give him any repsonsibilities.. Likes Songs woudl say, Burfict is ASS
Paulman – yeah yeah yeah sure whatever man; I’m sure you thought the same thing about our newly rich “Thug” Desean Jackson who you will have to see for the next 5 years and counting also!!!!!!!!!!!!! “BAM IN YO FACE” -Hee Hee (in the high pitched M Jackson voice)!!!!!!
I guess my take on Burfict is that I’m don’t care either way if they draft him as long as it’s not before the 6th round or so. Those late round picks are marginal to even make the team so you aren’t counting on him in any fashion. I won’t be upset if they pass him as well. He’s probably better suited to play ILB in a 3-4 or an attacking MLB in a 4-3 similar to what Trott used to do. I’m just not sure his style of play fits in with what we need..