It wasn’t an accident that Tom Heckert was talking to Philly.com about the Eagles being able to move up as high as they want to go in the first round of the NFL draft.
"Throw in the 12 picks, and we can do anything we want," Heckert said. "We can probably get up as high as we want or we can sit there and pick who's there, but we have enough ammunition to do anything we want."
This is what you call the NFL pre-draft game. All of the teams know that other teams will be scouring the internet to find what everybody else is saying.
Threatening to move up in the first round to get a certain player puts all the other teams on notice and tells all of them that the Birds are interested in talking.
We all know that there are three positions at play in the first round for the Eagles. I would like to see them get a tight end and a running back.
I don’t think it makes sense for the Eagles to try to move up and grab one of the top two offensive tackles, Jason Smith of Baylor or Eugene Monroe, in this draft. The third, Andre Smith of Alabama may go around the tenth spot.
The Eagles would have to give up a lot to move up that far.
The fourth offensive tackle, Michael Oher of Mississippi isn’t a sure thing but he may have won over the Eagles. I think the Eagles could get him if they want him because he’ll be there in the mid-teens.
"The top three [tackles] are going to go early," Heckert said. "I think there are some other guys [in the draft] that can play, and in our situation, we've got a couple guys [now on the roster] who can play out there. Shawn and Todd can both do it. For us, offensive line is a lot more important than a lot of positions. If your quarterback is really good, you'd better protect him. That's a big concern for us."
Personally I would like to see the Eagles move Shawn Andrews outside to left tackle and address the tight end and running back situations in the first round.
They’ve got to stop putting things off for the future. I like to see a team put together their team with the thought of winning it all in the upcoming season.
The most important thing the Eagles offensive line does is block for McNabb. There’s not use is getting overly focused on how the line is going to run block because the Birds aren’t going to put the ball on the ground and wear defenses down.
Put Shawn and Stacy Andrews, the best athletes on the offense line, at the tackle positions, then address the tight end and running back positions.
