You can forget about Oklahoma State's Brandon Pettigrew, he won't be an Eagle but I'm feeling better every day about this year's group of TE's. I'd like to see the Birds take two of them so we can say good-bye to Matt Schobel.
The Eagles need more than one tight end who is a good blocker. Brent Celek is trying to improve his blocking but there's no telling how much success he's going to have.
You need more than one tight end who can block in order to run your goalline and short yardage formations. That's why I want to see the Eagles draft two tight ends and get rid of Schobel, who can't block or run.
Thankfully, this draft is deep at the tight end position.
Jared Cook of South Carolina and Cornelius Ingram of Florida are guys who Reid would love to bring in because they can run. They're both better pass receivers than they are blockers.
Cook ran the fastest forty-yard dash by a tight end at this year’s combine. Ingram is just as fast even though he's coming off of a knee surgery.
The problem with these guys is the fact that they can’t block or haven't proved that they can. They would be a good gets for the Birds but the Eagles are in desperate needs of some blocking tight ends.
The Birds must discern whether these guys have the mean streak needed to handle tough defensive ends and linebackers.
I would rather see them grab Shawn Nelson of Southern Mississippi. He’s not as fast but he's still a 4.6 guy. He’s big at 6’5” 247 and he can block. It seems that he likes to block which is vital to the Birds running game.
They can get him in the second round.
The guy which I want to see them grab is North Carolina tight end Richard Quinn . This guy is big and he can block. I'm told his stock is rising becaue there aren't too many tight ends in this group who can both block and catch the football.
Quinn is 6'4" and he weighs a healthy 264 pounds. He ran a 4.76 forty-yard dash, so he's not a burner.
He caught only seven passes in his senior season because the Tar Heels ran a three wide receiver set. They threw the ball almost exclusively to the wide out because they had some good ones.
He did a good job of running routes and catching the ball in his workouts, so I think he can do what the Birds need him to do in that area. I'd like to see the Birds grab him.
I think they can get him in the fourth or fifth round.
If the Birds have some tight ends who can block, they will have a better run threat on short yardage and goalline. That will make them more effective when they want to throw the ball in those situations.
