Everybody's asking Andy Reid to the break the rule this year in the draft. You and I know that Reid doesn't really like taking anything but offensive or defensive lineman with first round picks.
It has worked out for him over the years but I don't think he should go with that formula this time around.
Reid started out his drafting career with the Birds by making the best pick he's ever made. Selecting Donovan McNabb with the 2nd pick in the 1999 draft turned this franchise around for a decade.
Getting a franchise quarterback was the cornerstone of all those building plans he had in thosee loose leaf notebooks which influenced Jeffrey Lurie and Joe Banner to select him. Reid has exhibited great discipline in sticking to those plans over the years.
One of the other cogs in those plans was building the offensive and defensive lines first and foremost before addressing the other areas of the football team. Only two times in the ten years he has been at the helm of the Eagles has he selected players in the first round who don't play on the offensive or defensive lines.
Reid broke the rule in 2001 and selected a bust in UCLA wide receiver Freddie Mitchell. The talkative wide out was a major disappointment, who talked his way out of town and never was able to earn a starting role.
The Big Fella has gone back to his formula and stayed away from drafting anything other than linemen in the first round. I think it's time to break the rule again, but the most important he must do is be right.
This year the Eagles have severe needs at the running back and tight end positions. There are a number of players in those positions who are considered first round picks.
Running backs Knowshon Moreno and Chris Wells are on nearly everybody's first round board. Wells is not the Eagles type of back so that leaves us with Moreno. Tight end Brandon Pettigrew of Oklahoma State is the only tight end on everybody's board in the first round.
Reid could stay with his rule and grab another linemen in the first. Regardless of what the big guy does, he's got to be right.
He can break or not break the rule as long as he's right. If they want to wait until the third round to get a running back, that's fine as long as they come out with another Brian Westbrook.
