It was a surprising pick by the Birds as they moved up to the 13th spot in the draft by trading away their first round pick and two third round selections in order to select Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham.
Afterwards Andy Reid said that a quality pass rusher makes everybody around him better and I would have to agree. The Eagles defense has relied on the blitz throughout the entire Jim Johnson era and been unable to get to the quarterback in championship games.
Adding Graham will allow the Eagles to pressure the quarterback without having to rely on the blitz.¬† They’ll be able to blitz as a change of pace.
I just hope they got the right guy.
Obviously the Eagles had Graham as the top defensive end on their board but he was rated as the third best pass rusher in this year’s draft behind Jason Pierre-Paul who was picked a couple spots later at 15 by the Giants and Derrick Morgan who was picked by the Titans at 16.
Graham is described as player who is relentless and plays with a super motor.¬† He dominated Green Bay’s number one pick offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga in the Senior Bowl by registering two sacks against him.
With the pick the Eagles also passed on gifted safety Earl Thomas, whom the Birds were thought to have listed very high on their wish list.  Thomas went to Seattle on the next pick after the Birds grabbed Graham.
Just an awful pick given what they gave up for him. Yet another smallish guy who will get worn down toward the end of the season. And they gave up half of their second day picks.
This franchise does not get it.
I hope they are right.
graham is gonna be a beast… apparently he hasn’t been single-teamed in like 3 years… and he dominated.. w/ cole on the other side, we’ve got a guy ready to come in and play now, working mostly against a single RT.. i think the giants proved a couple of years back that a strong, pass-rushing D-line can mask a so-so secondary.. i really really like this move
It would be awesome if the eagles pick Taylor or Nate in the 2nd round. All of the best corners are taken and the eagles have addressed the DE position and from what it seems like is that they have a lot of confidence in Marlin Jackson to replace Sheldon Brown. The people who are disapointed in this pick do not or have not seen Brandon play. He is a sack artist with the 2nd best hands in the draft. We have changed our whole front defense with great talent and not only that but we can still grab Nate or Mays in the 2nd round. I love this addition
Seriously, do the Eagles do their hw? This draft was LOADED with Dends. They could of stayed at 24 and got Graham. C’mon, You don’t move up and get Graham when Earl Thomas is on the board. Now Round 1 is over and 2 stud Dends are left. Carlos Dunlap and Everson Griffen. Could of had Thomas and then moved up in round 2 and got a Dend. Also, we don’t have a safety and still don’t have a corner. All the corners are now gone in the draft and One Safety is left. Package the 37th and the 4th to move up and get Taylor Mays. Still leaves corner a question mark and I guess it will be all season since the Eagles totally f’d this draft up.
I like B Graham as a player but do think that giving up the 70th and 87th selections to move up 11 spots was a bit much to much.. to do it for Safety E Thomas maybe I can see…
. (the Denver Broncos and San Fran 49ers made out the best in the 1st round so far, the Jets and COlts got great players late in the 1st round too)
But Graham is built a lot like T COle is and is much further alond as a polished pass rusher that T Cole was coming out of College.. Now you have Cole,Tapp,Graham & Parker as DE’s which is solid depth.. I also expect to see Graham play a little OLB is some form o 3-4 line-ups that McDermott will emply from time to time to change things up for their opponents…
Graham will probably end up being a nice player. He is smallish though and not your typical every-down DE….he’s practically a tweener. We gave up a 1st and 2 3rds for this guy and only the best case scenario will make this move worth it. As much as I hate to say it, we needed to get one of those top 5 corners to be able to handle the receivers that we have to see twice a year….
Tech, Scrap..Why do u guys even post…do u know who this man is..Brandon Graham is a effn beast..THE best DE in the draft..the eagles gave up the most pass TDs off the blitz with 15..mainly because we would blitz 7-8 guys and no one get in…We need to be able to bring pressure with just our front four..and leave 7 guys in coverage..like the Colts and 2000 bucs..thats where the fabulous tampa 2 comes in..4 man rush everyone in zone..Cole and Graham..is guna be just as good as Freeney and Mathis..those two guys made that team look better than it is because of the ability to rush the passer and play zone…Last year Graham had 26 tackles for loss 26!! Led the NCAAF..and 20 TFL the year before…..30 sacks in 3 years…Led all DE in tackles..his stats trumps freeney in college.. and worn down my a$$..thats one of his best traits a 3 down DE..excellent against the run and Phenomenal pass rusher…do ur homework..look up the stats..look at the highlights..Nonsense..im tired of seeing uneducated comments..do some research then post
The fact of the matter is that the Eagles need another impact player on the Dline. Graham could be that guy. I like this pick. It might sound like a lot to move up and get him, but I think he’ll prove to be worth it. And I’d rather see him in an Eagles uniform than as a Giant.
the colts have mediocre CB and look good because of the rush..our CBs are fine..we still have 7 picks..and the best secondary coach in the league in Dick Juron..Rd. 2 we need to get our safety Mays and/or Sergio Kindle to play strongside LB..hes Originally a 4-3 ROLB..moved to DE this year..excellent blitzer and speed to play coverage..Mays will get coached up and taught to play NFL Safety..i dont care what u or any critic says..with a nasty pass rush wer guna have..who wants to throw the ball over the middle with a 6’3″ 230lbs Safety running 4.30 smashin WRs..Hes guna be a monster..The knock on Dawk coming out of clemson was not fluid in the hips, not alot of big plays(ints)..he turned out fine..hes a baller..we better hope dallas dont getem..i feel bad for Dj and Mac..
@ Silencer I couldnt agree more but will the eagles take him? I dont know.. I was certain that they moved up to take Thomas but they didnt so hopefully this is all part of the plan to pick up Taylor.
i dont think they liked thomas at all..hes a midget…he resembles macho harris..And im not sold on Jordan.. i want Kindle also.. Beast at ROLB..imagine our front seven with Kindle, Bradley, Sims…Cole,Bunk,Patt,Graham..now our D will be able to match up with any O..This was my theory..i would rather come out of the Draft with 3-4 starters and trade the other picks rather utilize them and come out with 1-2 maybe starters and 7 role players..So i hope they go afterthose Two..SO ANDY, HOWIE..IF UR READING LETS DO IT..WE NEED THIS..i can only imagine coming out ofthe 2010 draft with Graham, Kindle, and Mays…i will be happy..
With the talent at the front seven..it would easily hide potential soft spots in the secondary..
@ scrapdawg12:
“…and One Safety is left. Package the 37th and the 4th to move up and get Taylor Mays.”
ever hear of Nate Allen?
I am not sure what to think about Graham (don’t know much about him) but I hated seeing the Birds give up 2 third round picks with all our needs. I hope they can package some of our lower picks and get a third round pick or maybe a third second rounder.
I’m not too excited but I’m not upset either. I was a little disappointed because of what we had to give up but hopefully everything works out. I just hope he does well in the NFL. Everyone 1st round pick was a stud in college. This is why they are first round picks. So what he did at Mich doesn’t matter anymore. It needs to be translated to the NFL. Hopefully this will happen.
Scorp, I’d bet my life (which would prolly make you happy if I lost lol) that the Eagles will pkg players and/or picks to recover at least one of the 3rd’ers they gave up to cock-block the Giants and snag Graham. You know the Birds and how shrewd they are with their picks.
The Silencer..Great posts. Bringing intense pressure with your front four is the key to success in the NFL..Plain and simple.
Confusing pick i think there were much more needs then DE…on top of that what does that mean for tapp. I guess the DE they picked is not even an every down guy. this pick makes no sense
I hope so Jimmy. We still have 2 voids to fill on defense and o-line help is needed too. But we will see what happens.
By giving up both 3rd Round picks (#70 & #87) to move up 11 Spots to select Graham, this had a Domino effect on the rest of the Draft Strategy and ended up causing the Eagles to trade down from the 2nd Rd (#55 Overall) to the Dreaded Cowboys (who picked got another stud at ILB S Lee who will replace K Brookings by 2011..) and then traded back from that spot to secure some 4th Rd Picks
The passed on CB’s Ghee,Murphy,Spievey,Anash,Cox OL’s Asamoah,J Jerry, V Ducasse, B Campbell, DE E Griffen, OLB N Bowman, TE Graham and may other good players from mid-2ns round thru the 3rd Rd and selexcting DE Teo Neishmann at #86 was a round too soon,… Good player to select in the 4th but no 3rd Rd .
The 4th Round with 4 selections at #105/#121/#122 & #125 I believe will determine the success or failure of this draft and they need to grab a CB,OL,QB, & TE and add some quality depth
I ulttimately think similar to last year’s draft that they try to outsmart everyone by moving up,down all around instead of staying with your picks and making the proper selections…