I think more than anything, the Eagles saw Hugh Douglas and Trent Cole in Brandon Graham, but they’re rolling the dice by giving up so much to move up and get him.
Some of these defensive ends make it while others don’t and there’s no formula to say which ones will make it and which ones won’t.¬† Remember these same Eagles drafted Jerome McDougle, Bryan Smith and Victor Abiamiri, while signing the recently departed Chris Clemons.
Moving up to get one of these defensive ends is putting all your eggs in one basket.  It can prove to be very costly.
The Eagles also made this pick without getting to know Graham one-on-one because he said the Eagles didn’t spend any time with him and didn’t bring him in to visit the Nova Care complex.
I would have taken the Georgia Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan.¬† I thought he was just as impressive as Graham on tape but he’s bigger at 6’4″ as compared to Graham who is 6’1″.¬† I like size but the Eagles clearly don’t make it a priority.
They saw Cole and Douglas in Graham, which is a quick and undersized defensive end who refused to be blocked.  I hope it was Cole and Douglas and not McDougle and Smith.
This young man has tenacity.¬† He gets off the ball on every play and gives full effort until the play is over.¬† That’s the main thing that I saw in watching Graham play.
At times he comes inside to make plays and at other times he comes around the corner to make plays.¬† That’s very important because all the outstanding pass rushers in the league are able to beat you inside or outside.
Offensive tackles can take away either the inside or the outside move, so you have to be able to mix it up and Graham has shown that he can do that.
Still, there’s quite a risk there because all of the factors we’re talking about brings to mind Jerome McDougle who supposedly had a great motor, refused to be blocked and the Birds also moved up to get him.
McDougle was a miserble bust who isn’t even in the league.¬† Like him Graham looks good on tape but that’s against a bunch of guys who will never play in the NFL and headed to jobs as insurance salesman and
Hopefully the Eagles now have two outstanding pass rushers now and they won’t have to rely on the blitz so much.¬† For years they have been a very good defense during the
Two quality guys on the board and the birds go after the smaller guy and pay through the nose to get him.
Time will tell, but I preferred Marshall because of his size.
He is tho far and away better than the losers of the past, and I’ll cheer for him.
Five words G: At least he’s not Tebow.
We won’t know on Graham for a while and we needed a DE. Any of the first round picks could be busts.
My only concern is losing the two third round picks when we have so many needs, but hopefully we’ll get rid of Vick and make some other moves to get pack up into the third.
I hope everything works out. Gotta give him a couple seasons. He’s not likely to be the starter come the beginning of the season so we just have to give him some time. But I personally don’t care about what everyone says about “high motor” and being “relentless”. That was in college against a lot of guys who are not NFL players or not top talent. So we will see how he fares against NFL players. I hope it works well for us.
I didn’t know McDougle was relentless. He certainly wasn’t as productive as Graham in college. I like the pick. Size isn’t everything and you can see Dumervil isn’t big. I would take a Trent Cole or Hugh Douglas clone any day. We need pass rush to stop depending so much on the blitz. I think they will pick Rodger Saffold with the 37th and hopefully they will get a S or CB with the 55th. Losing two 3rd rounders hurts but the games are won or lost in the trenches, not in the defensive backfield. I hope Graham becomes a Trent Cole clone.
Complete surprise to me because I thought Morgan might be the only DE they liked for a 4/3 defense. This pick fits into how they have picked in the last few years that has worked out well, production, production, and production. The Eagles will pick on potential in rounds 3 or later, but it all about production with high picks. There’s no gurantees and production helps eliminate some of the riskd involved in every draft pick.
Kiper and McShay had no idea who teams were going to pick. Michael Lombardi showed last night he really is still and insider because he called many of these picks as the trades were happeing. Lombardi had Graham rated as a top player. Tonight should be interesting. Lombardi has Nate Allen rated as the second best FS in the whole draft. Brian Price also has a first round grade and he fits a 4/3 defense.
Here’s Pete Prisco’s opinion on the Eagles’ pick:
No. 13: Eagles select: Brandon Graham, OLB, Michigan Grade
Analysis: Love this pick. Love the aggression to go get him. He is a big-time pass rusher. He will be an immediate impact player in their defense. I like this pick as much as any.
I know almost everyone wanted the Eagles to take a safety in the first round, but I’ll take a dominant pass rusher over a safety every day and twice on Sunday. A productive pass rush can go a LONG way towards making a weak secondary look good.
I think Taylor Mays is still available which would be a shock in the second round and that’s where the Eagles should go if he’s there, but they won’t…they passed on Earl Thomas. (shakes head) Watching an undersized defense worn down by the end of the season for almost 11 years has taught Andy Reid nothing.
The interesting thing is that you (Gary) recently wrote an article surmising a future comparison between Howie Roseman and Jerry Reese…I think it’s a fair expectation/litmus test to have given how poorly (average to poor in most cases) the Eagles have drafted on defense for quite a while. Reese got Jason Pierre-Paul for his team even with the option of Derrick Morgan on the table and no one can say Reese is a slouch at drafting defensive talent.
Here’s the thing, though … from a stature standpoint Graham is really the biggest of the top three ends in the draft. He’s short, but at 265 pounds he’s “bigger” than a guy like Pierre-Paul who’s 6′ 6″ yeah but he only weighs like 270. And Morgan is 6′ 4″ and only 272 pounds.
Most people (including Giants GM Jerry Reese!) look at drafting Pierre-Paul as a big risk. I might have preferred Morgan over Graham, but honestly I think we got the right guy of the three.
Graham would have been the first DE off the board regardless..it frustrates me when people say this guys is a LB or is best suited for 3-4 OLB..Yea he was an lb in high-school..so what he flourished as a DE. No other end gets off TB ball n sheds blocks better than Graham. And Mcdougles career would might have been great if he wasn’t getting shot or always hurt..that’s just bad luck not a bad draft pick..same with abiramiri..always hurt..we have been trying to secure the LE DE spot since kearse was let go..I was open for a lot of positions. .I was easily satisfied yesterday. Lets got more d today..I see safety(Mays)..LB(Kindle)..CB(Ghee)
The guy is taylor made for a 3-4. Think Lamar Woodley. He will not be a bust, nor will he be the best DE of this draft. Every expert thinks this guy is “situational”….which is a stupid pick at 13. Would Earl Thomas ever come off the field? More bang for your buck at 13. Carlos Dunlap or Everson Griffen could be much better players in Round 2
Taylor made for a 3-4??..there is no sense in it..never played a 3-4..why isn’t Cole Taylor made for a 3-4?? ..same stature, n weight..so explain. Graham excelled in a 4-3 as well as woodley who who was irrelevant for half of the season last year..Woodley played a 4-3 end and chances are he would just as successful..so I guess ur saying every undersized end is Taylor made for a 3-4 end..what a uneducated statement. .
And every expert is right I guess..instead of listening to ur experts, go YouTube the man..then look at guys like Dunlap and Griffin..I’m pretty sure ur theory and opinion will change.
There’s a guy named Anthony Spencer who the cowboys traded up with the Eagles to get and would have been a nice piece, but we didn’t need him because we were able to trade down and get our guy kolb. Now, we had to trade to 3rd rounders and a 1st round slot to make up for that. This thing is a mess!!!! They got Spencer, we got Kolb. They have Dez Bryant and we get midgets with injurie to cover. The Cowboys are far better top to bottom and draft better…..We’re done.
Hey Song- Put down the drink and check the label it says Haterade not Koolaid. I would rather spend my summer drinking koolaid and smiling then live in your hate filled world.
When Kolb turns out to be a Franchise QB how will the value of one pass rusher look. Further more I am a Penn State fan but Lee is not worth the 5 players we got with that pick!