I know the Eagles need linebacker help, but they’re also need to improve their defensive tackles. They’re going to be hard pressed to overlook the group of talented defensive tackles in this year’s draft. This group is impressive and it’s very deep.
LSU’s Michael Brockers is rated as the best at 329 pounds and he ran a 5.33. His first ten yards were in the 1.7 range, which is astonishing for a man his size. He’s a red shirt sophomore and just turned 21 years old, which means his upside is huge. The team that drafts him can expect him continue maturing for the next few years.
Michigan State’s Jerel Worthy had to get the Eagles attention with a 5.03 forty-yard dash. He dominated during his time with the Spartans and he has the power and quickness to take over a game. He’s well over 300 pounds and moved very well in the agility drills.
Mississippi State’s Fletcher Cox showed more versatility than any other defensive linemen. He ran a 4.79 forty-yard dash and can play any where on the defensive line. You know the Birds would love to be able to line him up at defensive tackle on third down. Not only did he run very well, he was most impressive in the movement and bag drills. His versatility is amazing. He’s got the size, 6’4″ and he weighs 298 pounds. Combine that with his speed and he can play both at the defensive end and defensive tackle position.
Massive Memphis defensive tackle Dontari Poe ran an unofficial time of 4.89 at 346 pounds, which is astonishing. He showed tremendous explosiveness in the first ten yards for a guy his size. Poe moved like a linebacker in the bag drills which were just completed. The big guy benched pressed 225 pounds, 44 times which was more than anybody else at the combine.
Normally the Eagles don’t like to get that big at the defensive tackle position, but this guy compares favorably with Baltimore 
Ravens Pro Bowl Haloti Ngata.
Penn State’s Devon Still ran a 5.03 in the forty yard dash and he also moved very well in the agility drills. He’s rated as one of the top two or three defensive tackles in the draft. He weighed in at 6’5″ 308.
DEFENSIVE ENDS
West Virginia’s Bruce Irvin ran a 4.43 as a defensive end, but he’ll likely being playing outside linebacker in the NFL.
North Carolina’s Quinton Coples has a great combination of a 4.72 forty yard dash while standing 6’5″ and weighing 280.
One of the highest rated defensive ends, South Carolina’s Melvin Ingram ran a 4.66 and shined with his quickness and ability in the movement drills.
Defensive end Andre Branch ran a 4.62 at 259 pounds, which was impressive.
USC Defensive end Nick Perry ran a 4.50 and moved very well at 260 pounds.
Olivier Vernon is a 4.78.
I agree Gcobb I’m watching the combine there’s to many good DT that Dontari Poe is scary if he’s there at 15 thats the guy they can sign Stephen Tulloch and sign Haynesworth and draft Poe or Fletcher Cox and your defense can be a top 5. For people thinking the defense was bad last season numbers wise they were rank 7 overall so making these moves would put them in the top 5.
This team goes nowhere near Painsworth. I agree they could draft a DT and feel they will. I would to see 2 backers signed, 1 safty, and depending on Desean, maybe a receiver.
I said from the start that i think the birds should go DT in the first round.. There are way too many impact players there. Both Devon Still and Michael Brockers are my two favorites.. But Dontari Poe is on another level, Hes not a man hes an animal, hes a young Haloti Ngata, ad the speed that he showed at the combine is unreal, and not only is he fast for his size but hes also a powerful powerful man.. Hes another guy that the eagles cannot pass up.. There is noway they go LB at 15.. not gonna happen so whoever is wishing it will happen take that out of your mind..There not going to pass on adding potential dominate Dlinemen that would be anchors for the next 8-10 years, because lets be honest as much as we love trent cole, babin, cullen jenkins, there all 30 or older than 30 or around that age.. realistically, they will not play this game at a high level in 5 years, its just unlikely and unrealistic to expect that after all of the wear and tear on the body for all these years.. So I expect the birds to look to start drafting replacements this year and next. The LB crew has been revamped, so has the safety position, along with the CBs, so whats left is the DL..They not going OL or any other position other than DL with the 1st pick…
Dam thats a lot of talent at dt, that is tough not to at least grab one. But we need a quality lb and there are less of them.
Turk, enough with the Haynesworth talk. They are not going anywhere near that guy. The primary reason being that is he garbage.
btc24 the reason why I say Haynesworth is Jim Washburn they stuck with him and he’s the reason why Spags not here so if Wasburn can get him to play they why not get him.
Turk, if the Eagles drafted one of this promising DTs, they’d have him, plus Patterson, Jenkins, and hopefully Landri. Hanesworh would be cut because of numbers right there. Give it up.
Haynesworth isn’t going to any NFL Team…He’s toast and you can stick a fork in him, Period…
Eagles will have 5 DT’s in 2012 ( Jenkins,Dixon,Patterson,Landri and 1st Round pick Fletcher Cox)
Remember that both Jenkins and Cox can slide out and play a little DE if need be due, to injury, or in running situations…
With the day that Cox just had today he may not be there at #15… At 6’4″ and 298 lbs he moves like a DE and has the power of a DT. Depending on what happens with free agent G Evan Mathis and Desean Jackson will be huge indicators of where the Eagles go in the draft this year. If Mathis doesn’t get resigned and the Birds spend money on a Tulloch or a Curtis Lofton than Cordy Glenn ( the massive offensive lineman that moves like a TE ) from Georgia would make a lot of sense for the Eagles. He could play G and eventually move to RT in the future.
coples, fletcher, poe, kuechly, ——– those Offensive Tackles ( Reilly and Martin) might have just slide down the draft to make room for these D players in the top 10
Your Right Sully,
F Cox and D Poe are moving up in the Draft while D Still slides down a bit..
I also think Kuechly is moving up the Draft ladder too whikle Upshaw slides down a few spots… WR L Blackmon, K Wright, OT J Martin are all sliding down the Draft Ladder while players liek WR M FLoys, S Hill, Kuechley, POe & COx are sliding up
Teams #9 thru the #15 (Eagles pick)
#9) Panthers – Need DT,LB CB help (Injuries to LB Beason & Davis)
#10) Buffalo – Need DL, LB, CB and OL help (Need pass rush, Merriman injury)
#11) KC Chiefs – Need DT and OT help
#12) Seattle — Need DL,OL, CB & QB help
#13) Arizona — Need DE,OLB, OL, WR & QB help
#14) Dallas — Need CB,Safety,OL and OLB help
#15) EAGLES – Need DT,LB and Safety help
Guys, don’t over react to the combine. It’s not a linear relationship to draft boards. Just one set of factors.
As much as I want the Eagles to take a linebacker at pick 15, I don’t think they will which tells me it’s more of the same. With that being said, I would love to have Dontari Poe. This would be an opportunity to correct a pass wrong, passing on Haloti Gnata for Brodrick Bunkley. I don’t want to hear about 3-4 , 4-3 players, Gnata would be a great fit for the Eagles today and so would Poe.
Listen the rumor is that lofton won’t resigning with atlanta. He is only 25 and has talent. If you sign him in fa then you can get the DT you need in the draft. We need at least two quality linebackers this offseason. We can live with rolle at the one spot. He is small but he is always around the ball, and he can make plays.
Eaglehaslanded in all fairness to the Eagles DT Halti Ngata was drafted before the Eagles had a chance to select him but they probably would still have drafted Bunkley believing Ngata was too big because Joe and Andy are clueless defensively
I believe Lofton will be franchised by FAlcons who don’t have many playmakers on Defense as it is.. They will keep Loftin.. Now DE J Abraham is a different story as they will let walk..My Sources tell me that the Falcons will sign DE Mario Williams once Free-Agency hits…
Steven Tulloch would be a better fit than Lofton in Phillys defense. One of the reasons that ATL is letting Lofton go is his inability to stay on the field on 3rd downs. Tulloch has only played in a wide nine defense his entire career and stays on the field for 3rd downs. On another note Dontario Poe would be a Beast on this Defense with Cole and Babin on the outside and Jenkins and Poe in the middle!!
! The image of the Eagles not taking big guys isn’t neccesarily true… They just covet speed more than size. Poe has both
Poe, Brockers, & Wortthy are freaks. My boy Hightower, looked pretty damn good. Kuechly averaged 4.55. Much faster than anticipated. If our incompetent FO miss out on getting at least a 1 stud DT & 1 stud LB, with the depth of defensive players, in this draft, they all need to be exiled. I say Poe, Hightower, & Cam Johnson, with our first 3 picks. We have plenty of picks, & trade chips in Asante, DJax & Tapp to sweeten any deals. No excuses to at least get 3 impact players. There are a lot of stud defensive players this year, that far exceeds the offensive side of the ball.
D’Qwell Jackson’s signing just ended the Stephen Tulloch Philadelphia Negotiations —- the going rate for a free agent MLB is now 5 years 40 plus Million with 19 million guarantee —–and Tulloch is not accepting Joe and Howie’s opinion of what a MLB deserves
Trade up a few spots and ensure a Poe, Kuechly, or Cox —- whoever they think is the best but get the best one a Pro Bowl Player
Everyone knows that Reid will be looking for fastballs. He’s afraid that if he drafts a few beefy guys, they might eat as much as him, and that could be a serious problem.
Right drummer, because we all know that predicting the eagles draft picks is easy and reliable… you dumbass. Way to give it the old elementary school effort, dumb fat joke and thoughtless gaffe
I’m sure the Eagles braintrust will pick somebody as remarkable as Brandon Graham.
Got ya riochner, cause luck, rg3 and all the top guys can’t get injured. Nope.
Schill….Brandon Graham was ass before the injury.
So was Nate Allen geting torched and ran over well b before the injury.
Rlochner, if you remember Graham was an unblock able beast leading up to the draft. The kid got hurt – give him a break!
Songsrme2—- I’m with you — Nate Allen started with a couple good games then teams found out he had no pop in his shoulder pads and he hasn’t looked good since –
Brandon Graham doesn’t even look like he almost gets to the QB, he looks like he’ll be blocked for another 3-4 seconds after the QB throws the ball
They’ll both get another chance but I’m not optimistic
Poe and Brockers will be BUSTS….Poe never produced in college at a low level division……he is the typical combine workout warrior turned piece of garbage in the NFL. Brockers should have stayed in school and will flake out in a few years.
At #15, there is NO DT I would take….round #2 is where you get value like Brandon Thompson or Jerel Worthy…..Still and Cox are value between 25-35….none are worth a top 20 selection.
Thompson/Worthy will be long gone by the Eagles 2nd Round Selections
The Top 6-7 of DT’s will come off the Board from the 10th Selection of the 1st Round thru the #45th Selection of the 2nd Round and just before the Eagles picks in the 2nd Round (47th/#51 Selections)
Eagles need to Trade down in the 1st or move up in the 2nd…
I do agree that Brockers will be a bust, Poe seems like a matrue kid and I think will turn out to be a good player, but it will take some time and good coaching and the right team for him…
I believe Fletcher Cox is the Safest DT in this Draft followed by Brandon Thompson, then Kendall Reyes that are best suited for the Eagles 4-3 wide 9 scheme.. If the Eagles don’t get one of these 3 players, they will have a made a mistake about upgrading an improtant position and getting a good player with upside for the next 6-8 Seasons in the middle
I would not be upset if the went and used thier 1st Rd (#15 Pick) on Fletcher or a 2nd Rounder pick on Thompson or Reyes but they would proabably have to move up a few spots in the 2nd Round to do so.. ..