Although it’s much too early to issue any type of grade for a draft, I can’t escape the tradition. No one will really know what type of draft the Eagles had this past weekend for about two or three years, but I’ll give you what it looks like now.
Let’s start at the beginning with Fletcher Cox. This was a dream come true for the Birds. I didn’t think they were going to get a shot at Cox and neither did they.
He plays like he was coached by Jim Washburn in college. Cox is off at any ball movement. The big fella attacks and reads the play later. Cox destroys everything that’s put in his path. I can see him being the perfect inside pass rush for Jason Babin and Trent Cole, while playing opposite of Cullen Jenkins.
There wasn’t a player in this draft, who the Eagles wanted more than Fletcher Cox.
[media id=260 width=320 height=240]
In the second round, Cal’s Mychal Kendricks was a good pick, but I’m not thrilled to hear that they want him to play SAM linebacker and cover the tight end. Kendricks would be much more effective at WILL where he would be lined up away from the tight end.
He was the fastest linebacker in this draft and he’s a very good tackler. This Cal Bear seems to play his best football when he attacking and playing downhill. You don’t get the chance to attack very much at SAM.
A SAM backer needs to be taller and more patient. He needs to have long arms. Kendricks is 5’11” but he’s going to covering tight ends who are 6’5″, 6’6″ and 6’7″. That’s not going to work.
I like the fact that they drafted Kendricks but I believe they’ve got him playing out of position and will to need to change him to WILL
[media id=244 width=320 height=240]
Later in the second round, the Birds grabbed defensive end Vinny Curry, who plays with a passion. Curry just refuses to be blocked and should be competing for playing time this season.
In the third round, the Eagles got their developmental quarterback, Nick Foles, who has great size and a big arm. His mobility isn’t anything to write home about, but he may get the Birds some extra picks if he develops in the future.
Their fourth round pick, Brandon Boykin, needs to grow up quickly and get ready to contribute immediately. He’s an outstanding athlete with great speed, quickness and strength for his size. He’s a better athlete than Joselio Hanson, but he’s got to learn the tecniques to succeed at covering the slot receivers as the nickel and/or dime defender. He could also help the Birds as a return man.
In the fifth round, the Birds tried to draft some depth in Purdue offensive tackle Dennis Kelly. He’s listed at 6’8″ and will have his work cut out for him, while trying to please offensive line coach Howard Mudd.
Mudd tends to like the smaller, shorter offensive linemen who are more athletic than they are big. Kelly will need to be quick and athletic.
In round six, Iowa wide receiver Marvin McNutt was the target. He’s got good size and he may give Riley Cooper a run for his money since the Florida product hasn’t been very productive. McNutt has great hands and the ability to find the holes in a zone.
He doesn’t have blazing speed, but he’s faster than you think. McNutt may be a great fit for the west coast offense and he’s never going to be doubled with DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin on the field with him.
[media id=265 width=320 height=240]
Later in round six, the Birds grabbed some depth at the guard position with Miami’s Brandon Washington. He may be able to help the Birds in the future, but it won’t be any time soon. Washington is regarded as a very good athlete for a guard and he has a chance to be a Mudd favorite in the future. I think he’s a good investment.
They finished up the draft by picking Kansas State running back Bryce Brown, who came out of high school as one of the top running backs in the country. Things didn’t work out for him at Tennessee so he transferred to Kansas State.
The Birds took a wild gamble on this one. They are giving a guy with big time talent a chance here in the hopes that they will catch lightning in the bottle. There’s reason that there are no highlights of Brown in college. He never did much.
[media id=266 width=320 height=240]
I would give the Birds a B+ in this draft because the top of their draft is great with Cox, Kendrick and Curry, they could wind up getting production out of Boykin and McNutt with the offensive linemen developing down the road. If they get the development out of the linemen, this draft could wind up being an A.
I’m not that high on Cox. I hope I’m wrong but although he fits in well here, I just don’t think he could be dominant if let’s say Jenkins goes down. If Mudd can make him that type great. We needed LB help so I guess Kedricks is cool. I would much rather had the first RD LB and a DT like Stills in the second. Overall good draft. Compared to the head scratching we usually get around this time for where we are as a team and what we got we are in good position to do some things. The Eagles must share my opinion on Satfey’s bc they didn’t target any. Saftey play once we got rid of Page was not the cause if our losses and will only get better with health and experience. Drafting another young guy would do nothing unless it was Eric Berry or Earl Thomas reincarnated and those type players were not avail. The QB from Arizona can throw it all over the field. If he takes his role serious he could develop into a premier gun slinger big if tho.
Gcobb thank you for educating these guys about Kendricks. He is not a Sam linebacker. And this comes from a man who we all know played linebacker fellas. He will be a great will or possible future middle
G, I must wonder if you ever watched an Iowa Hawkeye game. If you did you would know that Marvin Mcnutt is a very good wide receiver. I think he will make the team as the 5th receiver. He did not get drafted high due to his 40 time. However, Larry fitz was not a burner either. I’m in no way comparing the two, but I think you are selling this rookie receiver way short. I believe he and Chris Polk will be on the 2012 active roster come opening day.
mcnutt needs to catch everything in sight ! didnt avant have a case of the dropsies last year ?
Garry – thanks for chiming in on Kendricks, as the only former Eagles LB source any of us are gonna have access to, you’re obviously an authority.
Can you tell me – I’ve heard from Tommy Lawlor that in the Wide 9 the Sam LB really doesn’t play like a typical 4-3 SAM. Lawlor says he lines up off the line of scrimmage, inside the RT, so closer to the middle of the field, and more off the line of scrimmage as opposed to right on the line of scrimmage and directly over the TE. Is that something you saw? Can you ask Washburn? I’m just saying, if Lawlor is correct, then your analysis (although welcome and respected with your inherent credibility) of applying the traditional 4-3 SAM role to our current team would be off.
Here’s what I’m talking about Lawlor posted:
“Kendricks is an interesting subject. I’ve had questions about him for the last 4 to 6 weeks. My answer every time is that I like him a lot, but he’s only 5-11 and I don’t see him as a likely target. OOPS! I don’t recall a SAM linebacker being that short. I might be missing someone, but I can’t think of one from the last 10-15 years.
This doesn’t mean that Kendricks can’t do it. This simply means that it is unusual. If Kendricks was 6-2, he would have been a 1st round pick, possibly Top 20. He doesn’t lack talent at all. Dude can flat out play.
I didn’t write a ton about him because I had tunnel vision and didn’t see him as a target. He’s 5-11, Bobby Wagner is 6-0. That’s just an inch. What’s the big deal? Well, there has to be a cut-off somewhere. You need to be 16 to drive, 18 to vote, 21 to drink. Why not 15, 17, and 20? Someone set minimum standards and that’s just what they are. Being 5-11 doesn’t mean that Kendricks can’t play. He’s a trend-breaker.
As we’ve talked about, playing SAM for the Eagles is different than in most 4-3 defenses. The SAM lines up several yards off the ball and inside of the DE. This essentially makes the SAM like another ILB. Well, Kendricks was a stud ILB for Cal. In some ways, he’ll be perfect for the role.
I’m told that Juan Castillo and the defensive coaches were pushing for Kendricks. What does that tell us? It means that Juan is trying to do with SAM what he wanted to do last year. He put Jamar Chaney at SAM since he was our best LB athlete (among the starters) and hoped that Jamar would be good vs the run and excel in coverage. 0 for 2 on that.
The principle is the same with Kendricks. He’s got a similar build to Chaney, but Jamar is 1 5/8 inches taller. Chaney was 242 at the Combine, Kendricks 240. Let’s compare their workouts:
size – 5111 , 240 ………. 6006 , 242
40 – 4.47 ……………….. 4.54
VJ – 39.5 ……………….. 39
BJ – 10’7″ ………………. 10’4″
3C – n/a …………………. 6.90
SS – 4.19 ………………… 4.29
BP – 24 reps ……………. 26
Jamar really had a great workout, but his athleticism doesn’t consistently show up on tape, NFL or college. Kendricks athleticism does show up. I think Juan hopes that he can fill the role that Jamar was unable to handle last year. To be fair to Jamar, he didn’t have a lot of time to learn and had poor LB play around him. Still, Jamar made too many basic mistakes to label his play anything other than disappointing.
Kendricks will challenge for the SAM job right away. Reid and Chaney have been asked about Jamar’s role in 2012, but nothing is definite. I wonder if Chaney would be given a chance to beat out Rolle for the WLB spot. You would then have either Moise Fokou or Akeem Jordan battle with Kendricks at SAM.”
Brian rolle is the starting weakside linebacker.. andy reid said it today on 610 wip.. meaning chaney is the 4th backer even though he was our most productive..
Don’t worry “G”
Round Hole/Square Peg Andy will make it work.
All the reporters were asking the same question and Andy said, “he’ll do fine there.” (where have we heard that before?
You don’t line up a 5′ 9″ linebacker against tight ends…..You just don’t!
But, what do we know?
Hell…..Only Andy and Juan believed Matthews would step in to help the team win games at MLB.
Here we go again..
Why can’t these guys draft players to play where they excelled in college?
Garry, did you play WILL all throughout college and the pros?
Songs, is Kendricks going to be 5′ 7″ tomorrow or is your two inch reduction a one time only thing.
I mean, if the kid really does shrink two inches every week, then yeah, I agree he was a bad pick.
London fletcher can cover TEs and he’s an inch shorter than Kendricks.
Wow – McNutt is going to have an uphill fight to make the roster? Really – last year the 6 WRs were Djax, Mac, Avant, Cooper, Smith and Hall…
question is will he be the #4 or #5
don;t get me started on the whole Eagles Sam verse Will LB issue again – the way the Eagles play the LBs need to be BOTH Sam and Will capable because they do not change sides… just like the safeties need to be BOTH Free and Strong becuase they frequently change positioning to try and hide the coverages..
The LB from Cal played all LB postions at Cal – he played against some of the best College passing teams (Stanford had a decent QB you may have heard about and a semi-solid TE……)
and Songs – as usual you present your perverted twisted half version of the truth –
Reid and Castillo believed that the Offense – led by Mike VIck – would be good enough and score enough points (al la New Orleans adn NEw England) to allow Mattehws and the D enough time to get settled in, that the eagles could win enough games –
se Songs – as I commented earlier you are usually wrong 23 hours adn 58 minutes every day – Reid CORRECTLY guessed the D would struggle – he knew that – he just thought his O could carry the day – so really where Reid F’d up – is that he trusted Vick and the O –
see – you aren’t smart enough to figure that out – becuase Reid and Castillo were right – and they did figure the D out by the end of the year…
where they screwed up was in trusting Vick and the O – not in putting faith in Matthews – as usual songs – you’ve now been properly schooled on the eagles – paste it
Andy Reid has already stated Brian rolle is WIL Kendricks is SAM if demeco is healthy the eagles linebackers are sick… rolle runs a 4.51 kendricks 4.47 and this guys are strong stout and fast ..all of them ..
Theres a video on youtube called “Brian rolle kills center” its pretty amazing
GCobb, although I like what they did with the draft, my only beef is that our LB’s are still Smurfs & our safeties haven’t changed. I’d rather they drafted Wagner, David, or Davis than Kendricks. That’s also why I hated the Foles pick. Too early, & we could of had Cousins, Bradham, & Robinson. Sam Acho & Minniefield were still on board at the end also. But hey, it was still a good draft in my eyes. IMHO, Cox & Curry are studs. Kendricks is going to be OK, because he has played all 3 LB’s in college. Foles???? Boykin KR/ slot corner from day one. Kelly was over drafted. McNutt, BWAHAHA, sorry the name, he will be red zone #4 receiver. Washington, if he can keep his weight down, will be a good backup Guard, not very good at Tackle. Brown is a camp body. Polk will be Shady’s back up. Cliff Harris & Phillip Thomas will give us much needed depth in the secondary & ST’s. Goodbye Tapp, Hanson, Patterson/ Dixon, Fokou & Cooper. Save the $$$ & sign Yeremiah Bell & up Shady’s deal. Get’er done.
larrwd, BTW, it doesn’t matter how fast the LB’s are if the are being engulfed by 6’4″ 320 lb linemen. See Ernie Sims, Mattews, Chaney & Jordan for example. Also, let’s not make Brian Rolle out to be the next coming of Patrick Willis, or Urlacher just yet. He was OK, he didn’t exactly set the world on fire. They should be alright though. IMHO, I would have rather of had Wagner, or David. Both are better/ better suited for SAM. Wagner played all 3 like Kendricks, but is a tad bigger. Davis is a natural OLB & is a beast.
*Meant Daivd*
I don’t agree with the Marvin McNutt asessment. He is probably the 4th best WR on the roster already! Mardy Gilard was a pretty talented WR in college too but this will be his 1st year in this offense too but there is no way Riley Cooper is better than Marvin McNutt! That is just crazy talk. He was the Big ten leading receiver last year, he may end up being better than Jason Avant in a year or two…
I agree sully. I am highly disappointed in riley coopers development.. marvin mcnutt looks smooth and somehwhat polished already you can tell hes on the right path and ran a 4.42 hand timed 40 at 6’3 216 ..
Alright again we can keep Mcnutt and Cooper HELLO HELLLO why get rid of a 6’4″ guy. Is he great no I agree with you on that I just don’t want any more smurfs at wideout. Dcar and G thank you for schooling these guys. When the coach of the team call’s his linebacker a god dam sam only on gcobb.com do guys say oh but he’s not. Too far fellas your telling the dam coaches and players after they said what they said oh you guys made a mistake. The basic concept of their DEFENSE IS STILL 4-3 GOD DAMMIT. DO THEY DO OTHER TWEAKS LIKE WIDE 9 ZONE CONCEPTS YES BUT THEY ARE PRIMARILY A 4-3= SAM FUCKING LINEBACKER. ANDY REID SAID SAM LINEBACER OH BUT I GUESS HE’S WRONG MAN COME ON.
We still have a very shaky situation at safety no matter how good our first 4 draft picks were.
I agree wihe G-Man about 100% of his analysis,
I stated the other day that I like the LB Kendricks selection, but not for the SAM Position, I envision him a WILL and then the eventual replacement at MIKE depending for MLB D Ryans.. I hate for the Eagles to sey this kid up at SAM and have him fail early on, let him do what he does best which is play out in space and make tackles and not have to take on TE off th eLine-of Scrimmage..
I think by Summer Camp/Preseason end the LB Corp will be as Follows
Base Starters – WIll – Kendricks, Mike/MLB – Ryans , SAM Chaney
On Passing Downs — Will – Rolle, MLB- Kendricks, SAM – Matthews
Rocko-Todd Bowles may be the most important addition for this coming season. He will have a MAJOR impact on how successful this defense is, especially on the D-Backs
The Real Wildcards of this Draft are CB Boykin & WR McNutt
If either one or both of these players can contribute (within 2 years time) then this would be one of the Best Draft in Eagles History frop Top to Bottom
If I am the Eagles, I would have Boykin concentrate more on Special Teams and some of the Offensive Packages that Chad Hall did in his Rookie Season, (Bubble Screens,Reverses,etc,etc) and then let him work on the Slot CB position.. But I feel his best contribution is on Special Teams and the “Chad Hall” role on Offense to start… As far as McNutt, I like him as the Slot WR and eventually replace Avant. He is bigger, more athletic than avant and though he doesn’t have pure speed, he moves in and out of his breaks and can still run away from coverages.. I see Avant contstantly having a hard time running away from today’s more athletic LB’s.. I also put in Red-Zone Packages for McNutt for the Alley-Oop/Fade route, to utilize his size down by the end-zone
paul, you’re crazy, first rolle is better than chaney at this point. Second, ryans, baring injury, is a 3 down lb. And if they make any changes on 3rd down, its to 2 lbs, not ..multiple subs on lb. Come on man, you’re better than that. Meds or coffee, which one did you forget this am?
Hope Foles develops fast because Vick will be injured before the 5th game
andrew…you think Todd Bowles can stop Nate Allen from being trucked over on an average of twice per game?
Songs/ square peg round hole is right when it comes to Crystal Ball Andy.
His visions of the future are without honor….
A classic loser… Trying hard to be smarter than every body else instead of just using common sense.
Everybody has that longtime unemployed friend/relative who says that there are no Jobs available.
Usually upon further inspection, we find that there are no jobs that that individual is willing to work.
In other words a self inflicted wound. You might need to take less pay, travel farther, or learn a new skill, but there are jobs out there.
This is the main problem with Andy Reid. He could’nt just bask in the glow of a good draft. He had to give himself a self inflicted wound, by putting the player with the best chance of improving the defense, in the wrong position.
He learned absolutely nothing from last year. A hard head makes for a soft behind and right now andy must be walking around in cottenelle underwear.
This is why the man has quote “haters”. He’s ignorant. He just does’nt learn.
He acts more like peter griffin on family guy. He just does’nt get it.
I hope that Jeffrey Loser has another head coach in mind and he just gave andy one more year so it will be easier to sign the real coach after this season.
I see what you did there Lurie-loser.
BSM, you and Songs should start some sort of support group because clearly you are both angry people. You are being negative about the Eagles after the draft about the upcoming season. Shouldn’t we see maybe what happens in training camp before you right it off as a lost season? I don’t even read your posts anymore because your agenda is clear and unchanging.
That aside, I think that McNutt could be real value in round 6. He is big and it looks like he has really good hands. As far as Kendrick goes, dude is an athlete and he is gonna make the defense better. Who knows where he will end up? I think that they will have a better idea when they see him in pads. It is a long way to go before we get to the start of the season.
The D-line now has more depth and athleticism than it has had in a long time. Cox and Jenkins are gonna wreak havoc in the middle and Ryans will clean up. We complained heavily about the line play and the LBs last year and they upgraded both. Am I still concerned about the safeties? Sure, but there wasn’t much in the draft in the way of safeties and I am not sure that a 3rd/4th round pick was gonna be better than what we have. I wouldn’t mind them signing Bell, but if they don’t the defense looks to be considerably better than last year. The upgraded front seven will take some pressure off of the secondary. I am also pretty happy with the fact that we have potential kick returners now. Haven’t had that in a while. Call me a kool aid drinker or whatever, but I am optimistic for this season.
Actually Bugs Bsm has a valid point, why set this kid up to fail. He can be great by just putting him at his natual position. But no here goes andy making a Dlineman play fullback again. Why Andy Why?
Schiller,
MLB D Ryans was taken off the field on 3rd Downs by the Texans, last season which is one of the reasons they decided to Trade him since he was not a 3 Down LB for them any longer, maybe it’s a remnant of his injury, or maybe his play in coverage began to slip or was never that strong to begin with who knows… All I do know is the D Ryans was off the field for the Texans in obvious passing down during the 2011 Season and was replaced speedier,better cover LB’s in their Scheme under Wade Phillips so for them Ryans making $6 million per season as only a 2 Down Back wasn’t worth it for them, hence the Trade to the Eagles..
I will also go on record that the EAgles WR corps is not anyone close to Elite.
Once you get passed D-Jax & Maclin (which are true #2 WR,s and not #1 WR’s) the remainder of the Receiving Corop is adequate and nothing more … Teams have 3-4 play-makers at the WR position these days and the Eagles need to upgrade this position and McNutt is one who can do…
Eagles get 1 Injurty to either D-Jax/MAcln and they are in trouble in my opinion.. Especially if it;s D-Jax since Defenses can bascially man-up on the remainder of the Eagles WR’s ..
I agree about our WR’s Pman- thats why they tried to with smith last year. Im still holding out hope on Plax but i dont see it happening. Even our best hands guy last year couldnt bring it in- i know i know vinnie, Vicks fault on that one too. I want to see big mak step up the game this year. I want to see better route running all around from everyone and i want to see better hands.
bsm – Where they say players will play in April does not mean anything. They can start him at SAM in camp, then put him at WILL for game one. They Could Start him at SAM game one and move him to WILL game two.
Your post suggested absolute knowledge on two accounts which you factually do not have right now – that he’ll play SAM and that he’ll do poorly there. Its a verifyable FACT that by assuming those two things, you’re full of shit.
Good job exposing yourself once again as a hater who’s willing to assume shit. You sir are a terrible terrible fan.
Paul – true or false, the Giants just won the superbowl with equal or lesser wrs.
total # of superbowl winning teams who won with 0 “less than elite” units on their team – meaning all elite units…..0!
Stop pandering to the haters Paul. Your negativity is unwelcome and weakly based.
Paul – on Ryans. Dude, the switched to a 3-4 last year. THAT was widely documented as the reason they took Ryans off the field on 3rd downs and kept the younger Cushing out there. You’re correct that it was one of the reasons, besides salary and other scheme aspects, that Ryans became expendable for the Texans. Every 3-4 team takes one of the two ILBs off the field on 3rd/passing downs. He had been a 3 down LB as a MIKE in the 4-3 and every media person, and NFL personel member that commented, including the Eagles themselves, labeled him as a 3 down LB fit for the 4-3 specifically.
THE WHOLE DAMN POINT OF RYANS LAST YEAR WAS THE 3-4. THE EAGLES DONT PLAY THE 3-4
I would take last years Trio of WR from the GIants Nicks,Cruz & Manningham from 2012 over the Eagles Top 3 (d-Jax/Maclin & Avant) any day of the week.. .
I would also have taken the Packers,Saints,Falcons,Cowboys, Lions Top 3 WR’s as a group over the Eagles Top 3 from Last year’s Team too.. ,
Well Paul, fine then. I would disagree on at least a few of those teams – Falcons, Cowboys, Lions…
Whatever, it really doesn’t matter.
for the Record I like MLB D Ryans a lot and am very happy the Eagles got him for it’s a major updgrade the LB Corp.. I do however, have to state some of the deficiencies in his game when I see them, Pass Coverage for him is not a strength but that’s ok, for the Eagles have other good Pass Cover LB’s that they can utilize in obvious passing downs like Rolle,Clayton,Matthews and now rookie Kendricks..)
You know me Paul, I always will trust NFL coaches and professionals over a fan on a blog who is proven wrong most of the time.
Do yourself a favor and google Demeco Ryans three down
I must really give the Giants their credit….now, that’s an organization the know how how build a consistent winner that yields “multiple championships”.
We need to discuss the difference between winners like the the Giants compared to our teams under Andy Reid.
By the way…for the record guys expect Allen and Graham to be ceremoniously released next season without the team admitting they made major errors in these picks after another failed season.
SONGSRME2
May 1, 2012 – 3:33 pm
We need to discuss the difference between winners like the the Giants compared to our teams under Andy Reid.
Ok…I’ll be your huckleberry…
What are the differences in your opinion
Songs- I will bet you that Graham and Allen will not be released after next season – as a matter of fact – I will bet you this –
if after next season 2012 – the eagles release Graham or Allen I will never again post of GCOBB.com
if however Graham and Allen are not released – you need to go away – never again to post on GCOBB.com
time to put up or shut up
Allen will be a starter again this year and he will do fine. Id like to see what he gives us playing mid field. The real problem is with the FS position. all this talk last year about both of those spots really being the same is the biggest flaw.
Nate Allen is the Free Safety the need is at Strong Safety for the Eagles, isn’t it ??. Allen is not physcial enough to play down in the box effectively, his best spot is playing the Free Safety position where you pplay Centerfield more often and make plays on the ball which is what Allen does do well….
Navy, nice try. SONGS will take the bet but he won’t live up to it.
I had a similar bet with him right after the season before last. He stated that the Eagles wouldn’t address the RCB position with anyone of importance.
I told him they would address it, if they didn’t, I would never post again. If they did, HE would never post again.
Who was that DB we signed last year again? Can’t think of his name right now….. /sarcasm
As you can see — SONGS is still hanging around. Proving to me and to those that were around at the time that he is not a man of his word and a chump.
Paul, they don’t play free and strong. It’s been said many times.
BoB – yeah – I know – but I love watching him tap dance and soft shoe backpedal his way around – paste it!
Stevo and Pman – yeah – the eagles kind or try and interchange the safeties – it is supposed to ‘hide’ the coverages better – but Allen is better suited to play the more traditional FS… Maybe with more balanced play from the LBs and a little more run support from the DL they can move to a more traditional SS (think Mike Lewis here) where the SS can get up a little more – I think with the CBs in press and better LBs that could happen..
Y BEll was a SS correct?