If the front office is to receive accolades for their success in the 2002 draft, they must also be ripped for wasting an entire weekend in 2003. They didn’t have to show up to the draft.
They could have gone fishing or camping or hung out in a mall arcade. Those that play fantasy football know that when doing an online draft, you can have the computer do an autodraft for you. This is what the Eagles should have done in 2003. I don’t believe a random computer draft could have been less productive than what they came home with from this draft.
-1st Round, pick #15 (from San Diego): Jerome McDougle, defensive end, Miami: I’m trying to think of an appropriate analogy that will accurately convey what a waste this guy has been. The Eagles traded up half the first round to select McDougle. He has played in 27 games and recorded two sacks since being drafted. He’s also been consistently injured badly and/or shot. Freddie Mitchell has really been the poster boy in Philly for poor drafting, but this pick is way, way worse. McDougle should pay rent to the injury report for spending so much time there.
-2nd Round, pick #61: LJ Smith, tight end, Rutgers: Not sure where I fall on this one because Smith has had productive times in Philadelphia. But there was always that sense that he should have been better. His injury- and mistake-plagued 2007 aside, he’s been a decent player who is prone to stinking (that make sense?). As much as I liked his speed, I equally was turned off by the fact that he protects himself from a tackler by using the ball. If a defender stuck his helmet in LJ’s stomach, you just knew that ball was going to come flying out the back end. Oh, and thanks for fumbling in the Super Bowl too.
-3rd Round, pick #95: Billy McMullen, wide receiver, Virginia: I remember hearing that Eagles teammates nicknamed him “Hands” in training camp. That quickly became a complete joke. Like calling a fat person “Tiny.” McMullen was yet another huge whiff from the Eagles personnel department. He was eventually traded last year to the Vikings (I guess Childress missed what he brought to the table. Or maybe he made the best coffee in the locker room?) for Hank Baskett. In his time in Eagleland, he caught one TD pass. Yikes, that’s bad.
-4th Round, pick #131: Jamaal Green, defensive end, Miami: I’m running out of ways to say “this pick stunk” and keep it fresh. He played in two games in 2004 and recorded two tackles and one sack. I would imagine those stats are from the two JV games at the end once the season was wrapped up. People talk about how much Terrell Owens helped get the 2004 Eagles to the Super Bowl, but what about Jamaal Green? Those were two extremely important tackles. Simply phenomenal.
-6th Round, pick #185: Jeremy Bridges, guard, Southern Miss: They drafted an NFL-caliber player here, but he didn’t so much as dress for the Eagles. He went to Arizona in 2004 and played some games there for two years (their line has been horrific by the way), then played on a decent line in Carolina last year.
7th Round, pick #242: Norman Lejeune, safety, LSU: I actually liked Lejeune when I saw him early on. I thought he would hang on and at least contribute on special teams. In 2005 and 2006, he played in seven games with the Dolphins (we know how good they are). Other than that, this guy hasn’t done much. I’m not going to get too made because it’s the seventh round.
Overall, since I started reviewing these drafts, this is clearly the worst. LJ Smith won’t be resigned after this year and I’m sure McDougle will be released (if his contract isn’t up anyway). As of 2008, the Eagles will officially have nothing from this draft.
micahw@feverpitchmedia.com
