A Deeper Look at the Rookies

Our favorite byline takes a look at the Eagles' rookie class today in a story that features a fantastically close-cropped shot of Kevin Kolb either looking pensive or trying to determine the best place to whack Donovan McNabb with a lead pipe. The money graf:

The fact that the Eagles have gone yet another draft without significant impact from their rookies is, depending on your view, a pat on the back to the players they have or a knock on the players they pick. The Eagles, naturally, prefer the former. Reid said depth has kept these guys off the field, not inability.

The whole piece is a nice overview of how the four remaining draft picks have done this year, so I won't re-hash it for you. I do, however, want to look a little more closely at these guys to see if there's anything their performance so far can tell us about the future. I'll also cover all the rookies, not just the drafted ones:

Kevin Kolb -- Draft (#36) -- We don't know much more about Kolb than we did at the start of the season, but we can gather a few things.

First of all, we know he's going to be a very different quarterback that McNabb, stylistically speaking. Whereas McNabb is more run 'n' gun, Kolb is a touch 'n' timing guy. You don't draft a guy in the upper second round if he can't make all the throws, so I'm sure he's got a strong enough arm, but the offense is going to look different when he's out there.

Secondly, Kolb has had the invaluable experience this season of living through a Philly-style superstar mauling / quarterback controversy. If he had any illusions about what he was facing before he arrived, they're gone now. (Lost youth is so tragic.)

Finally, while the Eagles are a pretty tight-lipped organization, it may be significant that we haven't heard much -- good or bad -- about how Kolb has looked in practice. The coaches have suggested he's progressing fine and he says he feels much better about things than he did before, but remember Tony Hunt was telling us how much more comfortable he felt picking up blitz schemes -- two months ago. However, if Kolb had been either lights-out or ... um ... lights-not-out running the scout team each week, we might have heard something by now.

Victor Abiamiri -- Draft (#57) -- Ah yes, the Eagles' other second round draft choice.  In many ways, VA is lucky that the Eagles made such a controversial pick before him this year.  Otherwise, an awful lot of people might be wondering why a guy drafted so highly can't really get on the field or make an impact, even when veterans like Jevon Kearse and Darren Howard are practically begging him to take their spots.

Obviously, it's way too soon to give up on the guy, but I'll steal a descriptor from Spadaro when I say that VA is clearly not a "quick-twitch" guy.  But the good news for Victor is that he already has a ready-made role for himself next year: Cheap Darren Howard.

Think about how the Eagles use Howard this year.  He's officially a defensive end, but most of his playing time comes at tackle in nickel situations, where he does a decent job getting some push on the quarterback.  (The Giants take this a step further when they play four defensive ends at the same time on obvious passing downs.)  Abiamiri, who is listed as one inch taller than Howard and only a few pounds lighter, is an obvious candidate for that kind of hybrid role next season. 

That brings up another good point, which is that the Eagles are going to need to go looking for some edge pass-rushing help as long as Juqua Thomas remains the starter.  Look for the drafting of another speedy, undersized, dare-I-say-Trent-Cole-type end in the lower rounds of this year's draft.  All they need is 15 snaps a game of full-on pressure so they can get Cole some breathers next year before his body breaks down.

Stewart Bradley -- Draft (#87) -- Here's the scary thing about Stewart Bradley: he hasn't been impressive on special teams this season.  Not that he hasn't been "good," I just can't remember a single play he's made all season that suggested he had anything special.

Now that's not a perfect indicator, by any means.  Mark Simoneau was a very good special teams player.  Keith Adams was a terror out there.  And we all remember Ike Reese.  But when you're giving a guy a chance every week to make plays in space and win one-on-one battles, you'd like to see a few more flashes of brilliance.

With that said, we truly don't know much about the guy and we'll have a much better handle on where things stand if he starts the next two games in place of Takeo Spikes. 

Tony Hunt -- Draft (#90) -- Sigh.  This one hurts.

I am approximately the biggest Tony Hunt fan in the world.  I'm sure that's not literally true (wait until after the holidays), but I love the guy.  I loved him at Penn State as he progressed from the "why is he in there instead of Austin Scott?" freshman all the way to the badass, Tennessee-stomping senior who famously said: "I don't really think they were that physical of a team.  They really boast and brag about their speed and I think we brought something to the table that they really couldn't handle."  And I was all ready to love him as the third piece of a talented trio of running backs who would come together to reshape the Eagles' offense.

Sigh (again).

I have to say, right now, that I'm not sure I still think this was a good draft pick.  EMPHATICALLY NOT because I don't believe in Hunt.  I do.  The guy's a gamer and it's not a question of if he can be effective.  It's just that I don't see how there's a role for him in this backfield.

Consider this, right now, we've got maybe the best back in football.  For at least the next few years, we need to let him touch the football as much as possible, particularly since the front office hasn't been inclined to surround the quarterback with lots of other top-tier weapons.  And since the coaching staff hasn't had the epiphany we all thought they did regarding the role of the running game in a dominant offense, there aren't going to be that many other carries to spread around (unless you want to be stupid in a Julius Jones / Marion Barber sort of way).

So all we really need is a guy who can run the ball maybe five times a game, be effective with it, and let Westbrook take a blow now and again.  Um, sounds like Correll Buckhalter to me.  And if for some strange reason there are carries left over for a third guy, why have it be a rhythm runner like Hunt, who wears people down over the course of a game with a blood-and-guts style, rather than a Moats type who might hit a home run for you if he only carries the ball once every game or so? 

But wait, what if Westbrook gets hurt?  Then what?  Well, given how incredibly dependent our offense was on Brian making huge plays this season, are we really best-served by having a back-up who has a completely different style?  Seems to me it makes more sense to have a mini-Westbrook so you're not having to reshape the whole offense when he goes out.   

Maybe the coaches have some top-secret plan for Hunt's future that will make all of this make sense.  For now, though...

Brent Celek -- Draft (#162) -- I'll admit right up front that I can't quite figure this guy out.  It has to mean something that he's already put up better numbers this year than Schobel has, but on the other hand I can't shake the concern that he didn't have more of an impact early in the season when L.J.'s injuries were keeping him off the field.

My current theory (subject to substantial further revision) is that young tight ends in this offense must have to go through the same learning process that makes it so difficult for rookie wide receivers to contribute quickly.  Add that playbook complexity to the more complicated issues of finding space in the middle of a crowded pro defense and maybe it's not surprising that there's a learning process involved.  I do think there's potential here, however.

Sav Rocca -- Free Agent -- Sav has been about what we expected.  His raw numbers aren't great, but I've been impressed with his touch so far.  I'll do a full offseason work-up like I did with Dirk last year (which improves on the raw numbers by taking into account the situations he faced), but I think Sav has been a good pick-up. 

For those who would cite his averages as proof that he doesn't have it, I think it's pretty clear that his leg is strong enough.  He just needs another offseason to improve his consistency and he should be fine there.

The one issue we do have with Sav is his ability as a holder.  I couldn't tell you one thing about how he does back there, but one look at Akers' stats suggests there are problems somewhere.  The snaps look fine, so it's either Sav's hands or Akers' head. 

Hope it's the former.

Nick Graham -- Free Agent -- Very solid tackler who has looked good all year on special teams coverage.  At the very least, I think there's a Quintin Mikell, consistent leader of the special teams, role for Graham here.  The NFL isn't exactly filled with cornerbacks who run 4.65 40s, however, so I do wonder if maybe a shift to safety might be in order.

Akeem Jordan -- Free Agent -- Tom's favorite Eagle might get a chance to show his stuff the next couple weeks due to injuries ahead of him.  I can't see the Eagles drafting a linebacker next year, given the current depth chart, so there might be room for the 6-1, 226-pound Jordan to stick around another season. 

Marcus Pashcal -- Free Agent -- Paschal has the distinction of being the other Iowa safety who won't be starting next season.

Pago Togafau -- Free Agent -- It's not a good sign when there's talk of moving the guy ahead of you to another position and still no one thinks you have a chance to get on the field.

Comments

[GFF]

A false dilemma, this: "The fact that the Eagles have gone yet another draft without significant impact from their rookies is, depending on your view, a pat on the back to the players they have or a knock on the players they pick." Anyone who covers the Eagles should know that in their system they seldom draft to fill immediate needs, and thus we cannot judge the success of a draft class till three or four years have elapsed. Even Kolb knows this: "When I first came here I had in the back of my mind that it could be at least 2 years before I played". I'm not saying I endorse that system, but I know that's how it works.

I'd hate to deal with a reporter like this who apparently tries to project feelings onto players ("'I wouldn't say I'm frustrated,' Abiamiri said..."; who the heck said he is frustrated?) and keeps pressing the same button ("Insisting again and again that he trusts Reid's decisions, Kolb admitted..."; who the heck keeps asking him again and again? And "admitted" implies that uncomfortable words are being put into his mouth).

Yellow journalism in the green nation.

[Andrew]

Re: Akers and Sav.

The snaps have NOT always looked fine. The recent miss in Dallas was due to a high snap by Dorenbos that Sav plucked out of the air up near his head and just barely got down. That has not been the only erratic snap from Dorenbos this season, and we should all clearly remember some of the erratic snapping in the pre-season. The Eagles need a better long snapper. Sav is an improvement as a holder over Johnson who was the cause of a lot of 2006 problems before the Bartrum injury.

Question, is Darren Howard good enough at Long Snapping to take that up as a mostly full time position as well as being a back-up D-End/D-Tackle? That could save his job.

Also re: Sav, I read he's close to setting what is I believe a team record for punts downed inside the 20.

[Me]

Dorenbos is no Bartrum, but then no one is.

I'm talking about the flight of Akers' ball, mostly. You watch the better kickers in the league and even when the conditions aren't good they get a true ball flight on a nice perpendicular axis. A lot of Akers' kicks this year -- even the makes -- haven't looked pretty.