Iggles Blog - Philadelphia Eagles Blog

Competition Is The Key

The degree to which even tiny misjudgments can have huge impacts in the NFL makes it even more impressive that the Eagles were able to stay on top for as long as they did.

Lots of people want to rip the organization for a couple bad drafts a few years ago, but consider just how strange it is that one position that the team clearly thinks is important -- the defensive line -- became such an area of weakness:

• Corey Simon, one of the best defensive tackles in the league, got fed up with his contract, then when he got his new contract from the Colts he got fed up in a different way and promptly ate his way out of the league.  He's still only 31 and should still be playing.  Have to say the Eagles won this gamble in letting him go.
• Jevon Kearse didn't ... exactly pan out as a free agent addition.  Also 31 and should still be playing at a high level.
• Free agent signing Darren Howard also didn't work out the way they hoped.  So much for guys who just need a change of scenery.
• Derrick Burgess had all the talent but couldn't stay healthy until he finally caught a lucky break in his contract year.  The Eagles didn't want to gamble on his health issues.  They lost that one.
• Raheem Brock was drafted by the Eagles in the 7th round of the 2002 draft.  Everyone thinks the Eagles cut him, but what really happened is that his agent refused to accept the remaining bonus money the Eagles had in their rookie pool.  Rather than dealing with a holdout from a guy who wasn't likely to make it anyway, the Eagles cut him loose. 
• Sam Rayburn, a solid run-stopping DT, somewhat mysteriously lost the great strength that had been his biggest asset.  He was ineffective after that happened.

That's a fair amount of talent they Eagles tried to stockpile.  Throw young guys like Cole, JT and potentially Bunkley or Patterson into the mix -- and keep Darwin Walker in a position where he's just a pass rusher and not an every down player -- and in theory that's one heck of a defensive line.

Of course, as we now know, none of that worked out and the Eagles are still trying to find the right pieces to put together at that position.  After the last three offseasons worth of solid drafting and free agent signing, they might finally be there.

- - -

The defensive line was sort of a nightmare scenario, but I think Andy Reid made another miscalculation a few years ago in thinking he could bank on the character of the locker room to make sure everyone stayed hungry.  Whether it's because of the players who left or getting too used to success or even the fractures caused by Owens, it seems pretty clear that this didn't work out. 

Which is why the focus over the past couple offseasons for the Eagles seems to be all about competition.  Other than the unquestioned supremacy of Brian Westbrook, there isn't another position on the team where guys can feel safe without looking over their shoulders. 

And that's a good thing.  Remember that article a few weeks ago about Jamaal Jackson's workouts?  He wasn't hitting the gym twice a day because he wanted to win the Super Bowl -- although that's part of it -- he was doing it because he was worried some kid was going to come in an steal his job.  And what do you know, the Eagles drafted a guy who can play his position this past weekend.  Time to battle it out.

Heck, even DeSean Jackson, who damn well better be the guy we need at returner this season, has another rookie looking over his shoulder in the form of a 4.3X running safety who also returned kicks in college. 

No one gets anything for free.  And that's the way it should be.

Remember, He Gets Paid For This

Jason's angry, I'm just laughing.

Because the Eagles are the only team ever in the league that hasn't hit on 100 percent of its draft picks and you should be TOTALLY PISSED AS A FAN when fifth-round draft picks aren't quite good enough to make it in the NFL.

Lito Situation From The Other Side

A look at the teams that might still be interested in the guy I don't really want to trade.

No Way

This makes absolutely no sense:

The Daily News reported yesterday that Sheppard's agent, Lamont Smith, was trying to shop the two-time Pro Bowl cornerback to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a package of 2009 draft picks.

Smith, through his receptionist, said he would not comment. Sheppard did not return a phone call. An Eagles source said Smith's attempt to cut a deal with Jacksonville was news to the team. The same source said there were no trade discussions involving Sheppard with any team yesterday.

There are three problems with this:  1)  A "package" of picks means no first-rounder and likely also means conditional picks based on performance, 2)  Jacksonville is a very good team that likely will have poor draft position next season, and most importantly 3)  Why trade Lito now for picks next year when you could instead have Lito play out the season and then trade him for picks next year?  Even if you got a slightly worse deal, that's easily counterbalanced by having him on the field in 2008.

I also don't buy for one minute that the Eagles didn't have a plenty of offers this weekend.  I bet they've talked to 10 different teams about Lito.  The problem is that most of those teams were looking for a fire sale and the Eagles were only interested in two things:

1. A big-time wide receiver
2. A first-round draft pick

Absent one of those two things (or maybe equivalent draft pick value) the Eagles weren't trading Lito.

- - -

I actually think -- and this is pretty amazing -- that the Eagles' chances of getting Chad Johnson in a trade are dramatically improved from where they were last week.  I'm as conflicted as you are on the thought of rooting for another attention hog, but what I'm not conflicted about is how much better he would make this team.

The Bengals didn't do anything crazy, but they definitely came out of the draft better prepared for a future without Chad Johnson than they were before.  And please note in that link that the league's 26th-ranked pass defense didn't draft a cornerback.

The Eagles had the kind of draft that makes you think they're ready to play football right now.  They've got two new pass catchers and a quarterback coming off his first healthy offseason since the Super Bowl.  With that said, they drafted the kind of wide receiver who would be a perfect complement to a guy like Johnson on the outside... 

I'm not at all sure the Eagles are willing to wait until June 1 to make a deal happen, but right now I'd say the Johnsonmeter is sitting at about 30, rather than last week's 10.

Pretty Slim Pickings

Not a great year to entice undrafted rookies to come take a shot at the roster.  Too many draft choices and too much depth already in place.

Golden's a good guy.  Team captain his senior year.  More background info here if you're interested.

Courageous Reporting

We won't even begin to know how good this draft is until training camp -- and the true story won't be told until we see what the Eagles do with that #1 draft pick next season -- but I do respect the opinion of Eagles fans worried that the team didn't make enough of an immediate offensive impact with their draft choices.  Obviously, I don't agree, but we'll see who's right soon enough.

What I don't respect are local writers who play to the worst impulses of the crowd by saying things like this:

Fans are debating whether the Eagles avoid drafting in the first round because of economics or simple wrong-headedness.

In other words, are they too cheap to pay first-round money to a guy they don't really love?

Or do they really think the holdovers from an 8-8 team are so good they cannot be replaced?

Or, hey, third option, because they could get the same guys they wanted while still picking up extra selections.  Inane, false dichotomy there.

But the lavish price the Panthers paid to get the Eagles' No. 19 pick on Saturday provided the Birds with a fig leaf of cover.

Or, rather than being a "fig leaf," it's what actually happened.  It's not like Shawn Andrews was sitting at #19.  And as I said before, I simply don't understand the anger over picking up two extra draft picks and deferring your first-round choice for a year when the guy you would have drafted wouldn't have played for at least a year anyway.

How they're gonna spin yesterday's fourth-rounder, though, is beyond me.

To quote colleague Bob Brookover, the Birds "took a cornerback (Wisconsin's Jack Ikegwuonu) with legal problems and a knee injury that won't allow him to play this year."

Spin that one!

The guy has "first-round" talent and majorly screwed up the last year of his life.  Cornerbacks are hard to find and so, much like Buffalo drafted the injured WIllis McGahee a few years ago as a development prospect, the Eagles used one of their three fourth-round picks on this guy.  It may or may not work out, given that all picks after the first couple rounds are a crap shoot, but that's kind of what you can do when you make trades with Carolina that get you a ton of picks.

Wow, that sure was tough to "spin!"

And no, I'm not linking to this jerk.  Screw giving him any traffic.

Wait, Dallas Did What?

Somehow I missed this in all the excitement over the Eagles the last couple days.  Check out this trade between the Cowboys and the Dolphins:

Looking to get back into the fourth round of this weekend's NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys on Friday traded linebacker Akin Ayodele and tight end Anthony Fasano to the Miami Dolphins for a fourth-round pick, reports NFL Network's Adam Schefter.

Ayodele, who was Dallas' starting weakside inside linebacker for the past two years, lost his job when the Cowboys acquired seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker Zack Thomas in free agency...

Fasano, a backup to Jason Witten, caught 14 passes in each of his two NFL seasons. He had shoulder surgery in January.

The Cowboys gave up both Ayodele AND Fasano for a measly fourth-round pick?  And this is because they expect Zach Thomas -- he of the many, many concussions -- to hold down the WIL position for years?

That must have been one hell of a player the Cowboys were targeting in the fourth round.  Possibly at a position of great need.  Let's see who they picked:

Tashard Choice
RB, Georgia Tech
5'11" 215

Pick Analysis: Choice was a little bigger than originally believed. He plays the game with intensity and will run with power like Lamont Jordan. He was better as a junior than a senior, but still ran for 1,356 yards. Considering the Cowboys took Felix Jones in the first round, Dallas likely viewed Choice as the best player available at this point.

And from SI.com:

ANALYSIS: Choice made the most of his opportunities at Georgia Tech and gets a lot out of his abilities. He may never be a starter at the next level, but he has enough skill to be a productive backup.

So Jerry Jones gave up two (reasonably) productive players for a single draft choice in the fourth round that they ended up turning into a running back, which would be understandable except that they already have Marion Barber and they had just drafted Arkansas speed merchant Felix Jones in the first round.

And people think the Eagles' front office doesn't know what it's doing...

Trent Cole vs. Bryan Smith

Trent Cole
University of Cincinnati

Size at time of draft:
6-2 1/4 236 lbs
or
6-2, 257 lbs
Also this:
In 2002, Trent started nine games, including eight contests as a 227-pound defensive tackle

Size now:
6-3, 270 lbs

Measureables:
4.74 in the 40-yard dash (wind-aided)
4.86 in the 40-yard dash
35.5-inch vertical jump
10'2" broad jump
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 15
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.22
3-Cone Drill: 6.98

Performance:
In 2004, he started every game at weak-side defensive end, again picking up All-Conference honors. He totaled 68 tackles (41 solos) as he led the team with 8.5 sacks and ranked fourth in the nation with 22 stops for losses.

- - -

Bryan Smith
McNeese State

Size at time of draft:
6-2, 228 lbs
or
6-3, 231 lbs

Measureables:

40 Yrd Dash: 4.74 and 4.65
Vertical Jump: 32.5" and 36.5"
Broad Jump: 10'00" and 09’09”
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 17
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.40 and 4.31
3-Cone Drill: 7.22 and 7.20

Performance:
Three-year starter named Southland Defensive Player of the Year last season when he was also awarded All-American honors.  Finished the year with 60 (tackles) / 22.5 (tackles for loss) / 10.5 (sacks) lining up at defensive end.  Junior-year totals included 68/21/13.5.

- - -

Not saying he's the next Trent Cole, although the similarities are there.  Just saying that to knock the guy for his pre-NFL numbers seems a little shortsighted given the Trent Cole experience.

For Your Reading Pleasure

The personal blog of new Eagle Trevor Laws.

Here's part of his take on the combine:

Anyways, on to the updates. If you remember awhile back one of my goals was to weigh in over 300lbs. Well, I can check that one off as I weighed in at 304 lbs officially. Nice. I also measured 6' 3/4". That is actually a quarter of an inch TALLER than Sedrick Ellis. Not sure why I get dinged for my height and Sed doesn't...but oh well. So I was happy about that.

Today was a trip too. Started off on the bench press. Again, I had set a goal of above 30 reps before the combine...and I can check that bad boy off too cuz I put up 35 reps!!! I am pretty pumped about that. It can be intimidating walking into that room and seeing everyone just staring at the bench. I focused though, and just started pumping myself up. Funny thing happened as I was doing that...the dude that was counting and helping with the bench started getting into it too...and started yelling at me "show em what you got!!", then he pulls out "show em what you got WOLFMAN! Show em WOLF!"...I was like WHAT? I went with it though and absolutely destroyed the bench. I actually tied for 2nd among DL only 2 behind the leader. Some other notables...Kentwan Balmer got 33, Sedrick Ellis got 34, Demario Pressley got 28 and Red Bryant got 20. So I'm pretty proud that I beat all of those guys.

Video Links for All Eagles Draft Picks

Compilation of video links for all Eagles draft choices available here.