Looking Ahead To The Eagles’ Draft
Before I really get started, does anyone else wonder where Kurt Coleman suddenly found the ability to play defense? That could be a long discussion, so we should probably table it for a while.
I sat last night watching the NFC title game, lamenting the fact that the Eagles never brought in Panthers’ DC Sean McDermott for an interview. It’s just what I’d like to see in Philadelphia. What do I get this morning? A contract extension for TE Zach Ertz. Not bad, but, not what I’d want to see if I were the general manager.
And that brings me to my topic for today. The Draft is coming. And before I start, let me just give you some background information on me and the Draft. First, I love the Draft. I’m one of the people that will sit through Rounds 4-7, waiting to see if my team will find that gem or if they will make a trade to net them more picks. I’ll read over all kinds of mock drafts, trying to guess who will be taken in the first round. One year I even set my own personal record, getting 13 of the first 32 correct. I even predicted a trade among teams in the first round.
Still not convinced I love the Draft? OK, how’s this? When I’m playing Madden, I will use a notebook and keep track of players I am scouting. I will keep track of where they got drafted, just in case I want to try and trade for them. I would then make a list of the players I picked and what round I took them. On some older versions of Madden, it would boo loudly when you made a bad pick. I always hated that. I don’t believe I ever had a draft without getting booed. Even with all the scouting that I do on Madden, it won’t help the Eagles in this upcoming Draft so let’s discuss their options at #13 overall.
First, I’m solidly convinced that the Browns are going to take Cal’s Jared Goff. I got the chance to see him at the Armed Forces Bowl last December. Up close, he’s a very unassuming kid. You could tell he’s a bit embarrassed of all the attention that’s being heaped upon him. Once the game started however he justified the attention by breaking the bowl game record for touchdown passes in a game with six. He also broke Aaron Rodgers’ Cal record for single-season touchdown passes. He could put touch on his throws, he could throw the deep ball, he could lead his receiver when necessary and he could throw darts, as evidenced by the play where he stood, flat-footed, and threw one 55 yards downfield. The entire pressbox came away saying one word, collectively – “Wow!” I started dreaming of Goff wearing wings on his helmet, but the win over New York in Week 17 kind of killed that as there is no way he’ll be available at 13.
I’m still hoping the team goes quarterback. Some early reports have the team taking an offensive lineman. Other reports have the team taking Ole Miss’s Robert Nkemdiche. To me, he brings way too much baggage. This is a guy that fell over fifteen feet from a hotel room window in downtown Atlanta and, upon further review, had seven marijuana cigarettes in his room. No, thanks – I’ll pass. I’ve also seen reports that Laquon Treadwell from Ole Miss will be there at No. 13. I doubt the Eagles would take him, since they took a receiver last year. I’m still hoping Paxton Lynch falls to this area, leaving him available for the Eagles. I refuse to believe reports that the Cowboys are seriously considering North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz at No. 4 overall. Despite his stellar career, to have him go before Lynch seems a bit of a reach.
Will the team go offensive line here? It makes for a solid pick. The Dolphins took tackle Jake Long in 2008. He was a solid pick but the team needed a quarterback, and by the time it came for them to select again, the two top choices, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco, were long gone. The team had to settle for Chad Henne, and the rest is history. Long had a great career in Miami before injuries took their toll. He went to St. Louis as a free agent, was released and spent 2015 in Atlanta as a backup. In other words, like Bill Parcells said in his autobiography, you have to get your first pick right otherwise it affects your team for years.
I’d still like to see a quarterback here. Since the team doesn’t have a second round selection, one can hardly expect any of the good signal callers to be available in the third round. If I’m the GM, I take a quarterback. Unless……….
Now, this is as radical a move as there could be. And, I come up with this theory from all of my “draft experience” on Madden. By no means is it official so if people read this and begin to panic, please re-read my disclaimer.
If I’m the general manager and they announce that I’m on the clock, and say Goff and Lynch are gone, it’s time to play Let’s Make A Deal. I call Tennessee, and do my best Kevin Costner-Draft Day speech on them. I tell them I’ll give them No. 13 for their second rounder for the next two years. It gives me a bit more time to see how the Draft is unfolding, and it allows me cap flexibility by not paying a first round salary. Connor Cook from Michigan State would be a great choice at the top of Round Two. It would also take Cook away from Dallas, who many have projected to take him at their slot in Round Two.
Again, it’s a radical idea. My general manager skills are all on a PlayStation console. So by no means is this anything definitive. I watched the East-West Shrine Game last weekend and wasn’t all that impressed. Give me some time to watch the Senior Bowl and I can come away with a better wish list. The Combine is at the end of February and that will give me more insight into coming up with my own mock draft. I hope everyone out there, reading this, comes up with a mock draft of their own. It’s a great conversation starter, and the debates could go on for weeks, leading right up to the actual Draft.
Speaking of, it’s my goal to one day attend the NFL Draft in person. To me, that would be a great weekend getaway. Somehow, my wife doesn’t see it the same way. Go figure!
Fly Eagles Fly!
Photo: Rob Foldy-Getty Images
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