Andy Reid is undoubtedly locked in a closet somewhere, ignoring his delinquent kids, crouched over a sheet of stats, a video screen or a ouija board preparing for the upcoming draft.
His method of preparation is as much a mystery as the players he covets, and while educated guesses may have come close in the past, each year he’s been at the Eagles helm, pretty much no one really knew who the big guy was going to take, the exception being Donovan McNabb. Maybe the McNabb draft set the tone for Reid’s tight-lipped future. In 1999 everyone, their grandmother and their mayor was calling for Ricky Williams and Andy Reid’s head if he didn’t take the running back. Reid stuck to his guns, drafted a franchise QB, and 8 years later Iggles fans everywhere still feel a little bit of shame for doubting him.
Since then, Reid’s first round selections have run the gamut from reaching to fill a need, to trading up for value, to completely blowing everyone’s mind. Here’s a year-by-year look at the Eagles first-round selections under Reid:
Like I said, the Eagles first rounders have been a mixed bag. The common thread over the past five drafts is that the picks were not expected. When we look at the mock drafts around the Internet, this year is shaping up to be no different. People have the Eagles drafting everything from a safety, to a linebacker, to a tight end, to a full back, to a lineman…anything is possible.
So what should we expect? Well, the reason the Eagles have sat atop the NFC East for 5 of the past 6 years is a system. It’s not an offensive or defensive system, it’s more of a business system. The organization assigns a value to each player, if they can have that player for that value, they go for it. Mainly, this formula is applied to their own talent.
They lock down the players they project to be vital cogs in the machine early, before they reach their potential. The let players, even fan favorites like Duce Staley and Trotter, walk when their price is too high. They anticipate, at least a year ahead of time, when they’re going to lose a key player, and they draft accordingly.
That last point is the key to this year’s draft, I think. In the 2002 draft, the Eagles took Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown and Michael Lewis in the first and second rounds. Like I said, the defensive backfield was the furthest thing from a need on the team, but Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent were a year away from free agency, and the Eagles knew that it wouldn’t make business sense to pay through the nose for them. They got tremendous young talent to replace them, before the position became a need. Why? Because the db’s were, and still are, the key to Jim Johnson’s pressure defense. Without corners who can cover man-on-man, blitzing is a fool’s errand.
So, using the past as an indicator, I’m going to say that the Eagles take a safety in the first round, but not for the reason you’d think. Yes, an upgrade over Sean Considine should be high on the Eagles’ list of immediate needs, but I don’t think it’s at the top of the list. Stopping the run is the most immediate need for the upcoming season. The reason the Eagles will take a safety is that the key to their defense, Brian Dawkins, probably only has a year or two left. Draft now for the future, that was the motto in 2002, and it applies here too. Losing Dawkins will hurt this defense more than any other player, they need to start grooming his replacement now, so when the time comes, the drop off won’t be as great.
Here’s ESPN’s list of the top safeties on the board, expect the Eagles to take one of them, maybe even trade up for one.
That’s my take on things, but if it doesn’t go down this way next Saturday, well, in Andy I trust.
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If we had to pick a safety... Landry will go top 10 so he's out of reach. I'd trade up for Nelson if he falls to late teens early 20s.
Otherwise, I'd trade down into the early second and grab Merriweather, Weddle, or Griffin. Out of that group, Merriweather probably has the most talent but his character issues are a little worrisome given the new iron fist Goodell is wielding.
I'd prefer Griffin to Nelson actually. I'd also be completely in favor of trading down, especially if they could find a way to get a safety and Brian Leonard.
Nice pick in the SB mock draft by the way.
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/story/2007/4/18/114730/562
For some reason ive got a good feeling about Griffin. He's just a football player. Nelson i tihnk could be an elite nfl player if he got in the right system, but i dont really think he'd fit in the Eagles system with Dawkins whos kinda a similar player.
Oh and Brian, all of the blogsbyfans dudes should do a mock draft. Lets get that together. However many people there are (about 6?), just have every take their favorite team and split up the rest of the NFL teams equally.
Ricky,
I thought about a mock draft, but it only really works if you have one guy doing it, with a deep knowledge, or you have one guy for each team.
If you want to update your mock draft some time this week, we can get it up on the front page. I think you're our resident expert.