The first day of the 2007 NFL draft for the Eagles has me baffled. I know that I’m pissed, but I’m not quite sure how pissed I am.
The Eagles traded down from the #26 overall pick to the #36 pick, sending #26 to the Cowboys for #36 and #87 and #159. I’m fine with this move because, amazingly, the top 4 safeties in the draft were off the board.
LeRon Landry went #6 to the Redskins, Michael Griffin #19 to Tennessee, Reggie Nelson #21 to Jacksonville and Brandon Meriweather #24 to Seattle.
I would’ve been fine with the Eagles keeping the pick and taking either Greg Olsen (TE) or Paul Posluszny (OLB), but when the safeties were all off the board, moving down was a solid move.
The problem is what they did with the #36 pick. They took Kevin Kolb, QB from Houston. I don’t doubt Andy Reid’s scouting of QBs. He’s got an eye for them, especially an eye for knowing which ones will be able to run his offense. What I do have a huge problem with is the fact that the Eagles reached for Kolb.
Kolb was the 6th highest ranked QB in the draft. And he was rated quite a bit behind the guys ahead of him, 3 of whom were still on the board when the Eagles took Kolb: John Beck (#40), Drew Stanton (#43) and Trent Edwards (#92).
The Eagles most likely could’ve taken Brian Leonard at 36 (Leonard went to St. Louis at #52), and still had Kolb at 57. Leonard may have even been a stretch at 36, but I think he would’ve helped the team tremendously THIS year. If the Eagles wanted defense with that pick, Chris Houston was still on the board, and he would’ve filled a huge need.
The Eagles rounded out their first day picks with Victor Abiamiri, defensive end from Notre Dame, at #57. In the third round, they selected Stewart Bradley, OLB from Nebraska at #, and Tony Hunt, RB from Penn State at #90.
I like the Bradley and Hunt picks. Bradley is a run-stuffing linebacker who could see some time this year, and Hunt is the prototypical big back. A good change-of-pace guy who should see some carries in short yardage situations. He also has good hands, and knows how to pick up the blitzer in pass protection.
Abiamiri is bigger than all of the ends the Eagles currently have, so maybe he’ll help a little bit against the run, if he finds his way onto the field. I think going in he’s probably #5 on the depth chart at the position. This pick seems like a knee-jerk, “Hey, we haven’t taken a lineman yet,” reaction by Reid.
Here’s some footage of the guy Andy Reid sees as McNabb’s successor:
When the season ended, I said the Eagles should think about drafting a project at the QB position. You usually don’t use a pick this early for a project though. Andy must’ve really seen something in this kid that no one else did. It’s a shame that he didn’t realize no one else saw it though, or he could’ve waited longer to make the pick.
Check out Bleeding Green Nation’s coverage of the draft here.
The 700 Level has some video of fans booing the Kolb pick here.
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It should be said, Kolb was not the consensus #6 QB. Alot of scouts had him higher and others even had him as #3 behind Russell and Quinn.
Fox sports had some pretty glowing stuff to say about him before the draft
"Talk all they want about Drew Stanton’s arm strength, we’ll take a more patient Kevin Kolb over any quarterback in this draft after the two first-rounders (Brady Quinn, JaMarcus Russell) are gone.”
Considering there was a run on QBs after the Eagles made this pick, can we be so sure it wasn't a decent value pick? I know where alot of mock drafts had him going, but we never know what a team's draft board looks like. It's not crazy to think Detroit or Miami could've grabbed Kolb. If the Eagles thought he was so good, it's understandable that they took him at #36...
I won't criticize Andy's judgment of a QB again, last time it didn't work out so well. The only thing that disappoints me is that the Eagles came out of this draft in basically the same situation they went in, as far as this season is concerned.
Hunt is an upgrade over Buck, probably, but who knows. The rest of the picks seem like more of the same.
There were players on the board who could've made the Eagles better this year. I think it was worth waiting on Kolb for their second pick of the second round. If Kolb was gone by then, so be it. Find another QB in next year's draft. It's not like he's going to supplant McNabb this year, or even next year. This pick was for 3 years down the road minimum.
Unless the pick alienates McNabb to the point where he wants out of town.
Anyway, it was a disappointing day for me, but I felt like that in 1999 too, so you never can tell.
I wanted the Birds to draft a QB as a project, let's say in the 3rd round, but with their 1st pick?! I wonder where this is going....McNabb has to be wondering too. Will this choice mess with his head? What does this say about what the Eagles think of his future?
Kolb would have been available in all likelihood for their second pick in the second round. I've never seen him play but reportedly he's never taken a snap behind center in his college career as Houston utilizes the shotgun. He hasn't played in any big games against powerhouse teams and it really makes me wonder what the Eagles are seeing here.
Good to see they selected a DE as they'll need some depth at the position if Kearse doesn't come back at 100%. I do like the Hunt selection and believe he'd be an upgrade over Buckhalter but also agree that he's not a game breaker. And the OLB from Nebraska probably was a good choice too and they needed to address that need.
But they failed to address their needs in the secondary, which is a disappointment. And while the Birds don't have much luck drafting receivers, what about a TE, as LJ Smith is on the last year of his contract? This draft brings up more questions than provides more answers...
I found the amount of size they drafted this year was surprising.
They drafted 2 backs that were bigger than any on their roster. They drafted a 6-2 corner, which is taller than any they have. A 6 ft safety, which I think is the tallest safety on the roster now. They picked Stewart Bradley who is now the biggest linebacker not named Trotter... and they picked the DE out of Notre Dame who is their second biggest DE at 270 lbs.
I don't know how these picks will turn out... but the clear commitment to bringing in big guys after being pushed around last year interests me.
That's a great observation about size, BleedingGreenNation.
Their Defensive Line is undersized and gets pushed around and run over. They haven't had a safety over 6 foot on the roster since Troy Vincent departed (except possibly William James, but he didn't play enough to make an impact.)
Maybe Andy is saying size does matter afterall.
It is heartening that they went big, the first pick still has me a little wound up, but I read your post about Kolb, and I have enough to be depressed about in the sports world right now, so I'm going to say I'm cautiously optimistic about that pick. We'll see how it works out down the road.
The thing to watch, like JJ said, is going to be how McNabb reacts to this pick. He could/should have at least 3 years left in his tank. And I'm sure that in his own mind it's more like 5. It would be great to have a Joe Montana/Steve Young situation on our hands, but can the Eagles really afford that kind of thing, from a financial and a psychological standpoint?
There was a conversation about the Eagles and the draft today at the car dealer, and all five of us were tentative about the Eagle's first round selection.
Somehow the McNabb draft came up in the conversation. Back at that time, I had wanted Daunte Culpepper as the Eagle QB, one guy wanted Tim Couch, another Akili Smith and one wanted McNown. The fifth guy had wanted the Eagles to take Ricky Williams. No one had wanted McNabb as the Eagle QB at the time of the draft.
Considering that Smith, Couch and McNown are all out of the NFL and Culpepper is barely hanging on by a thread, the Eagles look like they made the right choice. Maybe they know something we don't.