Draft Wrap
Posted: April 28th, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 72 Comments »The 2012 Draft is in the books. I love what the Eagles did. Not every pick was my favorite guy, but that’s a good thing. The team needs to be a bit unpredictable. Throwing curveballs is good. That shows they aren’t caught in ruts and will think outside the box.
1 – DT Fletcher Cox – 6-4, 298 – Mississippi State
2 – LB Mychal Kendricks – 5-11, 240 – Cal
2 – DE Vinny Curry – 6-3, 266 – Marshall
3 – QB Nick Foles – 6-5, 243 – Arizona
4 – CB/RS Brandon Boykin – 5-9, 183 – Georgia
5 – OT Dennis Kelly – 6-8, 321 – Purdue
6 – WR Marvin McNutt – 6-3, 216 – Iowa
6 – OG Brandon Washington – 6-3, 320 – Miami
7 – RB Bryce Brown – 5-11, 224 – Kansas State
UDFA update
Players are talking to lots of teams right now and some deals fall through so nothing is final until reported by the team. For now:
RB Chris Polk – 2nd round grade, but went unpicked due to serious concerns about his shoulders. Great signing.
CB Cliff Harris – Good playmaker, but lacks ideal speed and has character issues.
S Phillip Thomas – Big time talent from Syracuse, but got suspended from the team and went pro. Has NFL ability.
TE Chase Ford – Loose rumor on him to Eagles. Big guy w/ talent, but didn’t play a ton. Best football is ahead of him.
* * * * *
Quick review of each pick.
Cox – Great value, fit. Can come in and help as a rookie. Natural pass rusher who should thrive under Jim Washburn.
Kendricks – Gifted athlete and LB who will compete for the SAM job right away. Can tackle, blitz, and cover.
Curry – Great value, fit. Can come in and help as a rookie. Natural pass rusher who should thrive under Jim Washburn.
Foles – Big pocket passer that the Eagles really liked. Don’t overlook that fact. He wasn’t a desperation pick. Team wanted him.
Boykin – Great value, fit. Can be the slot guy right away if he adjusts to the NFL. Should be the KOR immediately. Fast, athletic.
Kelly – Big OT with enough athleticism to play in Mudd’s system. Might be best at RT, but could be LT for us.
McNutt – WR with size and skill. Good in the Red Zone. Struggled with top CBs, but should be good role player for us.
Washington – Reid said he’ll play OG for us. Raved about his 2010 game tape when Brandon played at OG for Miami.
Brown – Elite RB recruit coming out of high school. Never panned out in college. Eagles are rolling the dice on talent here.
* * * * *
Key for me is that the defense got an inside rusher, an edge rusher, a starting caliber LB, and a slot corner. The players we got for those positions were all highly thought of prior to the draft. Didn’t seem likely that the Eagles would be able to land all 4. The board broke well and Howie did a good job of letting things play out rather than panicking and moving up.
The defense got faster, better, and more talented. I’m very excited to see what the group can do this year.
The offense? The offense got talent, but I think saying that it got better would be an over-aggressive statement. The players acquired on that side of the ball are here for the long term and aren’t likely to contribute much as rookies. McNutt could play some, but the other guys not so much.
If Foles can develop into a starting QB in 3 or 4 years…then this draft will look really good. If he’s just a backup or turns into a bust, at least the team only used a 3rd rounder.
I will write longer, more in-depth reviews of the Eagles players in the coming days. Need to do tape study on some players so I can truly appreciate them.
I don’t believe in giving draft grades, but I am very happy with the players we got. Feels like a good combination of talent, production, and character. Eagles took some chances, but reasonable ones and at the right time.
The Eagles will take a look at the young guys in the next week and then could go out and sign veteran FAs for any areas they still aren’t comfortable with. Could be WR, SS, TE, or FB. We’ll see.
* * * * *
Anyone in need of a good laugh must check out Jimmy Bama’s best post ever. Absolutely genius. And sexy.
_
Some UDFA targets at a couple of postions.
FB
Broderick Green
Jason Ford
Antuanne Kerr
Emil Igwenagu
Joe Martinek
Cody Johnson
WR
Marquis Maze
Gerell Robinson
Kashif Moore
Damaris Johnson
Lavasier Tuinei
I haven’t seen these guys listed with teams yet, but that will change shortly.
LB?
There aren’t a lot of LBs I’m interested in. Here’s a couple:
LB
Dexter Heyman
Tyler Nielsen
ILB
Steven Johnson
Broncos signed Kansas LB Steven Johnson. I’m assume he’s the same one.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/rapid-reports/post/18883122
Played with Steve during our pee wee days as a Rose tree colts in delaware County back in the day lol. We lost a playoff game to Clifton heights cuz we gave him the ball on a 4th and goal and we couldn’t get a damn yard lol. Man I miss those days
Eagles getting punter competition https://twitter.com/#!/HilljakLinbeard/status/196401170695200769
Good.
What’s the deal with Matt McBriar? Is his career over? I find it odd that no one signed him yet in free agency and Dallas went out and drafted a punter.
loving these UDFA’s Howie and the rest of the FO and scouts are really putting in some work
would the eagles target chase minnifield or is he already gone?
Could be target. Haven’t seen that he signed with anyone. Knee concerns caused his drop.
He just went to washington
Polk’s concern isn’t shoulders. It’s a degenerative hip condition. Must more ominous.
I’ve heard both, but someone I trust said shoulders so I went with it.
I was definitely really happy about this draft. One question I had that maybe you can address is the Eagles approach in the third round. With the exception of the year we drafted Bradley, it seems we go for projects in the third round.
To name a few:
Nick Foles
Curtis Marsh
Daniel Te’o-Nesheim
Bryan Smith
Chris Gocong
Ryan Moats (I’m not sure if he was considered a project or there were just concerns about him)
Brian Westbrook
Is this a coincidence or is this actually done intentionally by the Eagles, thinking they can target a boom or bust player at this point of the draft.
Its a fairly sound stategy. You want your first 2 rounders to start, and 3rd and 4th round is where you start looking for subpackage players. If Eagles think they are strong enough to draft projects in the 3rd, then great – they aren’t wasting top picks on it and you never know who is going to be good/bad. Trust your coaches.
I actually don’t mind the strategy, but I do mind the success rate. Since BWest in 2002, we have had on true hit with Bradley and the rest were busts (I’m not counting Curtis Marsh and obviously Nick Foles). If they are going to use the 3rd round as a boom or bust round, they need to do better scouting on those players.
But they’ve missed out on some really good talents in 3rd round because of that philosophy. I just wish they would go back, take the BPA, and try to get boom/bust projects in the 5th and 6th rounds.
TE/FB Emil Igwenagu from UMass to Philly.
First of all… Thank you, Tommy. I greatly appreciate your time, effort and poignant insight.
I came across some info in the trash, at the Nova Care Complex. Players that the Birds wanted to draft, but for one reason or another it didn’t work out.
Levy Adcock – OT Oklahoma State- Could always add more talent there.
Josh Bush – DE Georgia State – Seemed like a natural fit, when paired with Cox.
Tim Fugger – DE Vanderbilt – If you did pair Cox w/ Bush the next logical move would be to Fugger.
Joe Long- OT Wayne State- I wanted to get Long, but it was more wishful thinking than anything.
Eddie McClam -DE Old Dominion- I heard the whole War Room eventually got into McClam, but then they never made the phone call, after.
Christo Bulukidi- DE Georgia State- Promptly removed when they realized that a scouts sloppy handwriting had led them to believe his name was BUKAKI.
The story is that they looked into a couple of BJ’s, Cunningham and Coleman, but passed on both. They felt one couldn’t go deep, the other has been known to choke at the crucial moment. No interest.
Rumor has it that they were interested in two WR in the 6th. They passed up Byrd for McNutt, because the team felt them both out and McNutt and just had a lot more spunk.
In the 7th, I thought they would stay DEF and take Bush, or McClam. The Eagles FO said, that as it got later in the evening they were open to Bush, McClam, or Byrd. Pointing out, that at that stage, they would be willing to go either way in the right situation. Really just trying to determine which prospect has less warts.
So very inappropriate,. but also funny. Very well done, sir.
I’m happy you appreciate it. Between this and my comments on the Cox thread, I may’ve been kicked off of a sight with rules that are…stiffer.
So hard for me not to laugh…
actually we did get adcock…will be interesting to see him and cox go at each other in tc…which cox will come out on top or who will be……….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLkQeuU1LmM
Head to Head
oh my…hanson cox ups you one
Nicely done 🙂 I choked on my coffee…
Lots of players who get good penetration there.
If getting a 1st round player is a 50-50 gamble, and the Eagles just drafted/signed 2 RBs that are said to have 1st round talent, does that mean the Eagles likely got at least one 1st round RB?
I see that Scout’s Notebook came in 2nd this year in draft predicting
http://www.thehuddlereport.com/Free/Top.100.Scores/2012.shtml
Congrats Tommy!
I don’t understand drafting a QB in the 3rd. Eagles have their starter in vick, the back up with Edwards, Kafka, and now a 3rd round QB? they can’t cut him right? Thats burning a 3rd round pick. Are they gonna cut Kafka? Or will they keep 4 QB’s? I don’t get it…
It’s all about expected value. Say Fletcher Cox has an 80% chance of being a star. As a DT, you figure he can have a large impact in the game. He’s worth drafting early and trading picks to get him. The higher the chance that the guy can dominate his position, plus the value of the position determines draft order. That’s why the Eagles don’t draft LBs early. They believe even the best ones don’t impact the game as much as an okay DL for example.
QB is far and away the most important position. Foles could have a 10% chance of being a star and the pick might be worth it because a star QB can positively alter not just a season but the course of a franchise.
The problem with our fan base is that we tend to focus on the 10% without considering the nature of the position. So the message boards are filled with how everyone knows AR falls in love with QBs. Buffet jokes to follow. When the 90% failure happens, fans suddenly feel that they know better than the Eagles how to run a draft.
Besides the voluminous knowledge and jokes about Megan Fox sharing pudding, the next best thing about Tommy’s website is that he gives the Eagles the benefit of the doubt that they have an idea what they’re doing.
Any good safety undratees available?
Shameless plug for an alum, but Albert Evans from Purdue would be a decent UDFA to come in for SS.
Tommy, I have been in Flyers mode. Is this your final mock draft? I like it, but I don’t think it is likely.
Brilliant.
And can’t wait to see the Fly Boys in action Sunday.
Mychal Kendricks was a guy I was kind of worried about, due to the surprise of the pick and his size. But I just watched the Youtube videos of his Stanford game here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_xcgBLTrtY&hd=1
and USC game here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx6M5D0RRUo&hd=1
Gotta say I was impressed. I’m far from a scout, but I noticed a few things:
* Almost always around the ball at the end of a play, frequently during as well
* Fairly disruptive
* Looked great going after the QB, especially with speed and timing
* Couldn’t consistently fight off OL blocks, but *never gave up on play* and sometimes still tackled the ball carrier
* Looked for contact: didn’t wait for the ball carrier to come to him, just attacked
* Did some hitting, but still wrapped up
* Lost his helmet a lot
* With a few more inches of height, would have more deflected passes on his stat sheet
* Didn’t always look great pursuing from behind or to the side, seemed to do better head on
I think those are every snap videos, yet it feels almost like a highlight reel because he is involved in so many plays. Like Jimmy over at BtB said, he’s just fun to watch.
Again, not a scout at all, so…does any of this sound right?
I’ve always liked Kendricks, but in those two games he looks more like an NFL MLB or WLB than a SLB. He can’t play behind Babin on neutral downs.
He looks great at staying in gaps, but he gets swallowed up by OL. Don’t know how important that is for a SAM in our system. Just something I noticed.
Now that I think of it, what are the SAM’s responsibilities in our system? I know they line up a bit more inside than most, but in terms of what gaps, who to cover, etc.
I would have traded up for Sanu in the 3rd round and then drafted Cyrus Gray in the 5th. Other than that, I though the draft was decent.
I totally agree, except I thought the draft was way better than decent overall.
UDFA’s so far:
Oregon CB Cliff Harris
UTEP LS Matt Camilli
Washington RB Chris Polk
Kentucky P Ryan Tydlacka
Tulsa WR/KR Damaris Johnson
Syracuse DB Phillip Thomas
UMass FB/TE Emil Igwenagu
Montana State WR Elvis Akpla
Miami TE Chase Ford
My biggest fear this season (other than injuries) is that DRC, Ryans, and Bell won’t play at the high level we expect them to. Those guys have a lot of question marks and our season will be determined by how they play.
I hope Brandon Graham and Nate Allen can finally play the way we expected them to when they were drafted so high. After the 2010 draft, I thought the Eagles did really well. It may be unfair to judge it this quickly, but it doesn’t look good.
So I’m guessing 2 TEs (Celek, Harbor) and 5 WRs (Jackson, Maclin, Avant, McNutt, Cooper) ?
Pretty thin IMO.
apparently eagles lost out on CB Harris. He signed with titans.
Reported UDFA signings by the Eagles so far:
Oregon CB Cliff Harris–absolutely 1st round talent with immense off-field issues (still reported to the Eagles at PFT and on the EMB)
UTEP LS Matt Camilli–same school as Dorenbos–bigger, never had a kick blocked that he snapped for
Washington RB Chris Polk–great talent, injury issues with shoulders kept him from being drafted
Kentucky P Ryan Tydlacka–good directional punter
Tulsa WR/KR Damaris Johnson–good talent; small, really quick, off-field issues
Syracuse DB Phillip Thomas–probably being looked at as a safety–some off-field issues
UMass FB/TE Emil Igwenagu–versatile FB/TE/H-back who catches passes and blocks
Montana State WR Elvis Akpla–athletic FCS receiver, great hands
Miami TE Chase Ford–6’6″ TE with good hands; not much of a blocker; probably headed for the PS
Arizona St WR Aaron Pflugrad–small slow guy, quick not fast, great route-runner, plays slot and outside
Someone told me that UTEP was the long snapper pipeline of the SW but I never looked into it
Loving the levy adcock signing.
I don’t ever remember feeling so satisfied after a draft. I coveted 3 of our first 4 players. Foles was a shocker and I can’t pretend to know much about the OLs. I’m willing to take a not so huge leap of faith, that Mudd knows lineman and Andy and Marty know QB’s. We shall all see, together. The BB pick in the 7th has such upside, it’s ridiculous.
Just finished watching the Curry PC and spot w/ Spadaro n Merrill. I felt like I just got drafted. That was the most genuine and heartfelt conversation, I’ve ever seen with a young professional athlete. If nothing else, he walks in the door, as a top 5 interview on the team and has instantly become one of my favorite players. I can’t help but be emotionally invested in this kid!
Would Dawkins come back to coach? Rumor has it he may coach his son’s HS team.
That’ll be one pumped up team.
If Ray Lewis and Dawk were both head coaches and their teams played, we would have another body bag situation
Is it that far fetched to think that Mudd will pull a Kelce at LT and go with his Gargantuan Ball of Clay as the starter?
The other question is, why was this so hard? This was the first year where every pick felt right, no head scratchers, etc. Did we do the last several drafts for shits and giggles?
I’ve been wondering the same thing. The only explanation I can think of is that we really do have a “solid” roster right now. Not saying we’re the best, but we don’t have any glaring holes that force us in to reacting to crazy draft picks like AR is throwing away the season.
Thank you Tommy for all your excellent coverage of everything Eagles.
This might have been said all over this board already but having seen Grudens “qb camp”-episode with Foles I feel better about the pick. Gruden and Reid go way back and afaik have the same tastes in qb’s
This draft has brought me much closure.With the boykin pick i can finally let go of passing on earl thomas and V curry makes me feel better of not getting JPP…(insert sigh of relief here).Thank You Mr. Roseman.
Hey T when all undraftees are signed how about a post on ur opinions on the guys the iggles land?
Two points of solace for anyone gnashing their teeth over the Foley pick:
1. Many people were hoping for Boykin in the second, so if Boykin was the pick in the third and Foley was in the fourth, would it be easier to accept? Result is the same.
2. As Jimmy pointed out on Blogging the Beast, Kevin Kolb netted us DRC, Vinny Curry, and Foley. Think of Foley as the piece of sourdough that you throw back into the container as a starter for the next batch. When Kafka starts three games for an injured Vick and provides the team 1000 yards this season and 2 2nd rounders next off season, then you’ll be glad we have the next batch rising and fermenting.
Kolb trade actually got the eagles drc, curry and Boykin.
But, but… if we didn’t have the 4th rounder to use on Boykin, we might have taken him in the third and skipped on Foley, so really…
Ah, screw it, you’re right.
We did the same thing with AJ Feeley too. Develop him and keep him or trade him. AR is a smart investor!
Thanks ATG. I guess my last gnash has to do with not upgrading/providing competition for slot receiver. It seems that each year Andy misses at least one thing. I know our WR corp is very solid, but one pick for an inside receiver in the draft really would have made us incredible.
I don’t know how to post a link to it, but if you look at Marshall vs. Lousiville 2011 highlights on YouTube and start watching from the 5:11 mark you will see some great stuff from number 99. Vinny Curry is a BEAST!
Dear Baloophi, Hilton went 42 picks ahead of Childs. In Cox we trust,
Other than maybe getting Justin Forsett, it’d be worth it to keep 2 RBs out of Lewis, Cooper, Brown, and Polk on the active roster. Other than a few good runs by James Harrison, the team’s attempts to get FA backup RBs haven’t worked out.
Harrison came via trade but u get the point
If Cliff Harris makes the team he should get a chauffeur, perhaps someone working their way through law school.
I’ve talked to a couple of people that have expressed their concerns about Vinny Curry and his limited potential, based on level of competition and lack of athleticism and measurables. I’m assuming some of these people dismissed him after looking at his 40 time from the combine. Just to paint a picture that gives a different perspective… Here are the pre-draft workout results of VC and the freakishly athletic JPP.
CURRY PIERRE-PAUL
40 yard dash: 4.64 (Pro Day) 4.71
10 yard split: 1.68 (unofficial) 1.65
BP reps: 28 (Pro Day) 19
VJ: 32″ 30.5″
BJ: 110″ 115″
Shuttle: 4.40 4.67
3 cone: 6.90 7.18
Now granted, JPP was a little younger, taller and had 2″ longer arms. And to my knowledge, there are no viral videos floating around, with VC doing backflips. The two also, had very comparable Junior seasons. JPP chose to declare. VC came back for a strong Senior season, despite teams game planning for him on a weekly basis. I found this in an interview with Falcons beat writer, D. Orlando Ledbetter-
Q: How did you get so many forced fumbles?
A: “This year, coming into the season, everybody knew I was coming off a really hot junior year. Basically I knew what I was getting myself into this year as a senior with game planning and double teams and triple teams and chips and sometimes quadruple teams … So my defensive line coach, Fred Tate, he sat me down one day. He said, ‘What you going to do, man?’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘You got to do something else to separate yourself from the rest of the defensive linemen in the country.’ So I worked on stripping every day. If you look at my strips or forced fumbles, they’re not really from the quarterbacks. I only had one quarterback forced fumble. The rest came from running backs and chasing down screen plays. I worked hard at that.”
Just shows the competitive excellence of this kid. Something that is very difficult to quantify. Not to mention… I saw this kids PC. I don’t think he’d be able to live with himself if he let down the Eagles. All of these kids have a long way to go, before proving they can compete at this level, but I feel like at the floor on this kid is Juqua Parker, the ceiling William Fuller.
Okay, formatting made that look sloppier than Big Red at a Mamwich Eating Contest, but I think the point is clear.
There are people questioning the Curry pick? Picks #1 and #3 are arguably the best selections in the draft. And if we are talking about value, it’s definitively Boykin.
Nice job of breaking down the measurables.
I was excited to get Curry where we did anyway. I think he’s a huge value pick at that point and will only add to a great rotation. But after reading this article on him:
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/149369905.html
I am even more excited about the kid.
Its refreshing to see a real die-hard Eagle fan actually end up getting picked by them to not just live out his dream as an NFL player but to live out his true dream to play for the Eagles. I wish all the best for him and think he will give his all for the team.
He could also be a big jersey seller in a few years time.
Eagles with best draft in the NFC in my rankings:
Pittsburgh
Indy
Cinci
Philly
Minnesota
Carolina
GB
NYG
Seattle
Cleveland
Detroit
Tennessee
SD
St. Louis
NE
TB
Arizona
Buffalo
Dallas
Baltimore
Jax
Oakland
Chicago
Atlanta
NO
Houston
KC
NYJ
Denver
SF
Washington
Miami
I’ve got to imagine there are several teams around the league who’d be perfectly happy to trade their entire starting d-line straight up for our 2nd stringers. Curry-Cox-Dixon-Graham should leave us pretty well off.