Monte Taylor, OJ Atogwe

Posted: June 20th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 41 Comments »

The Eagles added DE Monte Taylor the other day when he was cut by Seattle.  I finally got around to watching some tape on him.

Taylor is a 6-4, 265 DE from the University of Cincinnati.  He was a junior college transfer who played 2 years for the Bearcats.  Taylor was used as a backup DE and situational pass rusher.  He has poor change of direction ability, usually critical for a pass rusher.  Why would the Eagles bother with him?  The situation where Taylor was effective was when Cincy lined him up wide and gave him a good angle to the QB.  Hmm…sounds familiar.

Taylor has an okay burst off the ball, but isn’t special.  He has a good shoulder dip that helps him to slip under the block of the OT.  I saw him play both sides and he looked effective from both.  He had 4 sacks and 2 FFs last year, in limited snaps.

Serious longshot for the NFL, but is a fit for the Wide-9 so adding him makes sense.  You need plenty of DL to help eat up reps at Lehigh.

* * * * *

No new news on OJ Atogwe.  Jeff McLane says there is no deal in place, although it could happen.  The Eagles have remained mum on the subject.

I can’t offer much of a scouting report on Atogwe right now.  He was with a new team last year.  His play wasn’t overly impressive, but he was in a new scheme and dealing with nagging injuries.

Someone raised the point yesterday that this move could have nothing to do with Jaiquawn Jarrett.  Atogwe could be insurance for Nate Allen.  Nate has missed games in both of his seasons.  Who is his backup right now?  We’ve got Colt Anderson, Tom Nelson, and Phillip Thomas in the mix.  We could put Kurt Coleman and JaiJar on the field at the same time, but that might not be so wise.  Neither guy has top speed or range.

If this move is about JaiJar, it doesn’t mean that he’s done.  Jarrett is very young.  You only give up on players like that if they have shown you nothing.  All we know about Jarrett is that he had a disappointing rookie year.  We don’t know how he’s done in the classroom this spring.  We don’t know how he’s done in the weight room.  We don’t know how coachable he is.

The Eagles liked Jarrett enough to draft him in the 2nd round.  The only way he gets cut is if he shows them nothing.  Could that happen?  Yes, it is possible.  We are just jumping the gun to presume that it is the case.  We need to see him at Lehigh and in preseason games before we can get a really good feel for Jarrett’s situation.

Back to Atogwe for a second…if the Eagles do sign him, it won’t be to come in as our top Safety and some important player.  Atogwe is on the street in late June for a reason.  He would come in here and have to prove himself, just like Jarrett.

One thing I do like about Atogwe is that he can come up with turnovers.  He has 25 career INTs.  He also has 16 FFs, a really impressive total.  To put that in perspective, Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu have combined for 19 career FFs.

What’s the delay with him and the Eagles?  Sure sounds like Atogwe is dying to sign.  He’s the one who initially reported it.  The Eagles have to make a roster move to make space for him.  There could be debate about that, but with 90 man rosters you would think it would be easy to choose someone to jettison.  I’m not real sure what the hold up is.  We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

UPDATE:  Atogwe did sign a one-year deal.  LS Matt Camilli was cut.

* * * * *

Percy Harvin is reportedly asking for a trade.  Should the Eagles be interested?  In theory, yes.  In reality, no.  Harvin is a guy you must feed the ball to.  We already have LeSean, DeSean, Mac, Celek, and Avant.  Harvin would be a major upgrade over Avant in the slot.  The problem is that Jason is fine being a complementary weapon.  Harvin is a feature weapon.  Add him and he must become the #2 target in the passing game.  How do you do that with DJax and Mac?

The other part of this is that Harvin has some issues.  This is a guy you bring in if you lack weapons and need help.  The Eagles are not in that situation.  I don’t like the risk/reward angle.

The final part of this…if the Vikings do put him up for trade, there will be a steep price.  Who or what do you give up for him?

* * * * *

I mentioned yesterday that Todd Herremans got a pay bump in part due to shifting from LG to RT.  OTs get paid more than OGs.  I figured this was common knowledge, but there were some questions.

OT is a premium position, especially LT.  He generally faces the best pass rusher.  Also, he is generally protecting the QB’s back side or blind side.  You want the QB to be able to drop back without worrying about getting freight-trained from behind by a DE.

The RT often has a TE beside him and faces a lesser DE so it isn’t as critical of a position as LT.  Also, the QB can see rushers that come free from that side.

The general rule of thumb is that the LT must be the best pass protector on the O-line.  The RT needs to be good enough, but must also be a good run blocker.

OG isn’t as key, whether LG or RG.  There are a lot of plays where the guys are double-teaming with the C on a player, both run or pass.  They also are facing DTs, who tend to be bigger than athletic.  It is easier to find big OGs to handle big DTs.  The best athletes go out to OT.

The Eagles switch that up a bit by having good athletes in the interior OL spots, but those guys still aren’t as critical as the OTs.

There has been some change in things in recent years.  QBs now get the ball out so quickly that defenses are now trying to get more pressure up the middle.  As this happens, there is a need for better OG play.  You’ve seen some OGs getting huge contracts recently.  They still aren’t drafted as high as OTs, but the value of OGs is on the rise.

* * * * *

I don’t think I linked to Gimpy’s latest MAQB column.  Here it is.  Good stuff from him on a variety of topics.

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41 Comments on “Monte Taylor, OJ Atogwe”

  1. 1 LiamGarrett said at 12:08 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but it should be mentioned that Vick is left-handed, so the RT (Herremans) covers his blindside.

  2. 2 TommyLawlor said at 12:40 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    Herremans pay bump came from moving to OT. I’m not sure if covering Vick’s blind side affected his value a whole lot. Certainly didn’t hurt.

  3. 3 GeorgeFleep said at 12:59 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    Vick’s blindside is protected by OT and typically a TE.

  4. 4 Mike Perrie said at 12:13 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    I don’t know about Atogwe playing in a new scheme. His best years in STL came when Haslett was his DC. His problem last year was just injuries and age catching up to him.

  5. 5 TommyLawlor said at 12:38 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    Haslett ran a 4-3 in STL. Skins ran a 3-4 last year. That can affect the Safeties, in terms of run fits and things like that.

  6. 6 Skeptic_Eagle said at 12:20 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    I don’t think seeing Jaiqawn Jarrett get cut this summer is the only measure of if he’s a “bust”. Sure, Jarrett’s young, but if they sign Atogwe and Jarrett gets buried on the depth chart, it’s a pretty clear referendum on his fitness as a professional football player. I’m not dying to crown this guy a bust, but an OJ signing would put him pretty squarely in that column until otherwise disproven. This isn’t all tea-leaf reading and conspiracy theory, Jarrett generated a pretty ugly lowlight reel in limited action last year.

    The lip-service surrounding the Jarrett situation is an outlier in the way the Eagles normally do business, in that it actually seems like what they are saying/doing is pretty clear, consistent, and on message; Jarrett’s not good enough.

    It’s totally plausible to suspect that the interest in OJ is to come in and compete for a starting S spot, rather than strictly as a backup FS. Is a backup S plan of UDFA Phillp Thomas really much harder to believe than the backup S plan of Jarrad Page was last year? I realize Page started some games in the NFL, but he had also just come off a year of ST’ing for the Patriots, right?

    The real question is, would they play around with the roles to get the 2 best S’s on the field–Allen coming into the box in a SS role, with Atogwe playing single high? Unlike Tom Brady, I’d prefer Nate Allen play closer to the LOS, in a SS role, than deep as a FS.

  7. 7 Aaron Yang said at 1:47 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    i think your giving atogwe a lot more credit than he is due. i am pretty confident that he will not be our starting safety come the regular season. he hasnt been laying around in FA for the past 3-4 months for nothing. as for jarrett…i think your completely wrong on the whole situation. remember that the team has been interested in an experienced vet for depth reasons since the off season basically ended. but was only willing to do that on their terms within the price the had in mind.

    i just dont see the eagles being worried about jarrett and devising some master plan to pass up on landry and bell to go and sign atogwe. atogwe is not who he once was…he has lost a step and has been hampered with injuries that was just let go by a team that has serious safety concerns themselves and that signed him to a 5 year contract a year earlier. sure the redskins have cap issues and that could be a reason…but im sure they could have found a way to get around the cap to keep atogwe if he was anything special.

    …i totally feel like a broken record at this point. from trying to explain what i think here and on BGN about the atogwe situation…

  8. 8 Skeptic_Eagle said at 2:18 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    I’ve actually been advocating an Atogwe signing for awhile–liked him more than Bell, so maybe I do rate him higher than most.

    You make a couple fair points:

    1. If they KNEW Jarrett was a bust why not go after Landry?: Well, I don’t think they KNEW, but I’d say that all the very lukewarm public comments from Andy, and Howie about Jarrett, coupled with the public interest in Bell, and now Atogwe, lead one to believe they are seriously concerned that Jarrett isn’t the player they thought they were drafting in the 2nd round. Also, coming off an injury, Landry is no slam dunk for the Jets, yet commanded slam-dunk dough.

    2. Atogwe is not an all-world talent, as evidenced by the fact he’s been sitting around for 3-4 months w/o a team: If they think they have 3 legit starting caliber safeties, I don’t see why they’d sign Atogwe. Atogwe may not be a Kenny Phillips, Earl Thomas, or Jairus Byrd, but he’s definitely not a camp body. If they sign him, it will be taking reps away from a young guy. That would mean they imagine a guy sitting around for 3-4 months, at 31 years old has a serious shot at unseating one of the 3 young safeties on the roster, as a starter. If OJ’s coming here, it’s not play STs.

    As to the “experienced vet” angle, I think letting Dawkins walk is pretty strong evidence that they value “veteran leadership in the secondary” somewhat less than the average fan does.

  9. 9 iskar36 said at 2:52 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    Aaron Yang and I went back and forth yesterday in the comments section about this, but I definitely agree with you. At the end of the day, the Atogwe signing is certainly not good news for Jarrett. Atogwe may not have anything to do with Jarrett, or he may have everything to do with Jarrett. We certainly will not know until they get on the field and even then, depending on if either can play better/worse than expected, things may change.

    Having said that, I think all indications of how the Eagles feel about Jarrett suggest they are not confident in his abilities. Nearly every other draft pick from the 2011 draft has been discussed in a positive light. Obviously Watkins and Kelce have been discussed positively by the coaches. They seem positive about Rolle’s chances to start. They have mentioned several times that they see promise in guys like Marsh, Matthews, Lewis, and Havili. Vandervelde and Lloyd are the only two guys I haven’t heard a ton about from last years draft (positive or negative), but of course we are talking about a 5th and 7th round pick, respectively, for those two. Meanwhile, for our 2nd round pick, we haven’t even heard a single positive comment about Jarrett this year. The silence on Jarrett, a 2nd round pick from only a year ago who a ton of people want to know more about, is fairly telling to me, regardless of whether or not OTAs are the ideal place for Jarrett to show what he can do. You would still think AR, Castillo, or Bowles would have as much as given Jarrett a boost of confidence with some support (like they have with other rookies who have yet to do anything…i.e. Marsh, Havili). I’m not saying Jarrett is a bust just yet, or that he doesn’t even have a few legitimate built in excuses (no offseason last year, so far we are talking about OTAs this year), but I don’t see why we are supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he has done absolutely nothing and not even the team seems to want to challenge that view from the fans.

  10. 10 Aaron Yang said at 3:48 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    to clear up the confusion..the eagles have been wanting and needing an experienced vet for depth and they have stated that publicly. that is why they went after bell and landry but those two were too expensive for what the eagles needed them to do. step in atogwe and its a perfect fit. so when you say that they wouldnt have signed him if we had 3 legit starting caliber safeties…i still think they would have cause they lack the experience that is ideal. and i really dont know what lukewarm public comments you are referring to about jarrett..i dont remember either howie or reid saying anything specific about jarrett. all they said about the safeties is that they are happy with the young guys FOR NOW but everyone knew they still wanted an experienced vet for depth. and what do you mean that he they brought him in to unseat the other starters. how do you know that? he doesnt have to be a starter nor just a STer…there is the bench yano. they brought him in for insurance that something happens to one of our starters and they wanted to make sure that the insurance policy came with experience. dawkins is a completely different scenario and it has nothing to do with this…atogwe isnt 36 or however old dawk was. but this is enough typing for me. i would rather just sit back and laugh when the truth comes out and everything is set in stone. just expect an “i told you so” from me.

  11. 11 A_T_G said at 12:23 AM on June 21st, 2012:

    The comment being discussed might be the mouthpiece, Spuds, writing that Coleman is not being challenged by Jarrett for the starting role. Just guessing.

    And, come on, that ending is not the kind of comment that helps the high quality debate we all come here to read. You have an opinion, you supported it with how you see the pieces fitting together. Great. But don’t dismiss and belittle others for doing the same with a different conclusion.

  12. 12 TommyLawlor said at 4:50 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    Few points…

    The Eagles are not thrilled with Jarrett right now. We know that because they aren’t talking about him. That said, the situation could change once the pads go on and hitting starts. The Eagles want him to pan out, but aren’t going to blindly count on him.

    Atogwe could challenge for a starting spot. Roster battles can often be simpler than we make them. The best players win jobs. Evan Mathis was an afterthought last July, but won a job and kept it. If Atogwe is the best or 2nd best guy on the field, he will start. The point of talking about him as a starter is for people to realize that he’s not being brought in as the starter. He’s here to compete.

    RE: veteran leadership…citing 2008 and Dawk leaving is a poor example. The Eagles had Quintin Mikell still in place. He was a quality veteran player. The guy replacing Dawk was Quintin Demps, who had trained under Dawk for a year. The Eagles (and all teams) love veteran leaders at either FS or SS. You don’t want to force the issue and have a lesser player on the field, but S is a position where experience is a big help. Nate Allen and Kurt Coleman don’t need a veteran now that they’ve got some PT under their belt, but having one around would not be a bad thing.

  13. 13 Skeptic_Eagle said at 8:15 AM on June 21st, 2012:

    Q was a serviceable safety, and maybe even equivalent on the field to late-Dawkins, but to equate his “veteran leadership” to Dawkins, I think is a completely false analogy. Recently, Trotter and Westbrook cited Dawkins’ departure as indicative of the kind of “only by the numbers” view on player contribution that may have been one of Joe Banner’s shortcomings. Those are both key players from the last Super Bowl team–can’t discount that. There was a void when Dawkins left, and unless I missed something, they counted on someone already on the team to fill that void; hey, maybe that’s entirely fair, but it lets you know how they prioritize the trait, I think. I’m excited by the prospect of Ryans stepping into that role, being his reported strength in that area, in addition to the other factors that actually determine the Eagles value on players.

    The Eagles have pretty much told us their opinion on Jarrett so far. If some people want to hold out hope, that’s fine–I hope he turns into a young Dawk, myself. I can’t look at the events that have unfolded, and see anything other than an uneasiness with the idea of Kurt Coleman at SS, and a lack of confidence in Jarrett’s ability to challenge him.

    I was a lot more excited when the team signed Evan Mathis. I had serious concerns about Winston Justice at the time–following the lackluster 2010 season, and benching in the playoffs–and trusted Mathis’ vetting from Pro Football Focus. You can credit the team with excellent foresight in drafting a developing a versatile player like Todd Herremans, or you can chalk it up to luck, but Herrremans being able to slide out to RT solidified a position that Coach Mudd spent most of TC auditioning just about every lineman on the team for.

    Atogwe’s best days might be behind him, so the fact that he could conceivably improve the defensive backfield might speak ill of the current state of it. Regardless of how it turns out, S was a position I have been very worried about for the 2012 Eagles. I’m glad at the very least, they’ve hedged their bets on Coleman and Jarrett.

  14. 14 GeorgeFleep said at 12:51 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    I believe the OG getting bigger contracts and getting drafted higher because of the UT being a force more than what they were. They are singling out the OG and therefore they have more responsibility.

    Oh btw Eagles signed Otagwe some how… https://twitter.com/RoobCSN/status/215486463922544640

    Caplan said “But he’s more of a traditional “range” free safety, which means he’s not really a true in-the-box player like a SS. However, in today’s NFL, safeties have to cover more than ever, and there is less of aligning the FS deeper and the SS just inside the box. So Atogwe, who is expected to sign with the team barring a snag, could line up as a single safety or in different personnel groupings within the Eagles’ 4-3 defensive scheme. At the very least, he’ll serve as insurance at FS in back of starter Nate Allen.” on http://thesidelineview.com/columns/caplans-nfl-corner/going-inside-minicamp-philadelphia-eagles-defense

  15. 15 Kevin_aka_RC said at 12:52 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    Of course, once Tommy writes this, Atogwe becomes official. Good deal for the Eagles. We need more Canadians on the roster.

  16. 16 TommyLawlor said at 1:57 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    I bet in the first week at the NovaCare he’ll mysteriously find a mouse in his beer and demand the Eagles give him a free case of Elsinore Beer.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3DYbE44OIE

  17. 17 GeorgeFleep said at 12:53 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    matt camilli was an awkward white person anyways and no way eagles need competition from Dorenbos swag.

  18. 18 D3FB said at 1:40 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    Dorenbos used his magic to make his competition disappear.

  19. 19 TommyLawlor said at 2:18 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    You can’t trust Jon.

  20. 20 D3FB said at 4:36 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    How dare you talk about our MVP candidate like that!

  21. 21 TommyLawlor said at 4:43 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    I do live on the edge.

  22. 22 Aaron Yang said at 1:35 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    looks like the atogwe signing is not completely official. and it took them that long to decide to cut a long snapper that no one has even heard of…

  23. 23 ian_no_2 said at 3:42 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    I’m a fan of this signing and if healthy Atogwe should be able to compete for a starting job. When the games start all the talk of “there’s a reason he wasn’t signed til mid-June” is over. What has hurt him is injuries and possibly age. He is a much better option than Bell. Two Quintin Mikell-related facts:

    1. Mikell is older than Atogwe;
    2. Mikell didn’t start until his fifth year, and throwing Allen and Coleman out there from the start has brought predictable results.

    My impression is that even though he’s listed as FS, he’s played his best ball as SS, including earning the Rams’ Player of the Year in 2008 (so the Eagles and Rams have traded SSs). I would rather see Atogwe at SS and the smaller Coleman at FS. Even though Coleman’s not as fast as Allen, he knows his assignments better.

    What I also like about the ‘injury discount’ is that either the guy plays well or he sits, he doesn’t go out there and miss tackles. And can’t wait to hear Reese shout that first name after an interception.

  24. 24 TommyLawlor said at 4:52 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    Atogwe is good competition for Nate and Kurt. He can earn a role on the team or a starting spot by playing well. He will hit the bricks if he struggles. Simple as that.

  25. 25 D3Keith said at 4:56 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    I like the comment except for wishing to see Kurt at FS. Healthy Nate Allen is a prototype FS, rangy, can cover, can go up and get the ball. Kurt is an undersized guy who gets by on game-day smarts, and I’d probably only want to see at FS in a pinch.

    I realize Ss are somewhat interchangeable (not just for the Eagles but in all 4-3s) and that Atogwe and Kurt can theoretically play both. However, of the group, the thing I’m most sure about is that the best-case scenario involves Healthy Nate Allen being the FS.

  26. 26 TommyLawlor said at 5:39 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    Ditto that on Nate. Best range of our Safety group.

  27. 27 ian_no_2 said at 7:44 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    ‘can cover, can go up and get the ball,’ but I’m more concerned that he does not cover, does not go up and get the ball during NFL games

  28. 28 D3Keith said at 11:37 PM on June 20th, 2012:

    Touche.

    Are we talking about Healthy Nate Allen or just Nate Allen?

  29. 29 juggadore said at 12:27 AM on June 21st, 2012:

    contract aside, i would trade desean jackson straight up for percy harvin.

  30. 30 TommyLawlor said at 1:00 AM on June 21st, 2012:

    Would make for an interesting debate. Harvin’s issues can’t be ignored. If you believe those in the know, he had a hand in getting Brad Childress fired. He looks up to Randy Moss. He is playing games with the Vikings to get his way now.

    DeSean is no angel, but he’s not pushed things quite like that.

    In terms of just talent…different players, but Harvin would be a real interesting addition to the Eagles.

  31. 31 juggadore said at 12:05 PM on June 21st, 2012:

    yeah thats true. but that minnesota team was a madhouse. the philly structure is way less disfunctional (i think). i doubt something like that could happen here. i mean we could argue that asante samuel had a hand in getting joe banner fired (with his “of course there’s a power struggle!” comment).

    i like harvin because he runs the ball too. 87 catches at wr and almost 400 yards rushing… not bad at all! andy and marty’s interest has to be piqued, even if they cant acquire him they must be salivating..

  32. 32 M0rton said at 8:07 AM on June 21st, 2012:

    It’s not the 2010 draft that is going to kill this team, but the 2011 draft.

    Danny Watkins is going to be an average OG in the NFL, no more and no less. Jaiquan Jarrett will go down in Eagles history as one of the biggest draft reaches ever.

    Now, heading into the 2011 draft, alot of people considered Watkins one of the top-2 OGs available, and a borderline low 1st / high 2nd prospect. However, because he was 26 years old, his status as such would lower him into the bottom half of the 2nd round as a prospect. In addition to this, the OG position is one of the easiest to fill in later rounds or in free agency and is thus one of the lowest-priority positions in the first round. The Eagles undoubtedly reached for him in the 1st round when they could have had younger players at more premium positions, and comparable talents: primarily Jimmy Smith, but also Muhammed Wilkerson or Gabe Carimi.

    I’ll be shocked if Danny Watkins adds, through performance, to the Eagles win total over the next 5 years more so than Jimmy Smith, Muhammed Wilkerson, or Gabe Carimi add to their respective teams’ win totals.

    The Jarrett pick was simply an abomination. You can somewhat justify the Watkins pick because he was a talented player in college, but Jarrett was simply an average safety playing in a terrible conference with maybe the most mediocre combine numbers for any DB in that draft class. Terrible 40 time, terrible short shuttle, terrible vertical jump. He had absolutely no athleticism whatsoever, and clearly is not fast enough or athletic enough to play in the NFL. This was apparent to everyone who saw those combine results, but clearly the Eagles ignored these red flags and are now paying the price for it. Jarrett will be released sometime in the 2012 season or offseason.

    Who could have been had rather than Jarrett? Look for some of these names to make an impact soon in the NFL: Brandon Harris, Dontay Moch, Kelvin Sheppard, Justin Houston. All of them superior prospects to Jarrett in the second round, and superior before the draft ever went down, and superior after they have breakout performances this year in 2012.

    As much as I like some of the moves they made this year in the offseason, I keep coming back to the 2011 draft (even more so than the 2010 draft, because I actually liked Brandon Graham before the draft, and am disappointed that he didn’t “pan out”) as the draft that will really hurt this team from becoming a potentially dominant defensive force. I knew beforehand which players they should have picked (Wilkerson, Carimi, or Smith in 1st; Houston, Moch, Harris, or Sheppard in 2nd), and this will become evident after these players become big-time contributors this year.

  33. 33 TommyLawlor said at 8:44 AM on June 21st, 2012:

    Hello Morton. How’ve things been?

  34. 34 Kyle said at 9:28 AM on June 21st, 2012:

    You knew before hand who they should have picked? Maybe you can reach out to the eagles for a job since you know what picks are not going to be busts! If you can message me the lotto numbers I would appreicate that also.

    I don’t think I have ever read one thing that was not negative out of your mouth

  35. 35 austinfan said at 12:57 PM on June 22nd, 2012:

    Meh.
    Watkins will be a solid RG, sure he struggled last year, inexperienced, college LT misses OTAs and the first week of camp, then struggles moving to RG. That’s a typical man bites dog story. If he can play LT in the Big 12 (for RGIII), you know he has good feet, and he has the power to be an excellent run blocker at RG. I’m not sold that Carimi or Wilkerson (who doesn’t fit the Eagle scheme) will turnout to be better players.

    Jarrett was a reach, I said so at the time, too small, too slow, so what if he had good instincts, safeties like that are commonplace in the 4th and 5th rounds, heck, Coleman is almost as big and faster. But Justin Houston might or night not have worked out as a wide 9 DE, though Casey would have been a perfect fit here at DT. Cobb would have been nice but a bit of a luxury item (though they could use his return skills). Sheppard is more of a two down MLB or ILB type. I don’t think they missed out on any game changers.

    Marsh was a solid pick, a bit of a project, but more upside than anyone on the board. Conte has struggled a bit a FS, Wright might have been the safest pick left on the board, I liked Sam Acho, who would have done well in the wide 9. But it’s hard to find DBs who are 6’1 192, run a 4.42 and have upside that late in the draft, and Marsh is smart enough (30 wonderlic) and tough enough (former RB) to move to FS if he doesn’t work out at CB.

    Matthews was a reach, but there were no good LBs left, I wanted Rolle but we got him later, Henergy is looking like a keeper as a kicker, the rest of the 4th round was pretty week. Klug. Sherman and McPhee were the only three they missed out in the 5th round.

    On the other hand, finding both Kelce and Rolle in the 6th round more than made up for wasting a pick on Matthews.

    So basically you have one bad pick at the end of the 2nd round, and one meaningless miss in the middle of the 4th round (after a trade down which garnered the 4th rd pick they traded for Ryans).

    So they ended up with their RG, C, WLB, MLB and kicker off the 2011 draft.
    And maybe their starting RCB of the future.
    I’m sure it’ll turn out to be a franchise killer.

  36. 36 M0rton said at 8:10 AM on June 21st, 2012:

    And again, this is NOT HINDSIGHT. I was appalled by the Jarret pick when it happened. Every draft analyst in the world had Jarrett as a borderline 5th or 6th round prospect, and definitely no more than a 4th round prospect. Safeties with his lack of athleticism, regardless of how “smart” or “tough” they may be, do NOT deserve to be selected any higher than the 3rd round at best. Lack of athleticism is as much of a gamble in the NFL as poor character or stupidity.

    Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed were elite athletes with sub 4.5 40 times.

  37. 37 TommyLawlor said at 9:23 AM on June 21st, 2012:

    There were other NFL teams ready to spend a 3rd round pick on Jarrett. If the Eagles truly wanted him, they had to take him in the 2nd.

    The point now in question is if they should have wanted him at all. Right now that’s not looking so good. We’ll see if Lehigh changes things.

  38. 38 rage114 said at 9:57 AM on June 21st, 2012:

    I wonder if we are reading into the Atogwe signing a little too much here.

    Whether or not they signed him, the starters are Coleman and Allen. This didn’t change that.

    Is it really an indictment on Jarrett? Who was going to be the fourth safety if they didn’t sign Atogwe? They need a fourth safety even if Jarrett is ready.

    Also, as mentioned earlier, if the Eagles were really concerned about the safety position, they would not have waited this long to sign one. They would have gone after Bell or Landry a little harder. This is especially telling now that we know Banner was not invovled. These negotiations with Bell, Landry, and Atogwe were all 100% football related. If AR REALLY wanted Bell or Landry, one of them would have been here.

  39. 39 Brian Winings said at 12:31 PM on June 21st, 2012:

    Good point – I also agree that this is more of a “Who is the 4th safety?” type of question. Who knows if they will get anything from Tom Nelson/Phillip Thomas? Who knows if Colt Anderson is going to be on the active roster by the beginning of the season? Who knows if Jarrett can contribute on special teams? This is insurance against several things. The upside is marginal but at least Atogwe is a real NFL player.

    However, at the same time this is giving me some Sean Jones flashbacks [shudder].

  40. 40 MichaelFloyd84 said at 12:48 PM on June 21st, 2012:

    Tommy, is the Atogwe signing really any different than the Marlin Jackson signing? Guys who can’t stay healthy and are essentially brought in as a lottery ticket

  41. 41 Brian Winings said at 1:38 PM on June 21st, 2012:

    Marlin Jackson was only 26 but coming off an ACL repair. Atogwe is 31 in two days and his injuries from last year were more the “nagging” type (read: he is old).

    So, not quite the same thing.

    Marlin Jackson I would put more in the Eagles’ “rolling the dice on a reclamation project” bucket (think along the lines of Takeo Spikes, Jack Ikegwuonu, Cornelius Ingram, Steve Smith, etc.). Those haven’t worked out too well, have they? Hopefully DeMeco Ryans doesn’t become yet another failed example of this type of acquisition that the Birds seem to be so partial to.

    Atogwe hasn’t had a totally debilitating-type injury that required reconstructive surgery. He has definitely had his dings over the past few years (shoulder dislocation, sports hernia, knee and ankle issues last year), but he seems to me to be more of your garden-variety hits-30-and-is-done type of guy.