Eagles Draft Talk

There isn’t one overriding topic tonight so let’s hit a few draft topics.

* What position do the Birds address with pick 20? When it comes to the 1st round, think players not positions. The best example I can give is Dallas taking OL Zach Martin in the 1st round last year. Their defense was in desperate need of help. Dallas passed on defense and even Johnny Manziel and took Martin. He had a great rookie year and that team played their best football in years.

As easy as it is to get fired up about a certain position, the Eagles need to focus on finding the best possible player.

* Could it be a WR?  This is hard to say. I think the Big 3 (Kevin White, Amari Cooper, Devante Parker) will be long gone by pick 20. Is Jalen Strong worth that pick? I’m not so sure. Would Chip Kelly have any interest in Dorial Green-Beckham? Another tough question. DGB is huge and athletic. He also got kicked out of Missouri. DGB transferred to Oklahoma and the coaches are supposedly saying good things about him.

DGB would likely be a Top 10 prospect with a clean background. If Kelly is willing to take a chance on Sam Bradford’s knee, why not take a chance on DGB’s character? We know Kelly loves big guys. DGB is 6-5, 237. That is one huge WR.

I have my doubts about DGB being a target, but he is really talented and this wouldn’t shock me.

* Speaking of character issues…what about CB Marcus Peters? Back in the summer of 2010, Kelly was trying to convince Peters to come to Oregon to play for him. If Kelly still wants Peters, it will be much easier this time. Kelly would just have to draft him.

There are varying stories about what happened with Peters at Washington and why he was kicked off the team. The Eagles have scouts and other personnel who will get to the bottom of the situation and will know the real truth. If they think Peters is a good guy caught up in a bad situation, they’ll have a 1st round grade on him. If they think he has serious coachability issues, Peters might not even be on their draft board.

PE.com has a couple of pieces on him. First up is an NFL Network segment where Peters talks about why teams should draft him.

And…here is some Combine stuff.

And here is a piece comparing Peter to Tray Waynes.

That’s a lot of Marcus Peters content in a short time. Is that a coincidence or are the Eagles trying to tell us something?

I am very impressed by Peters the player. I have no idea what to make of Peters the person. I’ll be very interested to see if the Eagles have any interest.

* Will the Eagles add a QB? Kelly made mention of the Eagles checking out all the QB prospects in a recent PC. He loves Macus Mariota, but what if MM is gone?  There is a lot of speculation about Brett Hundley, but the guy I could see Kelly loving is Bryce Petty. He is a pocket passer who has some mobility. He led the best up-tempo offense in college football and put up some crazy numbers.

Eagles QB Coach Ryan Day had dinner with Petty the night before his Pro Day. Kelly saw him up close and personal at the Senior Bowl. Do the Eagles like him a little or a lot? Could they shock everyone and take him at pick 2o? Would he last until their 2nd round pick? Could he slide to the 3rd round?

Petty is far from perfect, but QB is a weak group this year. My guess is that some team will spend a 2nd round pick on him.

* Phillip Dorsett of Miami might be my favorite WR in the draft. The question I have is whether he can be a volume WR in the NFL. Dorsett caught 36 passes as a Senior. He did catch 58 as a Soph. I think erratic QB play hurt his numbers. I just wonder if you could plug him in as a starter and feed him 80 catches or is Dorsett more of a complementary guy who is meant to catch 45 to 60 passes.

* I would love for the Eagles to spend their 2nd round pick on OL Ali Marpet. Yeah, he’s from D3 Hobart, but the guy is smart, tough and athletic. It would be kinda cool to replace D2 Todd Herremans with a D3 player. Jimmy Bama and I spoke to Marpet in Mobile and he absolutely seemed like a Chip Kelly guy.

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Jimmy Bama and I were supposed to record a podcast on Wednesday, but ran into complications. Ditto that for Thursday night. We’ll see if we can get one done on Friday. We promise to get one done.

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Smart Move

The Eagles have lost some really good people this offseason. Trent Cole, Todd Herremans and Jeremy Maclin were good players and team leaders. They were the kind of guys you want to build the team around. The Eagles decided to go with younger options over Cole and Herremans. Maclin simply cost too much.

Today the Eagles rewarded OLB Connor Barwin by restructuring his deal and giving him a raise.

This was a smart move. The Eagles have made quite a few changes. You have to be careful about rewarding too many outsiders when free agency rolls around. Current Eagles can get frustrated when they see friends leave and outsiders coming in, generally with big bank accounts.

While Barwin wasn’t drafted by the Eagles, he is a very popular and well-respected player. He has become a key piece for Chip Kelly, both in the locker room and on the field. This is a guy you want to reward. The Eagles are rewarding DeMeco Ryans, another key leader, by keeping him around. Jason Kelce is a key leader on offense. He got a new deal just over a year ago.

You can’t keep everybody. You can’t pay all 53 players as much as you want. The coach and GM have to carefully select the players to give good money to. Sometimes it will be a veteran from another team who fills a desperate need (Byron Maxwell), while other times it will be rewarding a key leader like Barwin who is already on the team.

Chip Kelly wants the right kind of culture and that means finding the right kind of guys. Barwin is just about the ideal Kelly player so rewarding him makes a lot of sense.

I’m assuming Barwin’s first purchase with his new money will be a case of PBR.

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Stopping by the NovaCare Complex: former #Eagles DT @csime90. Great to see the big fella! pic.twitter.com/OBbvypSt1E

— Dave Spadaro (@davespadaro) March 18, 2015

A lot of mixed feelings seeing this pic. Corey Simon was a terrific DT from 2000-2003. He became a bit more erratic in 2004. The Eagles tried working out an extension with him, but nothing happened. Simon wanted elite DT money. Eventually the Eagles worked out a trade with the Ravens. All Simon had to do was sign a deal with them. Didn’t happen. The Eagles eventually pulled the franchise tag off Simon and he went to the Colts. Simon played there for one year and was largely ineffective. He had some strange weight problems that ended his career prematurely.

Simon sacked Troy Aikman on the very first snap of his NFL career. That was a great moment. He had times when he looked like a special player, but never became the updated version of Jerome Brown that we all dreamed of.

The Eagles won a lot of games with Simon, but I’ll never forgive him for costing the Eagles high picks in the Ravens deal.

Simon had a nasty parting with the Eagles so it is interesting that he returned to the NovaCare for a visit. Time heals all wounds.

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I still don’t know what the Eagles are going to do at WR. PFT had an item yesterday that some veteran free agent receivers aren’t getting many offers.

Michael Crabtree is visiting the Dolphins today. Reportedly SD showed some interest last week. I wondered if the Eagles would have any interest, but it sure doesn’t seem so.

Hakeem Nicks and Reggie Wayne haven’t gotten a sniff so far. Denarius Moore is talking to the Jets. Dwayne Bowe and Greg Jennings are still on the market.

If the Eagles can get the right guy at the right price, they might go for a veteran. They aren’t going to overpay for any of these guys. You would think these players would be interested in a 1-year “prove it” deal seeing as how DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin both had career years.

The Eagles may prefer to try and draft a WR. If that doesn’t work out, there will be some veterans available after the draft. There isn’t a rush to get anyone signed. It doesn’t seem like the team is all that high on any of these guys.

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