Draft Memories

We’re still a couple of weeks away from Training Camp and I have zero interest in writing TC positional previews. Other people are doing a great job with that, but with no real new info I’m just not excited about it.

I decided to write about two things I love…the Eagles and the draft. Here are some draft memories from over the years.

One Bad Dude

Some time in either December of 2000 or January of 2001 I was watching the Egg Bowl on videotape. The Egg Bowl is the annual game between Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Video tape? That’s harder to explain, but just trust me…it did exist (and still does in my closet). I was checking out an Ole Miss DE named Derrick Burgess. He was a good player and I was high on him. I loved his motor and toughness. And he was a talented pass rusher.

Late in the game the TE for MSU got a cheap shot on Burgess. Derrick looked at the dude as if to say “You just messed up and you don’t know it.” Derrick didn’t do a bunch of woofing, but you could see he was pissed off. On the next snap, Burgess exploded off the ball and threw the TE out of his way to blow up the play. He then walked over to the TE to let him know who was who and what was what.

I loved it.

So many players talk smack and don’t back it up. I loved the fact that Derrick said a little and then did a lot. That TE had to walk to the sideline knowing he had poked the bear and it cost his team. Derrick might have made the same play anyway, but once he was ticked off, forget about it.

Burgess was fierce, in college and the pros. He wasn’t angry the way Seth Joyner could be, but Burgess wasn’t someone to mess with. He had an edge. You could see that in how he played and also how he carried himself. He became my favorite prospect in 2001. I was ecstatic when the Eagles spent the first pick of the third round on my favorite overall player of the draft.

Burgess had 6 sacks as a rookie and helped the Eagles reach the NFC title game. He then suffered a foot fracture in the 2002 season opener and missed the rest of the season. Lightning struck twice. Burgess tore his Achilles the next summer and missed all of 2003. Ugh.

Derrick Burgess
Defensive End
Philadelphia Eagles (2001-04, 2010) pic.twitter.com/f547zc0kH0

— Random Philly Athletes (@philly_athletes) July 13, 2022

He returned in 2004 and had an up and down season. He only got 2.5 sacks. Burgess came alive in the postseason. He sacked Michael Vick twice in the NFC CG and got Tom Brady once in the Super Bowl. That helped Burgess get a big deal in free agency. He went to Oakland and had 16, 11 and 8 sacks in his first three seasons with the Raiders. I finally got to see my guy play his best. He was just wearing the wrong uniform. I still remember where I was when I heard the announcement on the radio that he’d signed with Oakland. Heartbreak city.

What a Story

I remember watching Oklahoma play UTEP on opening weekend in 2012. The Sooners have always had good prospects and UTEP occasionally has a notable player. I was watching the game live and just trying to get a feel for who was good. The TV crew talked about OU’s offensive tackle being a former TE. That’s always intriguing because it means the guy is athletic. Then they said he had played some QB in junior college. That really got my attention.

I’m sure you’ve figured it out, but that player was Lane Johnson. I’d never heard of him before that night, but the compelling story stuck with me. I watched him throughout the season and got to see him up close at the Senior Bowl. He then had an amazing showing at the Combine. Here is what I wrote after those workouts.

Luke Joeckel is the big name. He could go first overall or in the next few picks after that. Eric Fisher came to prominence at the Senior Bowl and might now be worth a top five pick. Fisher had the better showing in Indy, but I still rate Joeckel as the better player. He is a natural pass blocker and that’s what I want at the left tackle spot. Lane Johnson from Oklahoma would actually be the best fit of the trio. Johnson has started at right and left tackle. He is fast and athletic. He also has the best mean streak. Johnson is the least experienced or polished so that drives down his value. Johnson had the best workout of any lineman at the combine. I’m just not sure it would be realistic to think he could climb all the way up to the fourth pick.

Johnson did in fact climb all the way up to fourth. Here’s how it turned out.

1 – KC – Eric Fisher
2 – JAX – Luke Joeckel
3 – MIA – Dion Jordan
4 – PHI – Lane Johnson

Thank you KC, JAX and MIA. Chip Kelly wanted Dion Jordan, who had played DE/LB for him at Oregon. Kelly had to settle for Johnson, who turned out to be an amazing consolation prize. He’s probably on his way to Canton.

Special Help

The Eagles used a second round pick to take DB Brian Dawkins in 1996. They used a fourth round pick to nab LB Ray Farmer. Both guys were star defenders and were good value where they were picked. Ray Rhodes targeted both players because of their ability on special teams. The Eagles STs were a disaster in 1995 and really hurt the team. Rhodes wanted to address that in the draft.

It's brutal out there right now, we're all in this together, here is one of the best feel good moments in #Eagles history

Check out Brian Dawkins' best highlights with Clemson, the rest as you say it is history

I #FlyEaglesFly I @BrianDawkins I #NFL I @EaglesTPL I pic.twitter.com/lm5V0WwsjZ

— Party on Broad Podcast (@PartyOnBroad) April 3, 2020

Here is PFW draft analyst Joel Buchsbaum on Dawkins.

“Should be a great special teams player if the Senior Bowl is any indication of what he can do.”

“Should be an instant contributor on special teams and has the physical tools to be a starting safety. “

Buchsbaum on Farmer.

“Excellent special team player and kick-blocker who may have a better chance at outside linebacker than safety.”

Farmer played SS at Duke and then moved to OLB in the NFL. He and Dawk did help the STs get better in 1996.

You do wonder if STs hadn’t been such a key angle if the Eagles might have taken different players. Thankfully the STs were awful in ’95 and that pushed Rhodes to go get the kid from Clemson who turned out pretty decent.

Baffling

Andy Reid’s left eyebrow has forgotten more football than I’ll ever know. Big Red will go down as one of the greatest coaches in football history. But he still has to live with the shame of taking LJ Smith in the second round in 2003. Ugh.

Jason Witten was clearly the better player. Witten was bigger. He was a terrific blocker. He had better hands. LJ was very athletic with the ball in his hands, but that’s really the only way he was the better player. I remember studying a Tennessee game and Witten blocked a player off the field. I wanted a TE with his combination of blocking and pass catching. Chad Lewis was a good pass catcher, but really struggled as a blocker.

I was furious when the Eagles took Smith. All the reports prior to the draft linked Smith to the Birds so I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I just couldn’t understand how they passed on Witten for that guy. In his defense, LJ did catch 233 passes in the NFL…only 995 fewer than Witten.

20 years ago today: Tennessee beats Arkansas 41-38 in six overtimes thanks to this Jason Witten TD reception that ended it pic.twitter.com/JcgTU6YF8I

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) October 5, 2022

Yikes.

Dead Wrong

Sometimes the Eagles and I were wrong together. Misery loves company, I guess.

LB Matt McCoy was a joy to watch in college. Unlike Derrick Burgess, McCoy talked trash to every person on the field. But he did it in a fun way. You could tell that he genuinely loved the game of football. He was a ball of energy, flying all over the field. I watched him play against Michigan and he had 17 solo tackles in that game. It was a great performance.

A lot of Eagles fans hated McCoy as a prospect. He lacked ideal size and they were sure he would be a bust. I tried to change their minds with glowing reports on him. Didn’t work. The Eagles took him at pick 63. He barely played as a rookie, but started 10 games in 2006. The results weren’t good. McCoy’s energy and athleticism weren’t enough in the NFL. He struggled vs the run.

I think one of the things that hurt him was the fact the NFL is professional football. College is a game. It’s fun. The NFL is a grind. Football is a business. McCoy ended up playing 65 games in his career. He only started 13.

Favorite picks

I started studying the draft casually in 1989. I started taping games and doing evaluations in the 1995 season for the 1996 draft. Here are my favorite picks for each round. That doesn’t mean the best players. I liked Dawk coming out of Clemson, but he wasn’t a player I loved. I was more excited for Brian Rolle than Jason Kelce in the 2011 sixth round.

These are my favorite prospects by round.

1 – DT Mike Patterson – 2005
2 – FS Nate Allen – 2010
3 – DE Derrick Burgess – 2001
4 – OL Todd Herremans – 2005
5 – DE Trent Cole – 2005
6 – LB Brian Rolle – 2011
7 – SS Kurt Coleman – 2010

Seems I prefer defensive players. And you can probably tell I loved the 2005 draft. I really loved Mike Patterson in college. One of my all time favorite prospects. Trent Cole would be high on that list as well. Loved watching him at Cincy. I used to call Rolle the “Little Ball of Hate”. Man, he was fun to watch.

My least favorite picks by round.

1 – WR Freddie Mitchell – 2001
2 – WR Todd Pinkston – 2000
3 – RB Tony Hunt – 2008
4 – OG Max Jean-Gilles – 2006
5 – LB Ike Reese – 1998
6 – LB Shaun Bradley – 2020
7 – OC Dominic Furio – 2004

I’m sure many people would put Jon Harris from 1997 as their least favorite first rounder. He was a solid prospect. The Eagles just took him two rounds too early. Mitchell was talented, but I wanted no part of him. Not my cup of tea. Pinkston was so skinny and such a finesse guy. I had zero interest in him. I loved Hunt as a college player, but didn’t think he fit the Eagles at all. Max was a massive OG. Reid love the big fellas. I preferred guys with more athleticism.

I feel guilty for having Ike here. He turned out to be a terrific player and he does a great job with Eagles coverage. But I have to be honest. I didn’t want the Eagles to take him. I didn’t see him as a future starter. I was right about that, but was way wrong about the value of a late pick turning into a core STer and role player. Very happy to be wrong about him.

I didn’t like Bradley’s tackling at Temple. LBs who aren’t clean tacklers scare me. He’s been a solid backup for the Eagles. Furio was a limited prospect that some coach or scout loved. Never did anything in the NFL.

Hopefully this little trip down memory lane will entertain a few of you.

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