If Mel Kiper Had His Way – 1996 Edition

Posted: January 26th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 32 Comments »

Let’s hop in the Wayback Machine for a quick trip to 1996.

The other day I was looking for a football book and stumbled across Mel Kiper’s 1996 Draft Update. This is a small booklet (26 pages) that he used to put out in April as a follow-up to his bigger blue books. Mel had a full mock draft in the back of the book.

Let’s look at who the Eagles did take:

1 – OL Jermane Mayberry
2 – TE Jason Dunn
2 – FS Brian Dawkins
3 – QB Bobby Hoying
4 – LB Ray Farmer
5 – LB Whit Marshall
6 – DE Steve White
6 – TE Tony Johnson
6 – WR Phillip Riley

Now let’s take a look at who Mel Kiper had us taking…

1 – TE Jason Dunn
2 – WR Stepfret Williams
2 – QB Bobby Hoying
3 – FS Ryan Stewart
4 – LB Eric Unverzagt
5 – WR Jermaine Lewis
6 – RB Ricky Whittle
6 – DE Kelvin Kinney
6 – FB Maurice Hampton

The horror, the horror. No Dawk!!!

Terrible job, Melvin. The 1996 draft would have been a huge disaster if Mel had his way.

Dunn was a bust as a pass catcher, but was a good blocker and STer.

Williams had 37 career catches and 2 TDs.

Hoying is Hoying.

Stewart started 2 games in his career and had 1 INT.

Ungverzagt played in 9 games as a STer.

Lewis did have 6 PR TDs. He was okay as a WR for a couple of years, but never developed.

Whittle played 1 year and never scored a TD.

Kinney started 12 games for WAS in 1998 and had 1 sack.

Doesn’t look like Hampton ever played.

What was that Bill Tobin said about Mel and the postman?

SteveH

So obviously hindsight is what it is, but what were the knocks on Dawk that had him lasting into the second round? I’m just curious because he became one of the most dominant and complete safeties to ever play the game so, clearly there had to be something about him that teams saw that they didn’t like at the time.
- TommyLawlor
  
  He was 5-11, 190. That’s average size for a guy known as a big hitter. Could he be a big hitter in the NFL at that size?
  
  Some looked at him as a CB/S tweener. Some of the guys listed above him were 202 pounds, 206, and 210. They ranged from 5-11 to 6-2.
  - GermanEagle
    
    Who could be this year’s Brian Dawkins?
    - Anders
      
      Philip Thomas got all the tools if he can learn to make form tackles. Cyprien really looks like Dawkins just with dreadlocks, he is just from a small school so he hasnt faced top competition.
    - pjxii
      
      For that matter, who is this year’s Ray Lewis?
      - A_T_G
        
        That will be the LB taken right after we pick.
    - ICDogg
      
      take a look at Matt Elam
  - http://twitter.com/MFlicker Mike Flick
    
    I remember they had 2 minute clips of player highlights that you could download. (Pre-Youtube days) I had the Dawk one on my desktop and watched it all the time.
    
    He was on a punt coverage team and just timed blowing up the punt returner that brought a smile to my face every time.
    
    Playing hindsight, remember the story of the D-coordinator leaving the draft room because we picked a blind o-lineman instead of some MLB Ray Lewis who ended up being picked right behind us.
    
    We nearly got Lewis/Dawk in one draft. Ah hindsight.
D3Keith

Impressed that Melvin nailed two of the guys the Eagles actually ended up with, and that the Eagles got them both lower than Melvin projected.

I will now always refer to him as Melvin. Awesome.
- TommyLawlor
  
  It’s the little things that make like fun.
T_S_O_P

I missed that Mingo had declared. He would be a great player in a 3-4 base and Nickel.
Anders

Thats scary Tommy. If it hadnt been for Dawkins, I wouldnt be an Eagles fan. Its also funny to wonder if Dawkins would have been an HOF safety if it hadnt been for Jim Johnson
- http://www.facebook.com/matthew.verhoog Matthew Verhoog
  
  I wonder if Jim Johnson would be a great Coach if not for Dawkins
  - Anders
    
    chicken or egg argument I think.
    - http://www.facebook.com/matthew.verhoog Matthew Verhoog
      
      Yes, the greatest Debate topic of all time.
  - ACViking
    
    Same as asking if Andy Reid would have lasted more than 5 years. If no Dawk, then no JJ (i.e., the great JJ who usually succeeded in keeping the Eagles’ opponents to 17 or less. And no JJ means the Eagles lose more of those games in the ’00-’04 time period. Etc, etc.
- P_P_K
  
  I think both Dawk and JJ would have found a way to be great in their respective roles. But this was one of those rare and beautiful relationships in sports where a coach and player help each other to rise to the pinnacle of their potential.
Ross Smith

It’s a nit-pick… but Mr. Peabody’s machine was the “WABAC Machine” (rhymes with way-back, though): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WABAC_machine
- ACViking
  
  Sherman & Peabody . . . . Rocky & Bullwinkle.
  
  TV land just doesn’t create characters and shows like those anymore. (Throw in ’40s-pre-Vietnam ’60s Bugs Bunny/Road Runner/Yosemite Sam/Daffy Duck, too — especially Bugs Bunny with his *guest appearances* by stars like Humphrey Bogart and Bing Crosby.).
  
  Ross — this is the best bit of trivia I’ve read in years. Thanks
  - TommyLawlor
    
    I loved Rocky & Bullwinkle.
  - A_T_G
    
    It might just be perspective. Phineas and Ferb, for example is one of the most fun, positive, and interesting cartoons that I have ever seen. And it is kid-approved. Musical scores, jokes for all ages, running themes. Not everything being made is Sponge Bob or Power Rangers.
  - Ross Smith
    
    It’s funny… I’ve caught some R&B and Fractured Fairy Tales repeats lately and as a kid you never realized how much of the spoken humor was over your head. They really knew how to write for multiple audiences. There are a few modern cartoons that succeed somewhat, but all the over-the-kids-head jokes seem to concentrate on sexual innuendo and/or orientation.
- TommyLawlor
  
  Interesting. Never realized that. I’ll probably stick with the other spelling so as to avoid confusion, but always good to know the correct answer.
- jshort
  
  I would have sworn it was Phineas T. Whoopee (aka Mr. Wizard) that had the WABAC machine. I would have been wrong. Come to think of it, he had a 3-DBB. Larry Storch did his voice.
aceandson

So who did he have picking Dawkins?
bdbd20

I really liked the Ray Farmer pick. What was his deal? Just wasn’t NFL material?
- TommyLawlor
  
  Knee injury.
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A_T_G

Was Melvin ( I like that too) picking who we should take, or who he thought we would take? In other words. Does that bunch of flops represent his inability to evaluate talent or his opinion of the Eagles ability?
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