Eagles Draft Review

After trading out of the first round the past couple years, it was nice to see the Eagles actually draft a player and an offensive player to boot. They moved up a couple spots to #19 and took Jeremy Maclin, wide receiver from Missouri.

Maclin is one of the most explosive offensive players in the draft and he now becomes another weapon in Eagles growing arsenal for Donovan McNabb. ProFootballDraftNetwork.com rates Maclin the 9th overall best prospect entering the draft and 2nd best receiver behind Michael Crabtree which isn't bad value at all considering he was taken at 19.  Maclin will also help the Eagles return game, which now has more depth than perhaps in any time in the teams' history with DeSean Jackson, Quentin Demps, newly acquired CB Ellis Hobbs, and now Maclin.  

In the second round, the birds selected, LeSean McCoy, running back from Pittsburgh.  McCoy is a shifty runner with quick acceleration and should help to keep Brian Westbrook fresh by sharing some of the load.  The RB position was a need in this draft and the Eagles, who had been eyeing Knowshon Moreno in the first round, appear to have done well in grabbing McCoy.

Their next pick came in round 5 and they took Gators TE, Cornelius Ingram,  an athletic guy with a basketball background who has lots of upside and could potentially be a real good TE in this league.  He would have been selected much higher had he not suffered a knee injury that cost him his senior season.  He played in the Gators spread offense and could have an immediate impact this season.

Virginia Tech cornerback Victor Harris and Oregon offensive tackle Fenuki Tupou were selected in the fifth-round. Harris can play both corner and safety and Tupou will be fighting for a job as a backup guard or tackle. In the sixth round, Washington State wide receiver Brandon Gibson was added but will be a long shot to make the squad. In the seventh round, Arizona St. Guard Paul Fanaika and Maryland linebacker Moise Fokou were selected. This deep in the draft, teams are throwing darts at the board hoping someone will stick. While I think that UNC receiver, Hakeem Nicks may have been a better fit for this team, Maclin is a talented receiver who could have easily been a top 10 pick and who along with DeSean Jackson, will help to torture NFC East opponents in the years to come. McCoy will be involved in this offense as well and should be able to make a solid impact spelling Westbrook. The Eagles previously added free agent FB Leonard Weaver who aside from being a good blocker is an excellent receiver out of the backfield. The Eagles have also added Jason Peters and Stacy Andrews to an offense line that is suddenly much younger and athletic. I think the team did a tremendous job with this draft and during this offseason in helping to surround McNabb with additional weapons.  This team should be able to win the NFC East and is set up to make a run at winning it's first Super Bowl.