Philadelphia Eagles 2008 Draft: Day 1

Larry Fitzgerald for Lito and draft picks? Didn’t happen. Calvin Johnson for Lito and draft picks? Never was close. Chad Johnson? Doesn’t look like it.

The Eagles entered Saturday’s day 1 of the 2008 NFL Draft with the 19th pick overall, 11 picks in total, and a disgruntled cornerback to most likely dispose of in Lito Sheppard. But as the day progressed, and the Eagles made trade after trade, nothing monumental occurred and they suddenly had no 1st round pick for the 2nd year in a row.

The draft moved along in the first round without many surprises, except if you count the new rule of just 10 minutes allowed per pick; which sped the process along and made listening to Keyshawn Johnson a bit less awful. As the 18th pick was being made with the Eagles on deck, you could feel something big about to happen. No receivers had been drafted as of yet. Branden Albert of Virginia, one player the Eagles might have had their eye on, had gone a few picks before, but there seemed to be so many opportunities to draft an impact player and get rid of Sheppard. Then everything changed as these words flashed on the bottom of ESPN’s screen, “PHILADELPHIA TRADED TO CAROLINA”. For the 2nd year in a row, the Eagles would be without a first round pick.

Now granted there were still plenty of instant impact receivers on the board so it wasn’t completely frustrating that the Eagles traded the pick. The trade was as follows:

Philadelphia gets: 2nd round pick (43) /4th round pick (109) / Panthers 1st round pick in 2009

Carolina gets: 19th pick in 1st round

The board was still in their favor as mentioned, and the Eagles picked up a first round pick next year which certainly bodes well for the future, and yet another 2nd round pick this year. Perhaps the most overlooked move the Eagles made was trading that 4th round pick they had received to Miami for running back Lorenzo Booker. Booker, a 2nd year player, was eyed by Philadelphia last year and they were able to finally pull the trigger on him today.

So now with the Eagles first pick of the draft coming 43rd, fans were again filled with excitement: what are the Eagles going to address? Lineman? Wideout? And what about Lito? Well the fans would have to wait a bit longer, as the Eagles made yet another trade:

Philadelphia gets: 2nd round pick (47) / 4th round pick (117)

Minnesota gets: 2nd round pick (43) / 5th round pick (152)

But with the Eagles finally on the clock and getting a pick in, the 47th pick wasn’t exactly worth the wait. The Eagles drafted Trevor Laws – DT from Notre Dame. Laws is 6 feet tall and weighs in at about 304 pounds. Now, obviously the Irish didn’t have a great year. Also obvious is the Eagles need to have that 3rd defensive tackle behind Patterson and Bunkley to provide a little depth. But listen to the following numbers: 265, 164, 289, 219, 119, 89, 168, 227, 257, 285, 94, 175. Those are rushing yards allowed by the Fighting Irish in each of their games this past year. Read those numbers again. Take out the 89 (against UCLA, their one surprise win) and 94 (against Duke, give me a break), and the Irish defense was giving up well over 150 yards on the ground per game. I’m not saying they ran it right at Trevor Laws every down of every game, but, it makes you wonder…the Eagles must really see something in this kid.

Later in the 2nd round with their original pick at 49, the Eagles did indeed take a wideout in the form of Cal’s DeSean Jackson. Little known fact…my parents original choice of name for me was DeSean. Back to topic: This was a good move and a scratch your chin kind of move at the same time. A receiver is what the Eagles wanted and needed, and they got it. Jackson is also a return man, and for any Eagles fan that watched the painful misery that was the special teams last year knows we need someone back there that can bust a few plays. Those are the pluses for drafting Jackson: he’s a return man, he’s fast as a bullet, and he’s shown the ability to catch the ball consistently. But you have to take a look at the bad: he’s a small guy and his 2007 numbers were nothing in comparison to his 2006 numbers. Jackson is listed at 6 foot even, but he’s just 166 pounds. The Eagles have tried small/quick receivers, what they needed was a Plaxico Burress kind of build, and I saw that in James Hardy (who went to Buffalo in the 2nd round).

I mentioned Jackson’s return game, but what I didn’t mention was how it tailed off in 2007. He had a terrific career at Cal returning kicks, but after running one back 77 yards against Tennessee in Cal’s opening game this past year, he didn’t reach the end zone again. His receiving stats also plummeted a bit after a stellar 2006 campaign in which he grabbed 59 balls for 1060 yards and 9 touchdowns. 2007? Just 762 yards and 6 touchdowns. All in all though, a pretty good pick.

So after digesting all that, the Eagles come away with a defensive tackle that nobody seems to know a lot about and a speedy returner/receiver that contains big play ability. But for some reason I get a feeling the Eagles are in for a big day 2 at the draft; something big is going to happen. Even if this means trading Sheppard in a deal to move up in the 3rd round, that would be big: this Lito Sheppard fiasco needs to end. But with 9 picks still left for Philadelphia, they certainly still have many, many options to work with.

photos from NFL.com