Jerome Simpson

Devin Thomas

Questions, comments, tips?  Eaglescoutblog@yahoo.com

I’m going to go out and get a footlong cheesesteak, 50 wings, a log of pork roll, and a 40 ounce just to spite Mr. Manning.

Additions include:

WR Darrell Blackman – NC State

OL  Duane Brown – Virginia Tech (intriguing)

RB  Albert Young – Iowa

OL  Frank Dunbar – Middle Tennessee State

DT  Kentwan Balmer – North Carolina 

 Take a gander.

By the way – if you have any tips for your author regarding players that interest the Birds, simply comment, or shoot an email to Eaglescoutblog@yahoo.com.
]]> http://eaglescoutuncensored.wordpress.com/2008/03/19/updates-to-the-2008-draft-prospects/feed/ 4 eaglescoutblog http://eaglescoutuncensored.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/what-wr-will-the-draft-bring/ http://eaglescoutuncensored.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/what-wr-will-the-draft-bring/#comments Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:43:50 +0000 eaglescoutblog http://eaglescoutuncensored.wordpress.com/?p=13 Continue reading →]]> The Fitzgerald speculation had many Birds’ fans frothing at the mouth like Mark Chumura at a Girl Scout convention.  Now that Fitz is off the table, speculation has already moved toward the potential acquisition of Roy Williams, Chad Johnson, and Anquan Boldin.  Realistically, the next wide receiver signed by the Birds will likely be one of their 2008 draft picks.  Who could be available when the Eagles pick at #19?

Could be any damn one of them.  See, 2008′s draft class is not top heavy in talent, there are no Larry Fitzgeralds or Calvin Johnsons, but hopefully, there may be a number of Marques Colstons.  According to NFL Network draft maven Mike Mayock, none of the collegiate prospects are worthy of a true first round grade.   NFLDraftScout.com (A site I subscribe to because I’m a raging draft loser) currently lists four guys with first round grades – they are:

First Round Grades

1. Devin Thomas – Michigan St. – 6’2″ 215
2. DeSean Jackson – California – 5’10″ 169 (!) 
3. Malcolm Kelly – Oklahoma – 6’4″ 224
4. Limas Sweed – Texas – 6’4″ 215

Second round grades include: 

Second Round Grades

1. James Hardy – Indiana – 6’6″ 217
2. Early Doucet- LSU – 6’0″ 209
3. Andre Caldwell – Florida – 6’0″ 204
4. Mario Manningham – Michigan – 6’0″ 181

Personally with no break out WRs jumping out at the Birds, I’d rather have them go for value in the 2nd round through 4th round.  I’d like to hear if anyone agrees or has a differing opinion.   

I am not enthralled with Devin Thomas as he was a total one year wonder in 2007.  DeSean Jackson is a playmaker, but is tiny at 169 pounds.  Kelly, Sweed, and Hardy fit the big, west coast ready mold, but again, they’d be much more digestible to me in the 2nd round. 

By the way – I’m in Florida playing golf until Sunday, so the page will be devoid of new material until at least Monday.  Hopefully everyone will be able to survive.  

Where’d my jock go? Oh shit, I remember, I donated it to that Eagle Scout asshole for his little draft contest.  Man, I had that shit broken in like a Yogi Berra’s catcher’s mitt.  Eight years of penis sweat softened that jaun better than Snuggle the fabric softener bear. 

Congrats to the winner.

MJG

First Round Selections

OT:  Jeff Otah – Pittsburgh (2)

OT:  Chris Williams – Vanderbilt

OG:  Branden Albert – Virginia

RB:  Felix Jones – Arkansas

DE:  Derrick Harvey – Florida

WR:  James Hardy – Indiana

FS:  Reggie Smith – Oklahoma

We definitely have some logical minds commenting in this forum.  Nobody really wants to use the 1st round pick on an offensive tackle, yet we all know the Birds need to establish depth at the position with Runyan and Thomas likely riding off into the sunset in 2009.  Couple that with the uncertainty surrounding the competence of Winston Justice, and the reluctance to kick either Todd Herremans or Shawn Andrews out to the tackle spot, and drafting a tackle becomes a rational move. 

Really, the only guy listed above I wouldn’t take would be Branden Albert.  I just don’t see the need for a guard with the Frenchman Max Jean-Gilles waiting in the wings.  The Birds are better suited to nab a OG prospect in the later rounds (Note: the poster who suggested the Albert pick was looking to provide an unorthodox take on the first three rounds rather than the status quo).  By the way, did anyone notice that James Hardy was compared to your very own legend Harold Carmichael in his scouting report?

Compares To: HAROLD CARMICHAEL-ex-Philadelphia…You might have to ask your dad who Harold Carmichael was, but Hardy is in the same mold — a tall, lanky receiver with a great reach and excellent leaping ability whose jump ball skills will create nightmares for smaller cornerbacks. Those defenders generally get into lots of trouble trying to stop Hardy from getting to the jump balls, evident by the 10 pass interference penalties charged to those covering Hardy in 2007. Some say he is like the Giants’ Plaxico Burress, but he lacks the bulk, strength and explosive burst that Burress brings with his game. Use him on fades or bubble screens and he is sure to move the chains, but he is going to have to dedicate a few hours to the weight room, as his lack of ideal strength could become an issue, especially trying to beat the jam.

Second Round Selections

DT:  Dre Moore – Maryland (2)

RB:  Chris Johnson – East Carolina (2)

FS:  Thomas DeCoud – California

CB:  Charles Godfrey – Iowa

CB:  Justin King – Penn State

DT:  Red Bryant – Texas A&M

DT:  Trevor Laws – Notre Dame

I guess great minds think alike here with the Dre Moore and Chris Johnson picks.  Prior to the post I didn’t know much about either player.  Dre Moore has some serious baggage concerning his consistency, but he also has major upside with his physical tools.  Johnson, who ran a 4.2 at the combine struck me as a workout warrior until I peeped this highlight mix tape on You Tube.

Johnson has been compared to Westbrook with more long, breakaway speed.  I’d take a shot with him because he could contribute from day one on punt and kick returns.  DeCoud, Laws, King, Godfrey, and Bryant all look like solid picks, however, if it was a toss up between the five, I’d be inclined to lean towards Trevor Laws. 

Third Round Selections 

WR:  Eddie Royal – Virginia Tech (2)

WR:  Donnie Avery – Houston (2)

CB:  Antwaun Molden - Eastern Kentucky

TE:  Martellus Bennett – Texas A&M

WR:  Dexter Jackson – Appalachian State

CB:  Tracey Porter – Indiana (Illegal pick: ranked #46)

Again, similar thinking from a bunch of people - dynamic, speed receivers who can all contribute on special teams from the get go.  I wouldn’t take Molden here in the 3rd round as he’s perceived as more of a 4th to 5th round guy, but honestly, I’ve never seen Molden on the field.  I like Martellus Bennett, but he needs to bang down a couple cheesesteaks a day to beef up his flimsy frame.  If I had to declare a winner (which is really pointless since no NFL games have been played) I’d have to go with………..

Jay Strock with the Jeff Otah, Chris Johnson, Martellus Bennett draft.

Thanks for playing and stay tuned, once the compensatory picks are announced, we should expand this baby to a full 7-round mock.

Jay, you’ll know your prize has arrived when you can smell your mailbox from your living room.

Stay tuned……… 

Dan Connor is the top ranked MIKE linebacker as rated by NFL.com’s draft guru Mike Mayock.  Considering Jim Johnson’s effusive praise of Stewart Bradley (3rd round pick) and his related statement that Bradley looks like his starting MIKE heading into 2008, I’d say the chance of the Birds making Connor their 19th pick is about a million to one. 

So your saying there’s a chance…yeah…I read you. 

Actually no.  So here’s what I propose:

NFLDraftCountdown.com has a list of the top 100 prospects heading into the draft.  I ‘d like to see a three round mock based on these rankings.  First a couple of rules:

1.  You cannot select a player rated higher than the Birds’ respective draft slot.  Thus, you cannot select the 18th rated player with the 19th pick.  You cannot select the 48th rated player with the 49th pick.  Got it?  Need more examples?  Didn’t think so.

2.  You cannot select a player with the 19th pick that is rated lower than the next Birds selection.  For example, you cannot select the 50th rated player with the 19th pick.  Not that you would, considering, the 49th pick would seem useful in that situation. 

3.  You CAN select a player not included on the top 100 list, i.e. Jordy Nelson with any pick.

 OK.  Again, here is the link to the top 100 list.     You can post your mock in the comments section or you can email it to me directly (eaglescoutblog@yahoo.com) with a little personal analysis/reasoning and I’ll post them here on the main page. 

The winner takes home a used Max Jean-Gilles jockstrap.  It’s fun at parties, just strap it on the face of the first guy who passes out, Revenge of the Nerds style.

I’ll kick the draft off with my own little best case scenario:

1st Round – 19th pick: Mike Jenkins, CB, South Florida, 5’10″ 197

Among talent evaluators, Jenkins consistently falls into the category of a top 3 cornerback prospect in the 2008 draft.  Jenkins is skilled in press coverage and can run with any receiver.  Also has free safety experience, as NFLDraftscout.com preaches that he has “Brian Dawkins like qualities.”  Limited kick returning duties, however, took a kick 100 yards for a TD against Cincinnati.  Who cares if he was tasered by the cops after a bar fight in early 2007 – show of hands of people who haven’t been tasered??

2nd Round – 49th pick:  Trevor Laws, DT, Notre Dame, 6’0″ 302

First off, I don’t think Laws falls this far, but we’re going by rankings here.  Laws is a quick penetrating DT the Birds seem to always gravitate towards.  Only down lineman in collegiate football who had 100+ tackles in 2007.  One of the most outstanding performers in both the Senior Bowl game and practices.  Laws is a low center of gravity brute a la Mike Patterson, who paced the Irish is sacks and stops behind the line of scrimmage in 2007. 

3rd Round – 79th pick:  Donnie Avery, WR, Houston, 5’10″ 192

The media would jump on this pick like crazy…….Kolb gets his man!!!!  Tough decision here with other wide receiver talents Eddie Royal (VTech), and Jordy Nelson (K-ST) still available.  In reality, I’d take any of the three, but to me Avery is the best athlete with the highest level of consistent production at the collegiate level among the bunch.  Avery is the prototypical “playmaker” with speed the Birds could be looking for.  Size is a detriment, but Avery showed steady improvement every year in college.  Avery could also step in on day one and return kicks for the squad.

 There you go….the Birds get their starting nickel corner, and Sheldon Brown replacement (2 or 3 years down the road) or if need be, their Brian Dawkins replacement.  They get a rotational DT and increased line depth, and they snag a big play WR who could step in day one and contribute on special teams as a returner while he learns the offense. 

I could have gone a thousand different ways here.  I was also considering:

19th:  Derrick Harvey, DE, Florida

49th:  Justin King, DB, PSU

79th:  Eddie Royal, WR. VTech

I’d like to see what everyone else thinks here……

The list is current as of 7:05 EST, March 3, 2008. 

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