Antonio Cromartie, 2011 2nd round pick
Josh Wilson, 2011 5th
Chris Houston, 2010 6th, 2011 7th
Sheldon Brown, 2010 4th
Lito Sheppard, 2010 4th
Bryant McFadden, 2010 6th
Ellis Hobbs, 2009 5th, 5th
DeAngelo Hall, 2008 2nd, 2009 5th
Pacman Jones, 2008 4th
According to the team stenographer. Some rounds approximate.
Yesterday’s post questioned why the Eagles have gone after highly-ranked safeties, while sticking with mid-round projects at cornerback. Friend of the blog Sam Lynch laid out his view in the comments, that it’s the result of the Eagles failing to address defensive back in any substantial way through the draft since 2003:
“For example, in the five drafts between 2003 and 2007, the Eagles took 1 CB and 2 Ss in the first four rounds, and the second safety (Considine) was only taken after JR Reid had his accident”
I agree, although the next question is why. Why would a team that drafted Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown prior to the departures of Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor fail to plan ahead this time? Even after they snagged Asante Samuel in free agency, they didn’t bother to even invest in one long term solution to play on the opposite side. Not sure I have a good answer for this one.
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Perhaps the strangest story I’ve read in the last week was the yesterday’s revelation that David Akers had pre-draft dreams that foretold the Eagles picking another kicker.
That piece reminded me about the reports that surfaced at the end of the season that Akers had turned down a three-year contract extension with the team. I wonder if that offer really was as good as McLane reports: “a deal that would have made him one of the top five kickers in the league.” Seems like lunacy that Akers would turn that down, unless he already wanted to move on.
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Non-Eagles note: the University of Nebraska was kicked out of the American Association of Universities last week. Many of you college football/Big Ten/Penn State fans may remember that Nebraska’s membership in the AAU was supposed to be a vital reason for their inclusion in the new 12-member Big Ten.
Of course, as I wrote a year ago, sticking to academic standards was never high on the Big Ten’s agenda.
Over the last couple of years we’ve seen an exodus in the Eagles defensive backfield. Brian Dawkins, Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, and now (presumably) Quintin Mikell. There’s a completely new starting unit now — but the way the Eagles have gone about replacing all the departing All-Stars has been interesting. While there have been long-term holes at both cornerback and safety, the team has invested high draft picks only in safety.
Cornerback has long been considered a key position for the Eagles and other defenses. Today’s pass happy NFL regularly exposes mediocre corners (see Patterson, Dimitri). So one would think that in addition to signing Asante Samuel, the Eagles front office would be committed to finding more starters who can lock down opposing wide receivers for years to come. But they haven’t. Instead we’ve seen a string of low round picks, projects with upside rather than instant contributors: Jack Ikegwuonu (4th round), Trevard Lindley (4th), Curtis Marsh (3rd). They also drafted another fourth round corner, Macho Harris, only to convert him to safety and cut him after a year. Veterans Patterson, Ellis Hobbs, and Joselio Hanson haven’t been the answer.
Meanwhile, the team has now invested in two second round safeties who were considered NFL-ready by many scouts. Nate Allen started most of the 2010 at free safety, and Jaiquawn Jarrett, this year’s draft pick, should compete with Kurt Coleman for the starting strong safety spot right away. You can see the difference between a top second round pick like Allen and a fourth round player like Lindley, who barely saw the field last season and isn’t seriously being considered to start next year either.
So why the split? Why not draft a top cornerback to try to replicate the success of Allen and immediately upgrade the position, rather than roll the dice on another project? The opportunities, both this year and last year, were there. And no one can argue that cornerback is less of a need.
There’s no easy answer. Perhaps the Eagles thought that safety was where the value was, especially if they’re planning to pick up a cornerback in free agency, although that doesn’t necessarily answer the long-term question for a team that likes to draft for the future. Maybe the increase in importance of the safety position requires a renewed commitment. Or perhaps there’s more optimism about the team’s current corners than we thought.
Whatever the reason, the Eagles clearly put safety ahead of cornerback in the last two drafts. Free agency will tell us whether that preference is conditional and temporary, or if it’s part of a larger trend.
Originally published at NBC Philadelphia. Photo from Getty.