NFL Draft 2nd - 7th Round Picks

The draft continued into Friday night and basically all day Saturday, as the 2nd and 3rd rounds were on Friday night, and then the 4th through 7th rounds were Saturday.

Here is a rundown of the rest of the Eagles picks, highlighted by the 'Donovan McNabb pick,' in early 2nd rounder Nate Allen, safety, from South Florida.

2nd round- Nate Allen, S, South Florida

3rd round- Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, DE, Washington

4th round- Trevard Lindley, CB, Kentucky

4th round- Keenan Clayton, LB, Oklahoma

4th round- Michael Kafka, QB, Northwestern

4th round- Clay Harbor, TE, Southwest Missouri State

5th round- Ricky Sapp, DE, Clemson

5th round- Riley Cooper, WR, Florida

6th round- Charles Scott, RB, LSU

7th round- Jamar Chaney, LB, Mississippi State

7th round- Jeffrey Owens, DT, Georgia

7th round- Kurt Coleman, S, Ohio State

Overall, I am not a huge fan of this draft for the Philadelphia Eagles. I am unsure of the Brandon Graham pick, when they still had Derrick Morgan and Earl Thomas on the board. I also personally would rather have Taylor Mays than Nate Allen. That's not to say that Graham and Allen are bad players or will be busts, they can be very effective.

I also don't see a need for all the defensive ends to be chosen. I also think that the Eagles really needed to take an offensive lineman fairly early. Even when the Eagles had their offensive line set for the next season, Andy Reid usually stick took a couple O lineman. Now, when we need offensive line help, especially on the interior, we don't take a single one.

Obviously, I am no draft expert, so I don't know much about most of these players, any of them could be busts, and any of them could be future pro-bowlers, but just looking at the draft as a whole, I can't say I am content with it.

NFL Draft Continues Tonight

The broken up NFL Draft resumes tonight at 6:00, with the 2nd and 3rd rounds to take place. The Eagles have 2 picks in the 2nd round, and due to the trade yesterday, 0 picks in the 3rd round. All of this could change, as the Eagles could try to make some moves to get into the 3rd round. If they don't make any moves today, the Eagles will welcome 2 more players to the nest to join Brandon Graham, the first round pick.

The Eagles are in a good spot with what is being referred to as the 'Donovan McNabb pick' which is the 37th overall, and 5th in the 2nd round. I have to imagine most teams like the new draft format, as it gives them an entire day and night to re-shuffle and take a look at their draft boards.

The Eagles still obviously have a lot of needs. I really think the Eagles need to take a safety or cornerback, probably with the 'Donovan McNabb pick.' Taylor Mays, the safety from USC, and Nate Allen, the safety from South Florida are both still on the board, and have to be high on the Eagles wish list. Mays is a guy who would have been a top 10 pick if he left after his junior year at USC, but struggled his senior year, which is why he is still on the board. And Ray Didinger said that the he would like to take Nate Allen, a safety from South Florida, so you know he has to be good. I've also been hearing that the Eagles have a lot of interest in Mississippi running back Dexter McCluster. McCluster is a very small back, who is really quick and elusive, but I'm not sure with his size if he is ever a #1 running back. However, with McCoy, I don't think the Eagles would draft him to be a #1 back. I think the Eagles think they can get McCluster probably in the 3rd round, but they don't have a pick there.

I really want the Eagles to conitnue to address defense, at least with the 37th pick. I still do think that they need a offensive lineman also. Unfortunately, the Eagles have a lot of needs actually. If I had my choice, I would like to have Taylor Mays with the 37th pick, and then possible look at taking a cornerback with the 2nd pick in the 2nd round.

Eagles Have Lots of Draft Needs

The NFL Draft is quickly approaching… the first round will take place in prime time this year, April 22nd. The Eagles currently hold the 24th overall pick in the first round. Unfortunately, they enter this offseason with more needs than I can remember in a while, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

The Eagles ended last season with their defense as bad as I can remember it in a while. It is only fair that you give Sean McDermott some time to fully take over the defense and turn it back into the elite defense it was under the late, great Jim Johnson. The Eagles appear to be trying to get younger on defense, getting rid of veteran fan favorite Sheldon Brown, when they don’t really have an alternative who is on the same level as Brown right now.

The Eagles have holes in basically every area of the defense. The Eagles need a safety, as Macho Harris and Quintin Demps were not able to get the job done there last season. They also need a cornerback since the aforementioned Sheldon Brown is now a Cleveland Brown. Ellis Hobbs can play, but isn’t as good as Brown. The Eagles could also use some help at the linebacker position. Stewart Bradley will be back in the middle, but I’m not sure how confident we should feel in Akeem Jordan and Moses Fokou on the outsides. Up front, the Eagles also need some help. The tackles are solid, but can’t play entire games. Trevor Laws, former 2nd round draft pick couldn’t even get on the field last year. Trent Cole also has no help at the other end position, and the Eagles are going to have to sure the left end position up at some point soon. This is a lot of positions to address; too many to address in one offseason, which is why I don’t think the defense will be up to par next season.

On offense, the Eagles are pretty solid, and young at most positions. We will see this season what we have in Kevin Kolb. If Kolb is solid, the Eagles have a solid group of young skill position players in Kolb, Shady McCoy, DeSean Jackson, and Jeremy Maclin to built off of for the next decade. Brent Celek has become a solid starting tight end in this league. The offensive line is the weak part of this offense. This is amazing considering the fact that genius Andy Reid spends so much time and money and picks to make sure the offensive line is solid. Shawn Andrews was cut, and Stacy Andrews was horrible and couldn’t get on the field last season. Jason Peters was average when he played, and when he was injured, Todd Herramans would play tackle, and looked terrible there. The rest of the line in Cole, Jean-Gilles, and Jackson played poorly in my opinion. McNabb was not protected well, and none of the running backs had much room to maneuver. The offensive line will need to improve this offseason for Kevin Kolb to feel comfortable behind them.

The Eagles will be on the clock shortly, and need to make something happen in the draft. Right now, this roster might not even be a playoff team right now, and they certainly are not ready to seriously contend. Andy Reid loves to brag about how awesome he is for having so many picks going into every draft... hopefully he uses them wisely.