4 Round Knockout

[Posted by Jake]

I confess. I am an unrepentant draftnik. This year I even caught a break with the royal wedding. The wife, who typically harrumphs and complains about the family room being turned into a draft war room, went frolicking down the street Friday at 4AM to a neighbor's, in her pajamas and tiara, to celebrate the nuptials of William and Kate. Kind of hard to make the case about the questionable worth of the NFL draft when you're wrapped up in the nuances of royal wedding dresses and Anglo hat fashion.

But I diverge. If there's anything that can get me over my enjoyment of the draft, it's the Eagles' attitude and picks. Only halfway through the 4th round and already I am so sick and tired of these guys, who can't win the big game, telling us how they're the smartest guys in the league.

Does it really make sense to draft a 27 year-old rookie lineman, Danny Watkins, when the team's longstanding practice is to not re-sign any player over 30? I get it that he's a hard-nosed, blue collar sort, but what's a matter with getting an impact player with your first pick? An offensive guard has to be cohesive with the rest of the line. By design, he can't be an impact player.

Meanwhile, a big, strong, fast cornerback is sitting there, just waiting to line up opposite Asante. But no, he had an underage drinking violation two years ago and the Gold Standard Eagles don't select guys with "character issues", whatever that has to do with winning. Actually though, as soon as we saw Jimmy Smith sitting on his couch next to Drew Rosenthal, we knew the Eagles weren't picking him. Not that Jeffrey and Joe hold a grudge or anything.

Second round, it's more of the same. Despite a defense that's too small and too lacking in playmakers, the Eagles take a safety out of Temple, Jaiquawn Jarrett, who isn't even 200 lbs. I'm just as happy as the next guy to see a local kid make good, but come on. Andy wants to sell on us on a guy who will line up as the smallest safety in the NFC East as a "Big Hitter". And just to throw some salt in the wound, he ran a pedestrian 4.65 in the 40, not the speed that could compensate for an undersized safety.

In the meantime, the rival Giants got an impact corner in the first round and a beast of a defensive tackle in the second round, despite his "character issues". I know I'll feel better when the Giants are kicking our butts next year, that our team has more Boy Scouts than they do.

But not to worry. In the third round, the Eagles struck gold...NOT. Despite still working the draft's earlier rounds, the hometown brain trust decided it was a good time to trade down and pick a project. The kid, Curtis Marsh, has NFL bloodlines and potential, but who in their right mind thinks our present cast of cornerbacks is good enough now? How does a project in the third round, for a team that has so many needs, demonstrate Super Bowl commitment?

Maybe the Eagles are just sleeping through this draft. They've got so much money under the cap that they're just going to go out and buy whatever they need on the free agent market. After all, Jeffrey Lurie can only make so many liberal documentaries.

This just in...Eagles trade back in the fourth round to pick (drum roll please) another small and slow defensive player. That's it, I'm done. I'm just giving in and going to watch royal wedding videos.