First Round Picks

by Andrew B on May 3, 2008 8:13 PM EDT

Listening to the 610WIP hosts continue to harp about the Eagles not making a 1st round pick in the draft and how terrible this is and how contrary to the rest of the league, I decided to take a look at see what other teams had done in the draft.

Vikings - no 1st round pick (traded 17th pick)

Eagles - no 1st round pick (traded 19th pick)

Redskins - no 1st round pick (traded 21st pick)

Browns - no 1st round pick (traded 22nd pick last year)

Colts - no 1st round pick (traded 29th pick last year)

Packers - no 1st round pick (traded 30th pick)

So 1/3 of the league left to pick in the 1st round (6 of 15 teams) after 16 decided there was nobody worth picking in the first round and they traded down to later rounds. The Browns and Colts made this decision last year, gambling on their having a good year in 2007 and thus losing a late pick.

First picks by these teams:

Redskins - #34

Packers - #36

Vikings - #43

Eagles - #47

Colts - #59

Browns - #104

Statisticians have done an analysis of the history of the draft and found the best bang for the buck in terms of performance to cap space comes from players picked very late in the first round to late in the second round. OTOH, we are very familiar with the brutal cost of first round busts like Jon Harris, Mike Mamula, Freddie Mitchell and Jerome McDougle.

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Exactly

Additionally, I find this “round” labeling silly. The crucial thing is the overall pick #... How many teams had 2 picks in the top 50 this year? Less than half the league. So the Eagles got 2 top 50 players while simultaneously doing the same thing for next year. 4 top 50s over the next 2 years? That’s a lot of upside.

by Alon on May 4, 2008 4:57 PM EDT reply actions

Plus

I love that so many commentators say that we gave up immediate impact by trading out of the second round. If only we had taken Otah…who would’ve sat on the bench all year. Instead we got a DT that will rotate in immediately and a possible slot receiver and at least definitely a return man.

by ajay on May 4, 2008 9:03 PM EDT reply actions

Oops

trading out of the FIRST round

by ajay on May 4, 2008 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions

All I know is that we’re ready to rock this year, and if for whatever reason Donovan isn’t here next year, there won’t be a such thing as a rebuilding phase.

Destroyer of Subject Lines :3™

by yomjoseki on May 4, 2008 10:11 PM EDT reply actions

Haha, I just thought of this. Maybe the Eagles will use these picks to go after someone designated a franchise player. I hope not because there’s not many people worth 2 first round picks, but it is an option I suppose.

Destroyer of Subject Lines :3™

by yomjoseki on May 4, 2008 10:18 PM EDT reply actions

Reid

has managed to “rebuild’ while still ensuring that the Eagles are competitive every year. Jason recently posted the differences between the ‘04 roster and the ‘07 roster, and there were only a few players still on the team. This means that there will be only a small slump in the performance of this team when veterans like McNabb and Dawkins eventually leaves. So trading out of the first round is obviously a strategy that Reid believes will continue to bring in fresh talent, that doesn’t cost $60 million. This is why commentators are WRONG when they say that the window is closing for the Eagles, because Andy has wedged a stick below the window, keeping it open for a long time.

The NFC East goes through Philly.

by LeonSA on May 5, 2008 8:29 AM EDT reply actions