I and all eagles nation am euphoric about our off season so far, absolutely fantastic

er… “getting Hobbs was a steal for 2 5th rounders and he’s gonna be a great addition to this team… he made a great team with Asante back when they were both with New England”

Maclin was rated the 7th or 8th best player in the entire draft, and he fell to 19. Not because he isn’t the 7th or 8th best player going in, but because the Raiders fell in love with a 0.05 difference in 40 speed, and ignored the differences in hands, physicality, and route running that made Maclin far superior to Heyward-Bey according to scouts. Maclin’s routes need work, but he was rated as the best YAC WR in the draft (even ahead of Crabtree), which is exactly what the Eagles need in their WRs. Hands can be taught to some degree, so can route running.

And it’s not even as though he’s bad at either of those things. His hands are already rated as above-average-to-good. His route running was good too, except that his offensive system didn’t require very many routes — lots of slants and posts. Which is similar to the WCO. What he learned he excelled at, so there’s no reason to think he won’t be able to do the same with a double-move. He’s just about as fast as Desean Jackson, and just about as big as Anquan Boldin, with similar physicality in gameplay albeit not quite as much. He’s basically a hybrid of the two, and that’s something I am exceptionally excited to see in an Eagles WR.

If he turned out to be Kevin Curtis, I’d be ecstatic, but his ceiling is much, much higher. Think Roddy White.

Winston Justice was also seen to be a great value pick. At this point, he doesn’t seem to be working out. I’m cautiously optimistic about the draft and the off-season, but there remains a lot of uncertainty. Only time will tell.

and, like Westbrook, wasn’t exactly a blocking specialist coming out of college. But Westbrook was willing, and so is McCoy. Hopefully the comparisons will continue.

If Westbrook can stay healthy, McCoy only has to be a willing blocker for now. I do agree that it is far too early to anoint him a Westbrook successor. At the same time, I am very excited to nab him late in the 2nd round and think he will be a good fit and another playmaker in this system, at the very least.

Where I am 100% in agreement with you is regarding TE. It is the only flaw I can find in this offseason. We cannot go into another season with a guy with no business in the NFL playing an important role (2nd TE). Schobel is still that guy right now as Ingram is probably a year away from significant playing time, assuming he does pan out. So that is an area that still needs to be addressed, even if we only find a blocking TE.

maclin is bigger and more explosive .. he doesnt run the best routes .. but he finds ways to make plays with the ball in his hands .. he projects to be a reggie wayne type .. a top tier wr ..
jackson is smaller .. runs better routes but isnt as explosive .. he is still a threat with the ball .. but he projects as a more athletic issac bruce .. so the main differce is maclin is bigger and more explosive .. d jax will be a good wr for awhile but he will never be a number one .. maclin could be a number one .. thats the main differnce .. they arnt very similar other than the fact that they both play wr and they are good with the ball in their hands

Jackson vs. Maclin:
Jackson is faster
Jackson runs better routes
Maclin is bigger
Maclin is more physical
Maclin is still blazing fast

Similarities:
Both create huge YAC (yards after catch)
Both are exceptionally fast
Both have exceptional vision
Both are extremely agile
Both use their hands to catch, and have good hands

I think the more athletic Isaac Bruce comp can hold for Jackson, or a less physical Steve Smith. He has potential to be #1, I differ from Jack there. I don’t think he has the potential to be a top 5 take-over-games a la Fitzgerald type. It’s not that he won’t rack up the stats, because he will, but he can’t just go outleap a defender or outmuscle a CB on every play, he’s more about creating separation and agility and that’s harder to dominate outright with. Then again, CBs have a very tough time with his type of receiver. I’d expect his career to have a ton of yards, but he’ll I do not think it likely that he will be a guy that hauls in 15 TDs in a year. Once he gets hit, he’s probably going down relatively quickly (as opposed to a T.O. type who drags defenders) — good thing he’s so hard to hit.

Maclin, on the other hand, does have the 15 TDs/yr potential. I called him Roddy White esque earlier this thread, another comp dropped was Reggie Wayne. I think he runs worse routes and doesn’t have as good hands as does Wayne, but is faster with more physicality and agility, so that’s why I picked White. However, that’s really nitpicking, and the ceiling of Wayne & White are both very legitimate. Maybe somewhere in between. He’ll enter and be a dynamic deep threat right away because he has the ability to outjump/muscle DBs and the speed to outrun them, and if he can learn the intricacies of WCO route running he could be a top 10 WR annually and the type of WR that can dominate games.

Jackson is also more likely to reach his potential, if for no other reason than he had such a great year last year that we know he can hold up to NFL rigors. Maclin probably is a bit less likely to reach his, but if he goes out and has a Jackson-esque rookie year (unlikely… let’s not be too tough on the kid — after all, Jackson is the exception for rookie WRs, not the norm), then I think his limit is the sky and he has a great chance of reaching it. If he performs solidly (25+ catches? don’t want to put a # on it…)… if he comes on strongly at the end of the year, makes a big play here and there, and generally does things that get his name in the paper in good ways, I’d still be extremely optimistic about his potential.

If we lose an extra game, whatever. We need to show these guys that when we show faith in them and guarantee their comfort for the rest of their lives, we expect them to honor at least half the new contract without complaining.

I think we have some great leaders, I think you’ll see Howard as more vocal, as well as Asante & Mikell & Bradley. I also have a hunch that Demps will emerge as a vocal leader on the team, judging from what he said at draft time and since then. He’s a smart guy, and he obviously plays with a lot of passion. No one has the mold of BDawk’s leadership, but Demps has got a good personality on him I think.