FanPost

wild_eagle's pick by pick take on the draft

So everybody seems to have their opinions about each pick, and of coarse everybody's view is different and instead of writing 14 thousand comments sharing my thoughts on it I figured I'd just write a fanpost about it so it can all be in one central location. So here we go:

1st round, Pick #4 overall: Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma.

Lane Johnson is simply the most athletic Offensive Tackle I've ever seen, hell he might be the most athletic Offensive Tackle to ever enter the NFL. There is no doubt that Johnson has a ton of potential and may likely become the best Offensive Tackle from this draft class because he's so athletic and going into a system that perfectly suits his abilities. There is a lot of risk with Johnson simply because he only has two years worth of experience at Offensive Tackle and in my opinion his technique still needs refining in order for him to become a great player but somebody with that size and athletic ability should be able to put it together. I do like how big Johnson is, at 6-6 303lbs he is built very well for an OT and still has room to pack on a lot more strength over the next few years before he moves over to Left Tackle to replace Peters. The best part about this pick is that the Eagles can plug him in at RT and slide Herremans down to RG and immediately improve 2 positions on the line.

On a side note the drafting of Lane Johnson as the LT of the Future does more than just improve the RT and RG spots right now it also allows us to groom Dennis Kelly to eventually take over to Lane when he slides over to Left Tackle. Kelly is a Chip Kelly type of player at 6-8 and 321lbs and with his play last season, which really impressed me, I believe that he can become a solid RT for years to come. In my opinion I feel the Lane Johnson pick did much more for us than any other pick would have, it allows us to improve our OL immediate, we get an LT replacement in house and it allows us to take a player like Dennis Kelly and groom him into the RT position.

2nd round, Pick #35 overall: Zach Ertz, TE, Stanford.

First off I'll admit I wasn't exactly happy taking a TE at #35 when I felt we could grab a few other guys who could help us, but after taking a step back and seeing what was on the board at #35 and what Chip Kelly is wanting to do (add size and mismatch potential) I can now live with this pick. Zach is a huge human being at 6-5 and 250lbs and running a 4.7 in the 40 yard dash it's clear that he adds quite a bit of size and creates mismatches for the offense to take advantage of. I like how he catches the ball also, he will attack it at its highest point and pluck it out of the air and displays strong hands in doing so. This pick adds another element to the group of TE's we already have on the roster, he should fit in nicely with Casey and Celek but I'm not so sure Harbor has a future in Philly anymore which disappoints me because I thought Kelly would've been able to take advantage of his athletic ability. If we go 3 TE sets it's clear that we will be able to spread out with Celek, Ertz and Casey and still have mismatches.

3rd Round, Pick #67: Benny Logan, DT, LSU.

I actually wanted Jesse Williams at this slot but unfortunately I feel the Eagles took him off their board since he has some knee issues, however I don't really have any issues with taking Logan because I feel he's a high potential player who can help out at both Nose Tackle and 5-tech and the best part about this pick is that Logan can stop the run and rush the passer equally well which I think is something most defensive lineman are beginning to lose the ability to do. To me Logan has quite a bit of potential as the 5-tech DE where his ability to stop the run will fit what Kelly (supposedly) wants from the 5-tech and he will have an added punch when it comes to getting after the passer. Make no doubts about it, Logan has a very good chance at being a starter week 1 and not only that but he could be an impact player for us next season.

4th Round, Pick #98: Matt Barkley, QB, USC.

I liked this pick due to the value, potential and spot at which it was made. Snagging Barkley up in the 4th is simply a great pick value-wise, a year ago Barkley would've likely gone #3 or #4 overall, so a year later where he had a senior campaign where we saw him take a step back from his junior season but I still felt his entire body of work warranted him being taken at least in the 2nd round. Grabbing him in the 4th round allows us to still have Foles and Vick compete without Barkley being a pressing need to start if things go south, basically where we took him allows us to have an unbiased QB competition unlike what'll be happening with the Bills and Jets this season. Now I'd say potential-wise Barkley can become a great QB with the proper coaching and in the proper system, he's not overly athletic but I feel he is best when in a passing game where he throws mostly short-intermediate passes that are rhythm and anticipation based due to the fact that he doesn't have a cannon for an arm, I think in a few years he will be able to improve his arm strength (much like Drew Brees did) and become a much bigger threat at QB.

The thing I like about the Barkley pick is that it doesn't necessarily hurt Foles, and in my opinion I feel it gives us two young options who can potentially become top notch QB's in this league. Not all of our eggs are in one basket at this point, which is something I like to see with a new regime in place.

5th Round, Pick #136: Earl Wolff, SS, NC State.

I like Earl Wolff because well he's a young safety who actually looks like they could become a good player, he is good in coverage, and he's a physical safety who has real athletic ability, think Kurt Coleman but athletic. Wolff has good hands to secure INT's and be a solid option in coverage yet he can play downhill attacking the line of scrimmage. Wolff could compete for some heavy playing-time immediately and might even be able to secure a starting job if he impresses early at training camp. This isn't really a home run pick due to the fact we grabbed him in the 5th round, but with Nate Allen not living up to expectations, Kurt Coleman being Kurt Coleman and the additions of oft-injured Kenny Phillips and underachieving Pat Chung there are two safety positions up for the taking and Wolff has as good of a chance to win one as anybody else considering the fact we're bringing in a new defensive scheme.

7th Round, Pick #212: Joe Kruger, DE, Utah.

Kruger is a potential developmental 5-technique, he could be a guy that the Eagles spend a year or two working to the point where he can jump into the rotation and become a good player. The thing that leads me to believe he can become a very solid player for us is that he's a guy that gets off the ball quickly and has excellent use of his hands to defeat blockers and combine that with a high motor and I feel we have a slightly more talented Derek Landri. Kruger is promised nothing, but as with Wolff in a new system, under a new regime it's completely possible that he could earn a spot on this team and possibly even a spot in Kelly's heavy rotation heading into next season. If Kruger can beef up to around 300lbs he could be a full-time 5-tech for us.

7th round, Pick #218: Jordan Poyer, CB, Oregon State.

I really liked Poyer heading into this draft, he seemed like a blue collar type of CB who did his job well and didn't make anything easy for the WR and QB. The thing I liked about Poyer is that he was always around the ball, it seemed like anytime there was a loose ball for the taking he came away with it, I would consider him a playmaker in his own right. I don't see Poyer ever really developing into a starting outside CB, but I could see him finding a niche as a Nickel CB and pushing Boykin for his job.

7th round, Pick #239: David King, DE, Oklahoma.

I'll be honest and admit that I don't know to much about David King outside of the fact that he measures 6-5 and 286lbs while running a 4.7 in the 40 yard dash and shows that he has some athletic ability which really is a disappointment since he didn't really produce in college. I think more or less the Eagles view him as a 5-tech and since they loaded up on 2 possible ones they figured they might as well grab a 3rd and see how the pieces fall.

My thoughts on the draft as a whole?

I really like this draft, we added a lot of depth and we didn't reach for any needs. We loaded up on potential elite talent who have size, strength and mismatch potential. As for building the foundation of the Chip Kelly era we really gave ourselves some great pieces for Chip to work with and mold to his system. I really wish we could have addressed the Secondary a little bit more however I see why we didn't considering we didn't really have a shot at elite talent in the secondary.