A bit of praise for Philadelphia Eagles 2007 draft class

Football Outsiders took a look back at the 2007 NFL draft class this week, with the idea evidently being that after 6 years there can be really no question about whether the guys can play or not.

They took a look at each position and noted the best player, the biggest bust and best value pick. 2 of the Eagles selections came up on the positive side of things.

We'll start with the more feint praise... Which was the QB position. It ended up simply being a bad year for QBs (Jamarcus Russell!) but the Eagles managed to get the best of the worst, Kevin Kolb.

I will cast a reluctant vote for surprise second-round pick and LCF's favorite quarterback in the class (thanks to a respectable completion percentage as a four-year starter at Houston), Kevin Kolb. He ranks second in attempts, completions, and passing yards, and has thrown the most touchdown passes. More importantly, he is the only quarterback in the class who still has realistic hopes of being somebody's starter six years on.

Ironically, the only other guy that was even a candidate for best QB was Trent Edwards.

On the more productive and positive side, FO says that Brent Celek was the best value of the TE class.

The Eagles took Brent Celek from Cincinnati in the fifth round, 162nd overall. His 76 catch 2009 campaign is the best season any tight end in the class has had, and he ranks narrowly ahead of Olsen and Miller in receiving yards, though the gap between first and third is a mere 132 yards.

They named Greg Olsen, a first round pick, as the best overall TE (Zach Miller 2nd) but really neither of those guys are notably better than Celek. In fact, I'd never take Zach Miller over him. Olsen is a better receiver, but I don't think he's even as complete a TE as Celek.

Celek is actually the only Eagles pick from that year still on the team.