The Eagles 2014 draft
Assessing the Eagles draft as a whole there are several noticeable patterns. The picks have versatility, "high football IQ," are graduates, team leaders and mature players from big schools. And in most cases the picks have the size and length Kelly desires. If you want reasons why DeSean Jackson is gone, it's because he was none of those things except being from a big school. The Eagles do not appear to want specialists. They want guys with multiple skills and intelligence and were very productive in their college careers.
With their first round pick the Eagles picked Marcus Smith and they received lots of criticism for not many good reasons. People that have never watched him play a snap were the most vocal of course. Anyway, Smith was chosen because he can line up anywhere to rush the passer - standing up or from either side of the line. He can also "set the edge" against the run and can drop back in coverage. In constrast, they passed on Dee Ford which many people thought was better. I think the Eagles passed on him because according to what I read, he is pretty much just an edge speed rusher and is undersized with shorter height and arms. Picking Dee Ford is picking Brandon Graham again so it is no shock Andy Reid drafted him. As for the belief that Smith could have been had later, the team in DC was going to pick him with their first pick in the second round. Marcus Smith game videos.
The second round pick of Jordan Matthews, a wide receiver from Vanderbilt, got people excited. And just to prove how stupid, fickle and shallow Eagles fans are (or at least the ones that call radio stations), people actually said they would be happier with the draft if the Eagles picked Matthews first and Smith second, as if that makes any sense at all. Matthews tore up the SEC and will supposedly play the slot and be a big target for Foles, but one that can get some yards after the catch unlike Jason Avant. Even though he is seen as "narrow-framed," Matthews is tough and durable as he played all 52 games at Vanderbilt. And watching some of the videos he still makes the catch despite getting drilled. He is apparently really smart with a high football IQ, and despite being a diva wide receiver, was a team captain. Also, if you watch the Jordan Matthews game videos, he never does anything demonstrative after he makes the play. He just flips the ball to the ref.
The third round pick of Josh Huff, wide receiver from Oregon, is another guy the "experts" think was picked too high, but just as many think will make a big impact. He may either be destined to be a special teams player and a depth guy and a guy they bring in to block as a wide receiver on screens and running plays or a big contributor and maybe someone that will effectively run those end arounds that Jackson took out of bounds after a 0 yard gain. If you look at his college stats he caught 12 TDs last season and can play the slot or outside. He is also physically tough and does not run out of bounds. They say he likes to punish defenders. Mike Mayock says, "He plays receiver like an old running back." Another upside is the guy already knows the offense and his skill set matches what Kelly is doing. A downside is this guy is the one pick they made that has character and maturity issues. Josh Huff game videos.
With the first pick in round four the Eagles picked Jaylen Watkins, a cornerback from Florida. This guy has that versatility trait the Eagles prize and can play both corner, safety and nickelback but probably needs to bulk up to play safety. The guy is also really fast, fluid, quick and said to have a high football IQ. His weaknesses are his size, shortish arms and Asante Samuelsesque tackling that I noticed from watching the Jaylen Watkins game videos.
With the first pick of round five the Eagles went to the Oregon well again and selected Taylor Hart, DL. The scouting reports say that this guy's strength is playing the run. But watching some of the videos he gets pushed off the line pretty easily. He does slide down the line nicely at times and makes some plays. He also recognized screens really well and even dropped back in coverage occasionally. He was a four-year starter, has that length and size the Eagles want and all the good team character traits as well. He can run decently and has "violent hands" and tackles well. He fits the Eagles 3-4 defensive scheme and already knows it. He supposedly needs to learn to play with power and get stronger. Cornerback Jaylen Watkins benched 1 more rep than he did and wide receiver pick, Matthews matched him. Taylor Hart game videos.
Later in the fifth round the Eagles finally went safety and chose Ed Reynolds from Stanford. This guy has good size and is a ball hawk and impressed the Eagles coaches with his ability to break down plays. (He is a smart dude from Standford after all.) And once he picks it he gets yards going the other way. He finished 1 yard short of setting the NCAA record for interception return yards and returned 3 picks for TDs. His weaknesses are he's slow, rigid, can't jump, takes bad angles and misses tackles. So athletically he'll fit in with the current group no problem. Ed Reynolds game videos. The Eagles last pick was in the seventh round and they chose Beau Allen, a nose tackle from Wisconsin. This dude is fat: 6'-2" and 333 pounds. He is also a super patriot and tweeted he was happy to be an Eagle because it is the most patriotic bird. Ok, he's really not fat, just big and can "squat a small house." He is tough and durable - played all 54 games - and plays with lots of energy. His weaknesses is he doesn't make good use of his size and his rushing technique is bad. Hopefully Jerry Azzinaro can coach him up and he can stuff the run and stop those quarterback sneaks. Watching some of the Beau Allen game videos I didn't see him make one play though.
Many people have said the Eagles should have drafted Louis Nix to be their big fat guy at nose tackle when they had a chance in the third round. "He fell into their lap! He would have been a steal!" Nix was projected to be a much higher pick. Are any of these pro-Nix people wondering why he fell into the third round? Obviously lots of teams became aware of some issue with this guy and his stock dropped like a rock and that's why the Eagles and a lot of other people passed.
Here's a listing of the free agents the Eagles also signed:
Josh Andrews, OL, Oregon State (6-2, 311)
Blake Annen, TE, Cincinnati (6-4, 247)
Karim Barton, OL, Morgan State (6-2, 313)
Kadron Boone, WR, LSU (6-0, 204)
Trey Burton, TE, Florida (6-2, 224)
David Fluellen, RB, Toledo (5-11, 224)
Josh Fulton, CB, Alabama (6-0, 195)
Kevin Graf, OL, USC (6-6, 309)
Donald Hawkins, OL, Texas (6-4, 301)
Henry Josey, RB, Missouri (5-8, 194)
Wade Keliikipi, DT, Oregon (6-2, 303)
Daytawion Lowe, S, Oklahoma State (5-11, 196)
Frank Mays, DE, Florida A&M (6-9, 291)
Quron Pratt, WR, Rutgers (5-11, 195)
Carey Spear, K, Vanderbilt (5-9, 194)
If you want to read the value of each of these guys check out Birds 24/7.