When time comes for the Eagles to draft on Saturday and Sunday (yeaa! It's finally here!), the goal is to take the best players. Sounds like a pretty easy-to-define stratagem. The best player. Go get him. Go get them. Bring in the best players. That's the idea. But what constitutes the best player. Is it someone who steps right into the starting lineup and provides the most bang in year one? Or is it the player who projects as the best player in two or three seasons?
This is something every team weighs. The Eagles grade players based on what they showed in college and how they project in this system right now and, of course, years down the line. If the rookies are good enough to play right away, they play. Fortunately, the Eagles have been able to stock up enough in the Andy Reid era so that they haven't needed rookies to fill glaring needs. In some cases, the rooks have come up big. Corey Simon was an immediate starter. So was Shawn Andrews, who then lost his season during the opening game due to injury. Mike Patterson played a lot and headlined a rookie class that saw a lot of action, due to many issues in that 2005 season.
This year, naturally, the call from many corners is to draft players who can step in and play from the jump. And yeah, if it happens, well, it helps. I'm not sure there is an immediate starter in the offing, but I never thought Andrews would walk right into the starting lineup back in 2004. He was just that good, and Andrews has certainly built upon that rookie promise.
The Eagles want to take players who can help now. They have a solid team, a good team, one that should contend right now, as is. Can any of these upcoming draft picks help this year? Absolutely. Bring in a return man who can make the special teams move explosive and that's a big plus. Draft somebody who can put the ball in the end zone and help the offense. Great. Add a couple of kids who can provide some energy and impact in special teams coverage and the Eagles are improved.
But find a draft pick who is going to be one of the starting 22? I don't know much about the draft, but it doesn't seem like there are a whole lot of players like that on the board.
However, the Eagles can have a wonderful draft for now and the future by selecting players who will help now and will help more in the seasons to come. Maybe, in the parlance of draft wizardry, there is no such thing as a player who adds help right now but doesn't have much upside after that. I think players generally getting better and better in each of their four or five seasons to begin their NFL careers.
In any event, the Eagles want to take players to help them right now, and also become part of the core in the years to come. Last year was an exception when the team drafted quarterback Kevin Kolb. The Eagles simply had Kolb rated so highly they couldn't pass up the opportunity to secure the quarterback position for years to come. In general, it's about now. And it's about later.
