Tuesday, April 17, 2012

History against Eagles moving up in draft

Eagles are just about done working out draftable guys.
The Eagles would trade up from the 15th pick in the draft to select defensive lineman Fletcher Cox, not quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

So says noted draft analyst Tony Pauline, citing his sources. Pauline is very good at his craft. He predicted the Eagles' trade up to draft offensive lineman Shawn Andrews in 2004.

The real question is whether the Eagles would want to barge up high into the first round of the draft considering their history over the last nine drafts.

In 2010 the Birds moved from the 24th pick to No. 13 to choose Brandon Graham, an undersized defensive end they now would be trying to replace with Cox. Graham hasn't helped much since undergoing microfracture knee surgery. You probably won't find him and defensive line coach Jim Washburn hanging out shooting the breeze a whole lot.

The Eagles' 2009 trade up from 21 to No. 19 for wide receiver Jeremy Maclin was a winner. Of course it was a modest, no-brainer type of jump up.

Rewind to 2003 and the Eagles vaulted from the 30th choice to No. 15 where they selected defensive end Jerome McDougle, the definition of bust, misfortune and bad drafting. In all fairness the Giants were just as desperate for McDougle. And they wound up choosing McDougle's teammate, William Joseph, a defensive tackle who arrived for his first minicamp so overweight he collapsed a training table. Something like that.

Should the Eagles trade up?

Their history says no.

Their mantra of being aggressive, on the other hand, screams yes.


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