I'm a faithful observer of the NFL draft each and every year because it's an exciting time of year when your team is primed to improve the team and look to the future. This year certainly brought some excitement with the Miami Dolphins holding the No. 1 overall pick in the draft and the Eagles possessing 11 picks overall and a promise to Donovan McNabb to bring in some playmakers, whether it'd be through the draft or a trade.
The Dolphins took some of the excitement out of who they were going to draft with the first pick a week ahead of time by inking Jake Long, Offensive Tackle out of Michigan. I found this to be a pretty solid pick. Long is projected to be the cornerstone of the Dolphins OL for years to come and he should provide adequate protection for both the QB of the future and Ronnie Brown, our stud running back. With their next pick, the first pick of the second round, the Dolphins selected the heir apparent to Jason Taylor, Defensive End Phillip Merling out of Clemson. So with their first two picks, the Dolphins addressed both lines and now it was time to pick up a possible QB of the future with their next pick. Quick little story. I was keeping an eye on the NFL draft on TV during commercial breaks of the Flyers playoff game and I'm pretty sure it was bugging the hell out of Coz because I kept getting caught up in the draft and I kept forgetting to change back to the game (we even missed the Flyers second goal). But anyway, as the Dolphins' third pick approached, I was becoming extremely excited because both Brian Brohm (Louisville) and Chad Henne (Michigan) were both still on the boards and the teams who had yet to pick weren't in need of a possible franchise QB. Then came the bombshell - the Green Bay Packers, the pick right before the Dolphins, selected Brian Brohm. So now we were down to one decent available QB and the Dolphins were on the clock. So they had to select Chad Henne. Luckily, ESPN had a camera at the Henne residence, so before any pick was made, they had a shot of Chad getting on the phone with the Dolphins when they make the obligatory, "We're going to draft you" phone call. Finally, the pick was officially made and I began to celebrate while Dusty and Coz who were watching the Flyers game with me at the time just shook their heads. I even went for a high five from Coz and was immediately shut down and told to put the Flyers game back on.
So now the Dolphins have a franchise Offensive Tackle, possible franchise Defensive End, and hopefully the QB of the future in Chad Henne, who should compete and eventually overtake John Beck to become the Dolphins #1 QB. I think we're going to be talking playoffs in about two years - you heard it here first!!
As for the Eagles, they continued their trend of trading out of the first round to avoid having to pay first round money to their draft picks. I can see their logic in that from the position that they've been drafting at, the quality of players is significantly lower and so far they've been able to find the players they were predicted to draft by the "experts" in the second round. And it worked out that way again this year when they drafted Defensive Tackle Trevor Laws out of Notre Dame and Wide Receiver DeSean Jackson out of California in the second round. Jackson was the Eagles' projected first round pick in a good amount of mock drafts so for them to be able to draft in the second round and save some money on that pick, mad props for that. But had that backfired, they would have had egg on their face.
The Eagles were also unable to draft unhappy Cornerback Lito Sheppard leaving a crowded defensive backfield. In addition to not being able to trade Lito, they couldn't pull the trigger on a trade for an elite Wide Receiver to add to Donovan McNabb's weapons. Now obviously, I would have loved to see the Eagles bring in a bonafide Number One Wide Receiver, but I think their offense can still be high powered with what they've already got. If McNabb and Westbrook continue to be healthy and LJ Smith returns to 2006 form, this offense can be pretty formidable. I'll go out on a limb and say Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown are above average WRs and if Jackson can open up the field a little bit with his speed, or if Jason Avant and / or Hank Baskett continue to progress, then they've got some pretty good WRs. But it's definitely a big IF.
We'll see as the offseason progresses. Training camp in less than 3 months...
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