Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Class of 2008

In my new PE.com article I wrote about last year's draft class. These guys are entering year 2. We need to see progress from them.

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=17801


DE Bryan Smith is the player I'm most excited to see. I love pass rushers.

CB Jack "Ike" Ikegwuonou is the player I'm most curious about. Can he compete for a starting job in the future? Is his knee okay?

LT King Dunlap
is also an intriguing guy. So much size and potential.

_

13 comments:

izzylangfan said...

If the Eagles want to keep Ike then that is five cornerbacks. If they keep Macho Harris than that is five safeties. I can't remember the last time the Eagles kept 10 defensive backs at the start of the season. But given that Hobbs, Jones and Baker are not under contract for 2010 and Sheldon Brown may have to go I think the Eagles will want to keep Harris and Ike if they show enough potential. Won't that put the squeeze on linebacker spots? I suspect that the 2010 offseason will become the year of the linebacker since none of those guys are under long term contracts. Cornerback and safety will be prority as well, but to the extent that the current crop of linebackers doesn't pan out, Reid will have the freedom (from too many other pressing needs) to do whatever he needs to do.

Unknown said...

Hmm, looking at it 2008 might be a superb draft class. Laws Jackson and Demps have already gotten on the field, and Joe Mays I think would have been on the field if Stewart Bradley wasn't already entrenched and playing really well there.

If even just one of Bryan Smith, Jack Ikegwuanu and King Dunlap pan out we could be looking at 5 starting caliber players plus the future picks to aquire Jason Peters.

Thats a hell of a draft if you ask me.

shlynch said...

@Stephen -- The Eagles kept 10 DBs to start 2005. They did the same thing in 2004.

izzylangfan said...

@slynch---Thanks. It was actually izzy... that you were responding too. I guess JR Reed was in the 10 at least one of those years.

Unknown said...

Yeah but what positions do you trim then if you keep all those DB's, Personally i could see us keeping 2 QB's only to save space aswell as maybe even going with a shortage of running backs. Considering Weaver can play a hybrid role. This year will be tough for roster cut downs thats for sure.

Cliff said...

Why do we have to keep 5 safeties? Just because we signed a guy (or two) to 1-year deals doesn't mean they'll make it through Camp and Preseason. Likewise with Macho. He was drafted... that's about it. And the name that never gets mentioned is Byron Parker, who is an excellent "blue-chip" type of player.

We could very well only keep Demps and Mikell as the starters with two of the other four backing them up. I don't see why the consensus is becoming that we keep 10 DB's, especially since a freak injury at another position could derail any of these projections instantly.

Cliff said...

@ Stephen

The jury is definitely still out on the 2008 Draft Class. Jackson could hit that dreaded sophomore block (a la Reggie Brown) and we'll all be singing the blues. Laws struggled to get on the field last year. However, it was a good sign to see Demps get so mudh playing time.

I'm just remiss to make any judgements without seeing their development from year 1 to year 2.

Unknown said...

@cliff, since we're doing the @ thing, all I'm saying is you have to be encouraged so far, Unless one of those guys I mentioned actually regresses instead of moving forward for the rest of their career, they look like ballers to me.

Cliff said...

Yeah, they look like good players to me too, but so did Reggie Brown after his 1st season. You know what I mean?

Unknown said...

True, I'm going to stick with my optimistic assessment for the time being but I guess they could pull a Reggie :(.

Cliff said...

According to ProFootballTalk.com, the Eagles have $23.1 million in cap space. I foresee Sheldon getting his extension, maybe Todd too.

What is the deadline for contract money to count against THIS YEAR'S cap? Do the Eagles have enough time to see if Shawn Andrews is back to form before spending some of this cap to extend him as well? Is that even a priority at this point?

Unknown said...

hey tommy heres an interesting article:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8105906c&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true

Deuce really seems to be embracing the idea of being a role player, If he's got some tread left on the tires thats a guy who could certainly fill the role of the big back for us. I wouldn't expect him to play like he did in his prime but you could certainly use him as a change of pace type guy from Lesean and Westy, plus the much discussed third and short situations.

I wonder if Trotter still has nightmares about that 2006 playoff game.

orangecrush007 said...

I wonder if Trotter felt vindication when it came to light the Deuce was on the juice.