The Eagles officially named Howie Roseman the GM. This comes as a surprise to no one. The delay was a little odd, but it seemed like it was simply a matter of getting everyone to Philly at the same time.
I have no problem with this move. Howie did start on the business side of the organization, but he's a smart guy and has shown an aptitude for the football side of things. Just because a guy was a great player doesn't mean he can be a GM. Just the same, a guy with little football experience can be a good GM. Ron Wolf was a history major in college, not a star linebacker. Would you rather have him or Matt Millen, who was a star at Penn State and in the NFL?
Howie has spent time learning from our scouts. He's gone on the road to scout. He's gone to all star games and Pro Days. He's sat in the War Room on Draft Day and seen how things go down. I think he should do fine.
There is one area of concern. Connections. Tom Heckert came here from the Dolphins. He worked for Don Shula and Jimmy Johnson down there. Each of those guys had connections all over the league. Tom knew some of those guys. He also grew to build his own connections in his time as our key personnel guy. Tom always had a great feel for what was going on around the league. Howie is a home-grown guy.
Now, Howie does have a relationship with Steve Spagnuolo, John Harbaugh, Heckert, and Jason Licht. I'm not sure if he and Brad Childress would have ever worked together. That was several years back. We need Howie to build up his network of friends, connections, and people he can work with. Big Red has a great reputation around the league, but there are times when Howie will be the guy who has to make the calls. We will need him to be a good salesman, liar, and storyteller so that we can find out what's going on without giving up clues on what we want to do.
Howie started off working on contracts so I have some hope that he'll be able to deal with people pretty well. That's a crucial part of his job. All the football knowledge in the world is no good if you can't manage your scouts and work well with other teams.
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DeSean Jackson wants a new deal. Drew Rosenhaus is his agent. That sounds scary, but we have to let this thing play out. DeSean isn't trying to re-do a deal from last year that made him really high paid (see Terrell Owens). He's not asking to be paid elite money for less than elite play (see Lito Sheppard). DeSean is working on a rookie deal and wants his first real money. I'm not offended by this turn of events. I'm sure the Eagles would like to lock him up for the next 5 or so years.
If things get contentious in the spring or summer I'll start to get worried. That is the time when things can spill over to the field and affect games. That is something we don't want.
For all the flak that comes Rosenhaus's way...he does generally get his clients deals. Drew can drive people crazy with his aggressive style of negotiating, but he is a deal maker more often than a holdout enabler.
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The Eagles signed FB Dwayne Wright. He played RB at Fresno State and really impressed me when I studied him for the draft back in 2007. He goes about 5'11, 230 and here is part of my pre-draft write-up on him:
Ran for 1,461 yds and 11 TDs. Good size/speed combo. N-S power runner. Hits the hole hard. Finishes his runs. Doesn't just head for the sideline. Fights for every yard he can. Slippery and powerful. Good vision. Cuts back very well. Had 295 yds vs La Tech. Good receiver. Had 51 catches in 2 1/2 years. Most came on screen passes. Not a great athlete, but a heck of a RB. Had a very pedestrian workout at the Combine. Only ran a 4.66. His 3-cone time of 7.23 would be a good number for an athletic OL. Wright is one of those guys who plays better than he works out. You will get maximum effort from this kid on every snap.
He was a 4th round pick by Buffalo and saw a little time there, but didn't stick. He spent some time with the Giants, but couldn't earn a spot. Wright is a good addition because he gives us someone with a similar skill set to Leonard Weaver. Obviously Dwayne hasn't been able to show that in the NFL, but he's mostly been a RB. Now he gets a chance as a running FB. Wright is a longshot, but so was Eldra Buckley last year. I do like the fact they added a guy like him. We lost Marcus Mailei from the Practice Squad so it is nice to add a player with some experience.
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15 comments:
Some answers from previous post.
RE: Deepest draft in years?
I don't feel quite like that yet. I'm still working on the underclassmen and small school guys. That will tell me just how deep this group truly is.
RE: playmakers in the secondary
I have made the point to a couple of friends that maybe Mays is the kind of guy to go for because the CBs are playmakers. There is some logic to that line of thinking.
However, Mays makes too few plays for my liking. I'm all for getting a guy who is more of a hitter/tackler than a ballhawk, but I do want someone who will mix in some plays. Taylor has something like 2 INTs in his last 40 games. That's dreadful.
I'm not of the mind that we must have another ballhawk, but I do want a guy who will make some things happen.
RE: Jason Worilds?
I'm thinking 4th or 5th right now. He's down my list of guys to watch. I'll post more firm thoughts when I've got 'em.
RE: Asante Samuel
Don't underestimate his value. We had a Top 10 defense in 2007, but made virtually no plays. That team struggled to win games. They only had 11 INTs all year. 4 or 5 picks could have resulted in a win or 2. Sure, there would have been some missed tackles, but INTs can have tremendous impact.
The secondary had an off year in 2009. Everyone had a hand in that, from coach Brian Stewart to the CBs to the Safeties and the backups.
I can't remember the exact numbers and I'm too tired to look right now, but you'd chuckle if you saw how little DeSean is being paid relative to his role/impact on our offense.
Yeah, I am not mad at DeSean for asking for more $$, show the man some zeros and keep him in midnite green for several more years. When was the last time we drafted a Pro Bowl wideout?
Here's what I want to know...I have a degree in computer science and work in network and software support. How do I parlay that into a role with an NFL team and get on the job training in the scouting department?
Tommy - any thought on my QB ruminations? Apparently Vick is being shopped. Also, is Brandon Graham big enough to make the transition or won't height be an issue?
The more I hear about this guy from scout analysts, the more I'm thinking that the Eagles MUST get Brandon Graham.
@ rick ...
I'm saving QB talk for next week. The Senior Bowl is my focus today. There is plenty of time to talk McNabb.
Brandon Graham can play DE in the NFL. Is he ideally suited for LDE? No. I do think his motor and ability to do things at full speed helps him a lot.
Is the the player the Eagles want? I'm not sure. Is worth 24, 34, or 44? That's another key question.
NOTE --- during the Senior Bowl game I'll be posting thoughts in the Forums section of ScoutsNotebook. I'll write up a quick postgame report for this site tonight. Let's hope some future Eagles have good games.
I know there'll be a Senior Bowl thread, so I should probably save this, but: I really like WR Mardy Gilyard.
Unfortunately, he would be an extreme luxury pick for our team and he'll be picked too high.
And I see Eagles Blitz favorite Brandon Graham is playing really well.
Oh man! BRANDON GRAHAM CRACKERS BABY!
Eagles need to get this guy!!
Although, damn, I wish Jerry Hughes would have played in the Senior Bowl. I'm still undecided as to whether my favorite DE target in this draft is Hughes or Graham.
I'll stick with Graham over Hughes. I haven't seen much of Hughes other than those highlights. He looked pretty good but I wanted to see him against top talent plus I do want someone who can stuff the run too. It seemed if Hughes didn't get the sack he was getting people after they got a gain of at least a few yards.
As far as Graham, every time someone doubts him he comes through and he ducks no one (read before the Senior Bowl about wanting to show what he could do against all comers). Really, all the complaints are about his height and arm length. On actual playing performance, no one has come close taking into account tackles, TFL, sacks and strength of competition. At a certain point, you have to say a guy can just play or not.
He is stout enough to be a 4-3 DE. Asides from his strength he was a 100m runner and ran a 10.9 so he has good speed. He can cover people if he has to drop into coverage as he was the #1 LB recruit in HS as I recall. Plus, he plays football sort of like Iverson plays basketball (all out hard). All and all, a player I think will do well and be appreciated in Philly.
I don't know if he'll last. I have a suspicion the Pats are looking at him.
Everybody is saying that there is no way he plays 4-3 DE in the NFL, and his only shot is @ 3-4 OLB.
But Dwight Freeney/Robert Mathis are pretty short too, right?
I dunno - what would be better in our system: a short guy like Graham with alot of speed, or a bigger 6'5"+ guy like a Carlos Dunlap, Julius Peppers, or Derrick Morgan?
@Myron
I think Graham can play a 4-3DE. He is short but he is the same size as Freeney (though heavier than Freeney when he came out). He might not be quite as fast as Freeney but I bet he's a lot stronger. I have seen him play against some real studs (Bulaga from Iowa and Carimi from Wisconsin) are projected to be better than average starters in the pros and both got destroyed by Graham and they outweighed him by over 50 lbs and are both around 6'7".
Bulaga easily handled Morgan from GT so I'd pick Graham over him. Dunlap has a lot of talent but loafs. If the light goes on he'd be good but if it hasn't gone on yet I doubt it will. Walter Football thinks he could be one of the busts of the draft. Peppers has done it in the pros so I'd definitely take him but he'd be 1. very expensive (money and a lot of picks if we have to trade for him), 2. is already 30 and 3. can go hot and cold.
Sometimes I wonder about what it is his critics want to see. He went to the Senior Bowl to show what he could do, beat everyone he got matched up against (as a 4-3 DE no less), and was game MVP. How could he have done any better?
I live right by Ohio State so I've seen this guy a lot (he tore up our guy, J.P. Shugarts, who is 6'8"). From my point of view, he seems to have enough moves to keep people off him as no one has really stopped him and he has faced top talent.
As of now, we have:
1 (#24)
2 (#56)
3 (#70, from Seattle)
3 (#88)
4 (#120)
4 (#125, from Jets)
6 (#191 or #192, from Indy)
It just seems odd when compared to previous years where we had a dozen draft picks. You have to assume we'll be adding another pick in rounds 1 - 3 if we move McNabb or Vick. I also assume we'll be using some of those picks to move around in other rounds. It's just not a lot of fire power to work with toward the end, unless we get a 5th or 6th thrown in with a deal for McNabb/Vick.
That 3rd rounder from Seattle looks great right now. It's early in the round and could nab us a solid CB or LB for depth. I really want to get a DE in the 1st, so with this extra early 3rd rounder, I don't feel so guilty.
Note: Some of those picks are approximate because comp picks and crap like that haven't been issued which I think screws up the numbers, right?
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