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The Supplemental Draft is coming up on Thursday. There are several guys in the draft, but only one who is a sure thing to be picked. That is DE Jeremy Jarmon of Kentucky. I've written about him before. Jarmon seems like a good kid who got caught up in bad circumstances. He took a banned substance in the offseason and lost his Senior year because of that.
He played LDE at Kentucky. That just happens to be a spot where the Eagles would like to improve. The question then becomes if they'll pull the trigger and go after him and how early they would do that. I don't have a great feel for the situation. Jarmon makes a lot of sense in some regards, but not in others.
The case for taking Jarmon is that he does give us another true LDE. Jeremy is 6'3, 278. That's good size for the left side. Victor Abiamiri is bigger than that, but our other guys over there are in the 250-260 range. Also, we'd like someone to come in and really push Victor. Everyone feels he should win the LDE job this year, but you'd love good competition to keep him from getting complacent. Juqua Parker has his moments, but isn't meant to be a full-time starter.
The Eagles liked several DEs in the draft, but passed on them for one reason or another. The only body they added was Josh Gaines as a UDFA. He's not exactly competition for VA.
Jarmon is a good 2-way DE. He is a solid run defender. He'll take on blockers when the play comes at him and he'll chase plays that go away. He had 26 solo tackles, a solid total for a LDE. Jarmon has some playmaking ability, but he's not a force off the edge. He had 4.5 sacks last year and 10 TFLs. He did have 9 sacks back in 2007. There is some potential.
The case against taking Jarmon is that he's more of a prospect for the future and doesn't offer the kind of immediate help that a team with Super Bowl aspirations might be looking for. Again, we'd want him to come in and push VA. How likely is that? Jarmon would be joining the team just before Training Camp. He wouldn't have any knowledge of the scheme and would be trying to catch up in that area. Jarmon has been training for the NFL now for about 6 weeks or so. That's not the same as normal prospects. Those guys play in all star games. Then they train for the Combine. Then they train for their Pro Day. They have a break before the draft, but then quickly report to team camps and get right back in the flow of things. Jarmon hasn't been part of a team since January or early February. He could be a little rusty.
Let's take a look at the current group of DEs that is likely to make the roster:
RDE --- Trent Cole ... Bryan Smith
LDE --- V. Abiamiri ... Juqua Parker ... Chris Clemons
Misc --- Darren Howard
We have 6 guys for 5 spots as it is. The only way to take Jarmon is to do some shuffling. We could move Darren Howard to strictly DT. We then could cut Parker (or trade him). That eliminates 2 players and opens a spot for Jarmon. Do you take a chance of disrupting chemistry like that for Jarmon? Only if he's a player you really like and feel is worth it.
The other X-factor in all of this is the other 31 teams. We're deep at DE, but most teams are not. I can see any number of teams making a move for Jarmon before us. I could see 3-4 teams being very interested in him as a DE. There are several squads moving to the 3-4 that might see him as pretty valuable. DEN or KC might really like a young DE to add to the mix. Heck, the Steelers might be interested in him. 4-3 teams will also be interested. If Washington truly does move Brian Orakpo to SAM then adding Jarmon would help their DL. The Lions could use a young DE to develop for the future. The Colts might like some more DL help. Buffalo could use another young DE.
I think the Eagles are interested in Jarmon, but I'm not sure that they'll spend as high a pick as other teams. I think the Eagles see Jarmon as a luxury, a player to develop for the future. Other teams will want him to step into the mix immediately. I'm guessing that Jarmon goes in the 4th round or somewhere close. He had the potential to go higher with a good Senior season. He won't slide too far because teams are always looking for DL.
Without the normal pre-draft process, I haven't been able to develop a strong feel for Jarmon. He isn't a player I covet, but he's not the typical Supplemental Draft type. Jarmon is a quality prospect. I'd be happy if the Eagles got him for the right price, but I'll be disappointed if they spend a 2nd or 3rd round pick on him. We need those so we can trade up for Eric Berry next April. I know I'm delusional, but let me have my dreams.
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009
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4 comments:
Gil Brandt reported this on Jarmon's workout:
"[Jarmon] posted a 4.8-second 40-yard dash, had a 31-inch vertical jump, a 9-foot, 9-inch broad jump, a 4.28 short shuttle, a 7.38 three-cone drill and did 19 reps at 225 pounds on the bench press. He looked very good in positional drills."
It's interesting, Jarmon's measurables were somewhat similar two a couple of players: Robert Ayers and Branden Williams. Ayers we know the Eagles were interested in; Williams went to the Cowboys in the 4th.
Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Eagles get Jarmon. I think the one thing you are forgetting in your "how many roster spots" analysis is that there is always room to stash a developmental guy. Call it the "Pat McCoy/Bryan Smith" roster spot, the guy who will never get activated this year even if the rest of the team falls off a cliff, but is worth developing for next year. Let him work on his strength for a season and see if he can grow into the DE/DT hybrid that they covet.
Put it this way: drafting Jarmon I don't think changes how many of the incumbent DL they keep. They go from looking at trimming one of last year's 6 DEs down to 5 regardless, and let Jarmon be the 6th permanently-deactivated guy if they add him.
Its a shame we have so many pretty good guys at DE. You'd hate to lose any of those guys to make room for Jarmon, but at the same time aside from Cole none of them are really stud players. You can make a case for keeping any of them though. Abiamiri obviously is in his proving season. Smith is the athletic project you don't want to give up on after one season. Parker has been tremendous off the bench for us and that should be his true role. Darren Howard (somehow) had 10 freakin sacks for us off the bench last year, I didn't see that coming a mile away. Clemons really turned it on late last season and you can see the potential as a situational rusher.
None of those guys are guys I want to see cut. At the same time what do you do if you really like Jarmon? What a strange pickle to be in. The only good scenario I can see is if Jarmon gets a stinger late in TC and IR's for the year.
I guess if I had to pick one guy to cut it would have to be Parker. Both him and Howard are getting up there in age but Howard is more versatile and racked up those 10 sacks last year, thats a great number off the bench.
Tommy,
This post on the potential supplemental drafting of Jarmon gets me to thinking about what the Eagles priorities will be in the next regular draft.
If Victor Albiamiri does not do the job then a left defensive end could be a top priority. You opined in an earlier post that Albimiri would have major competition next year if he didn't do the job this year. Reid likes to get his linemen in the top rounds if not the first round.
I also wonder about linebackers. I think it is only Bradley whose contract lasts longer than one year from now. So I expect some movement in that area next year - resign the ones you like, free agency and the draft can supply the rest. But Reid has not drafted linebackers early. I think this stems from his belief that the success of linebackers is hard to predict, linebackers take longer to develop so you don't get quick payback, and that having extra ordinary athletes and players at linebacker is not as critical to a defense as having them on the line and in the defensive backfield. Thus Reid is more willing to draft them lower, try to find under appreciated free agents and grow them into decent linebackers. While I can generally agree with this approach I wonder: How much of his earlier success depended on the luck of having initially and later resigning Jeremiah Trotter? We all remember how much the Eagles struggled at that position while Trotter was being lost in that black hole created by Dan Snyder and Steve Spurrier.
Mark Eckel, who in my opinion is the best of the newspaper columnists that write on the Eagles quoted a personnel guy as saying that Bradley is more a true Sam than a Mike. This made sense to me since he is good against the run an can cover. In addition he has yet to prove truly disruptive in the middle. Am I wrong to expect him to shoot the gap like trotter and disrupt the backfield? Do you agree that the Eagles might do well to move him to Sam and get a different perhaps more dynamic guy in the middle? How much do you expect Bradley to improve this year? How much does he have to improve to get the defense to where it needs to be? What do you think the Eagles will be doing at linebacker next off season? Do you generally agree with Reid's approach and philosophy with the linebacking squad?
I note that Reid was thought not to like wide receivers in the first round because of the uncertainty of their success and the longer time to develop. But he then chose Maclin in the first round this year and Jackson in the second round last year, and of course first rounder Fredex all those years ago. So maybe Reid is more flexible and open minded that we sometimes feel.
Defensive backfield looks like a potential priority particularly cornerback since a lot of this years squad is on one year contracts and Sheldon Brown may not be a happy camper. They may need some additions to safety but if Q Demps does the job everyone hopes the need would only be for depth.
It seems like the Eagles pretty well took care of offense this year but I think Reid might be interested in finding a fullback probably in a lower round if he ends up not liking Weaver or just doesn't want to pay up. He might like to get a center to go with his offensive line of top studs. Some stories had him going for Brown this year only to find out that Brown had actually negotiated an agreement before the legal time period for negotiation had opened up. But it seems that often those teams that have success against the Eagles are able to rush McNabb up the middle. How much do you see that as Jackson's fault?
What do you see as the Eagles likely priorities in the next off season?
noway do the Eagles go near this guy.
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