The sum of the parts is less than the whole.

[nerd]

No, I did not say all the picks were graded A's. Try to show more reading
comprehension skills than Donald Trump.

Example of my point...

BARNETT: B
JONES: A
DOUGLAS: C-
HOLLINS: A
PUMPHREY: B-
GIBSON: A
GERRY: B
QUALLS: B

2017 NFL DRAFT OVERALL GRADE: C+



http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2..._howie_ro.html

To me it looks like they drafted bpa over need.. Which seems to be the best way to draft... Though most don't actually follow through with it.

[Squire]

In a way I actually agree with Maniac on this one though I am a more generous grader. I'd give it a B+ draft. But I do think that a draft of OJ Howard/Dalvin Cook would have had way more 2017 impact than Derek Barnett/Sidney Jones/Mack Hollins (assume that the cost to trade up for Cook was our first 4th round pick). I mean we know how the Eagles play DE's. In a rotation. Always.

Even without a tradeup, I think I would have still taken Quincy Wilson at 43 instead of Jones. Time will tell on that one I guess.

Nevertheless, I thought the draft was very good but not great. No obvious reaches no obvious steals and less impact in 2017 than we could have had.

[Maniac]

To me it looks like they drafted bpa over need.. Which seems to be the best way to draft... Though most don't actually follow through with it.

I guess if you dont mind throwing a season away.

The Eagles were 7-9 last season with a rookie QB and Head Coach. Six of those losses were by less than a touchdown. Lane Johnson was out for ten games. They hopefully fixed the WR problem with Jeffrey and Smith. Why wouldn't they prioritize CBs and a running back?

They lose Sproles and maybe Peters next season. No telling about Jeffrey. Butler isnt getting any younger. When are they building for? 2020?

Unless you truly suck, you don't throw away a season in the NFL. They should have gotten two legit CBs and a RB out of that draft. After that BPA would have been fine.

[nerd]

I guess if you dont mind throwing a season away.

The Eagles were 7-9 last season with a rookie QB and Head Coach. Six of those losses were by less than a touchdown. Lane Johnson was out for ten games. They hopefully fixed the WR problem with Jeffrey and Smith. Why wouldn't they prioritize CBs and a running back?

They lose Sproles and maybe Peters next season. No telling about Jeffrey. Butler isnt getting any younger. When are they building for? 2020?

Unless you truly suck, you don't throw away a season in the NFL. They should have gotten two legit CBs and a RB out of that draft. After that BPA would have been fine.

You don't know it's a throw away season at all. Some running back with be available. The saints and Bengals already have full stables and have to get rid of at least one.

Their dline stopped getting pressure on the opposing qb which lead to more problems with their secondary. Get better pressure and it can help out a secondary. We also don't know how rasul can play. He could be immediate impact or might not. I'll give Douglas the benefit of the doubt right now.

[TerpEagle]

I'm just saying that the aggregate would put the Eagles draft at a B+, not a C+. Using your logic that they drafted above the average, that would mean the players average out as an A. That's bad? I know putting logic to your premise is a dicey task.

Anyway, you're just finding something to bitch about. It doesn't matter who they took, there would be a problem.

Right now it looks like the draft BPA and got good value, so of course they didn't address need - find a reason to bitch.

Had they addressed need and reached I'm sure you'd have been silent on the matter.

And this is all based on draft grades less than a week after the draft which is the stupidest thing off which to base any argument.

[TerpEagle]

I guess if you dont mind throwing a season away.

The Eagles were 7-9 last season with a rookie QB and Head Coach. Six of those losses were by less than a touchdown. Lane Johnson was out for ten games. They hopefully fixed the WR problem with Jeffrey and Smith. Why wouldn't they prioritize CBs and a running back?

They lose Sproles and maybe Peters next season. No telling about Jeffrey. Butler isnt getting any younger. When are they building for? 2020?

Unless you truly suck, you don't throw away a season in the NFL. They should have gotten two legit CBs and a RB out of that draft. After that BPA would have been fine.

Why did the even draft players? They should have traded the picks away for KNOWN ENTITIES. WIN NOW! Drafting is always for the future and therefore a complete waste.

[Maniac]

I'm just saying that the aggregate would put the Eagles draft at a B+, not a C+. Using your logic that they drafted above the average, that would mean the players average out as an A. That's bad? I know putting logic to your premise is a dicey task.

Anyway, you're just finding something to bitch about. It doesn't matter who they took, there would be a problem.

Right now it looks like the draft BPA and got good value, so of course they didn't address need - find a reason to bitch.

Had they addressed need and reached I'm sure you'd have been silent on the matter.

And this is all based on draft grades less than a week after the draft which is the stupidest thing off which to base any argument.

Wrong. I said before the draft they should go heavy at CB and I'm saying the same thing now. You're simply being the arbitrary twerp you always are. No opinion at all of your own until after the fact and then snipe at others.

The national media grades are mostly based on BPA so you're contradicting yourself. As always.

[art vandelay]

To me it looked like they drafted for need, or at least had a horizontal draft board by position, and gave themselves flexibility. Barnett was definitely a need pick imo. There were more talented players on the board. Then the next two picks were CB. The lack of pass rush, compounded by horrible CBs has been a problem for a long time. RB did go ignored, but they also narrowly missed out on Cook, and it's easier to find an RB than a CB.

Draft ratings are stupid anyway. How many teams get less than a B- every year? One? Half the league gets a B+ or A-. Completely pointless and watered down.

[nerd]

To me it looked like they drafted for need, or at least had a horizontal draft board by position, and gave themselves flexibility. Barnett was definitely a need pick imo. There were more talented players on the board. Then the next two picks were CB. The lack of pass rush, compounded by horrible CBs has been a problem for a long time. RB did go ignored, but they also narrowly missed out on Cook, and it's easier to find an RB than a CB.

Draft ratings are stupid anyway. How many teams get less than a B- every year? One? Half the league gets a B+ or A-. Completely pointless and watered down.

But we don't know what their board was. From what we know, Foster was completely off a bunch of teams boards for being a medical reject, as well as Allen. So if they were completely off the board, then it's possible that Barnett was their best player available.

[art vandelay]

FWIW, I like the Barnett pick. With the caveat that we don't know their draft board, I would think Howard was the most talented player available at 14. We're pretty old at DE and CBs are useless without a pass rush, so to me it looked like need was a factor. Not complaining, that's just what I thought I saw.

[Maniac]

The lack of pass rush, compounded by horrible CBs

Actually the Eagles had one of the top pass rushes in the league - at least according to this metric. I dont see how adding another DE into the rotation is going to make much difference. On the other hand, it was obvious the cornerbacks were pathetically inconsistent.

2) Philadelphia Eagles (2.71 average distance to quarterback)

The Eagles are a curious finish at No. 2 in the Next Gen Stats
pressure metric, as no player registered more than 6.5 sacks for them
this season. However, what this shows is that while their players may
not have been getting home for sacks, they were consistently putting
heat on quarterbacks. Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry both enjoyed
stellar seasons in a system that fit their abilities. The duo was an
odd fit in the 3-4 defense Chip Kelly wanted to employ but were much
better as traditional hand-in-the-dirt edge players. Graham and Curry
finished inside the Top-20 of edge players individual pressure,
averaging 4.01 and 4.03 average yards to the quarterback in the pocket
this season, respectively. The Eagles have them under contract for the
next several seasons, through 2018 for Graham and 2020 for Curry.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...-rushing-teams

[Maniac]

If think about it logically. BPA makes no sense as an overall draft strategy - particularly in the early rounds. Do you take six wide receivers if they top the board on every pick? Obviously not.

You can only use BPA if you have needs everywhere (Niners, Browns) or virtually nowhere (Pats). The teams in the middle like the Eagles should be targeting weaknesses.

[art vandelay]

i agree with the guy who wrote that article that the eagles at no. 2 is "curious." they obviously didn't finish with a lot of sacks, and the pass rush weakened as the season went on. i can also see that metric being biased toward a system like the one that schwartz runs. either way, no harm in adding a good DE.

[BigSlizz]

Almost every analyst I've ever listened to knocks teams that draft for need. If you're relying on a rookie, you're fucked anyway. They needed CBs and they got two. And the one that can play now was referred to as a starter on the draft day analysis that I read.

[nerd]

Almost every analyst I've ever listened to knocks teams that draft for need. If you're relying on a rookie, you're fucked anyway. They needed CBs and they got two. And the one that can play now was referred to as a starter on the draft day analysis that I read.

that's what I've read too. You draft for need, you might pass on a guy who is probably a better player overall, but you needed to fill a position.

So why not just get who you feel is the better overall player?

Maybe the didn't need Barnett, but they felt he was the best overall player at that spot in the draft.

With the running back thing, if I'm the eagles and I really want a running back, I keep my eyes on the saints and the Bengals. They all have a bunch of running backs and some will probably be available. I would look at Ingram from the saints. You get your heavier running back who also caught 46 passes this year and 50 last year.

There is also potentially Jeremy Hill from the Bengals who is a younger running back. There are options out there.