2013 Grade It

[Don Ho]

I have absolutely no problem with the Ertz pick.  The guy is going to be good.  Most everyone knew they were going to get one of three OT's and when Miami jumped up to get Jordon it was pretty much sealed.  They need depth on the OL.  Last year was a complete travesty on the offensive line. 

I didn't know squat about Bennie Logan until Friday afternoon.  I still don't. 

Like the Wolff pick. 

The others

B

[BigEd76]

Sal Pal and Mikey Miss are on Sports Final and absolutely hate this draft

-- Lane only shot up the draft because the other OTs went 1-2 and he's just another Watkins
-- The Eagles wanted Jordan and got beat by Miami
-- Tavon Austin should've been the pick at #4, not Lane or Jordan
-- Ertz was a wasted pick
-- Barkley will never start for the Eagles, even though they traded up for him
-- They didn't fix their secondary at all

[Diomedes]

My grade:  we'll see.

[Rome]

Sassy: 

TE isn't really that big of a need on this team...

Kelly has all but guaranteed they're going to use two TE's in the base offense and sometimes three.  Just saying...

[Rome]

J's gonna get his ass beat if he says "geaux"

hahaha... legit.

[ice grillin you]

espn....

Lane Johnson

What he brings: Johnson might have more upside than the two tackles selected before him. He has good athleticism and played quarterback, tight end and defensive end before moving to OT the past two seasons, though his limited experience and lack of elite awareness are likely what put him behind Fisher and Joeckel. However, Johnson has very good feet in pass protection and as a run-blocker, and he plays with an edge and won't back down against any defender.

How he fits: In new head coach Chip Kelly's offense, you must have an offensive line that is athletic enough run a high volume of plays. Linemen must be able to block in space, get in and out of the huddle and show excellent awareness and the ability to adjust. Johnson fits this bill perfectly, both athletically and with his experience in an up-tempo offense. He gives this offensive line very interesting flexibility. If left tackle Jason Peters is healthy, Johnson can line up immediately at right tackle and move last season's starting right tackle Todd Herremans inside. That strengthens this entire unit. If Peters isn't what he once was physically, Johnson gives the Eagles insurance at left tackle.

Zach Ertz

What he brings: Ertz is a prototypical 'F' tight end, meaning his biggest impact will be made in the passing game. His ability to line up all over the formation makes it easier to create favorable matchups. He is an above-average route runner with the quickness and athleticism to separate working out of the slot, and he has the speed to work the seam from the in-line position. The trade-off is that he is just an average positional blocker, and might never be more than that.

How he fits: In this new Chip Kelly offense, there is a demand for a lot of varied personnel groupings and multi-tight end sets. Starter Brent Celek might be getting close to the end, and the other tight ends on this roster aren't big threats in the passing game. The Eagles will use Ertz as a matchup guy in motion and even flex him outside, and he will constantly be on the move. New offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is a huge advocate of using the tight end position, so we will likely see Ertz and Celek on the field together a lot.

Bennie Logan

What he brings: Logan has a low center of gravity and the power base to hold his ground one-on-one in the phone booth. He uses his hands well to lock out and get off blocks. He is not a massive space-eater, though, and has a long way to go in terms of contributing as a pass-rusher.

How he fits: Under new coordinator Billy Davis, this is a unique 4-3 under defense. Pre-snap, it might look like a 3-4, but the right outside linebacker will walk up, and that provides a four-man pass rush. The Eagles have gotten good production out of defensive end Fletcher Cox, and they added former 49ers nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga in free agency, so Logan will most likely fit as an end in the 3-4 look.

Matt Barkley

What he brings: Barkley has just average size and arm strength, but outstanding leadership skills. He did not get good protection in 2012, which brought up concerns about his average mobility and athleticism. However, he is one of the more polished products from the quarterback class, coming from the USC pro-style system that relied on getting through progressions. When able to throw with rhythm and timing, he has the anticipation and accuracy to succeed and develop into an adequate starter.

How he fits: On one hand, this did not look like a critical need because the Eagles already have Michael Vick, Nick Foles and Dennis Dixon. But with a new coaching staff, you get the feeling Chip Kelly would like to develop his own guy. Although it would appear that Barkley doesn't fit the skill set that Kelly prefers his quarterbacks to have, Barkley is a very cerebral player and should be able to run the high volume of plays and make adjustments on the run, which this offense demands.

Earl Wolff

Wolff has just average instincts and needs to harness his aggressiveness against the run, because he overruns too many plays, but he has an above-average blend of size and speed. He's fast enough to play a center-fielder role and run with most slot receivers. He's also an effective wrap-up tackler when he takes a sound angle. This has been a big need for the Eagles' defense. This new coaching staff will likely utilize more Cover 2 and Cover 3 zone schemes and less man to man, which will take pressure off the Eagles' safeties in coverage.

Joe Kruger

Kruger has a prototypical frame with excellent length. He has good core strength, but needs to learn to play with more consistent pad level when setting the edge in the run. Kruger isn't an impact pass-rusher at this point, and must learn to stay low firing off the ball. We do like his effort, though, and he has potential to add depth up front.

Jordan Poyer

We are surprised Poyer lasted this long. He shows good technique and has above-average instincts finding and playing the ball. Poyer has experience playing both inside and outside. His lack of an ideal size and speed combination likely caused him to drop this far.

David King

King has an ideal frame and excellent core strength. He is strong enough to hold his gap at the point of attack. However, he provides very little as a pass-rusher and lacks ideal athleticism in general. King could provide another big body for depth up front as a run-stopper.

[ice grillin you]

mel kiper...


Philadelphia Eagles
Needs: B
Value: A
Overall: B+

Summary: The Eagles really did well at the No. 4 spot. Lane Johnson has the best combination of upside and athleticism in the draft, and while he's an unfinished product, he's the perfect tackle to develop in Chip Kelly's fast-paced system. After that, we saw a kind of fun theme develop -- a head coach who gets a say in personnel decisions, taking players he should know really well. It started in Round 2, where the Eagles took my No. 2-ranked tight end. Well, Zach Ertz caught 11 passes against Kelly's Oregon Ducks last year. Matt Barkley also piled up huge numbers versus Oregon, and was the first pick taken in Round 4 (I once said I thought Barkley was a future first pick -- maybe I meant in Round 4?). Kelly wants competition at QB, and Barkley is going to come in ready to compete. Bennie Logan fits as a potential 3-4 DE or even a nose tackle, and Earl Wolff offers some depth at safety. They needed a corner and got another guy Kelly knows, Jordan Poyer from Oregon State. Joe Kruger isn't fast, but he could provide a pass rush in this system. Overall, I like what the Eagles accomplished.

[ice grillin you]

cbs...

Philadelphia Eagles

Chip Kelly's offense requires great athleticism, not only from the skill positions but from his offensive line so far. Lane Johnson's quickness and speed will help him get out on the edge for Kelly's beloved bubble screens. Kelly took great advantage of tight ends while at Oregon, and he'll have a moveable chess piece with Zach Ertz to manipulate defenses geared toward stopping the established stars. Bennie Logan was a surprise, as many saw him as a better fit as a DT in a 4-3. Logan was far from the only schematic surprise, however, as the Eagles pulled one of the stunners of the draft with the selection of Matt Barkley in the fourth round. Having coached against him, Kelly certainly knows Barkley well and must really like him (as I do). While Barkley does not possess elite straight-line speed, he does have the intelligence to make decisions quickly as well as excellent accuracy while on the move, making him a potentially very nice fit in this offense. The USC product possesses the best combination of the three traits that I've found to be the best indicators of future success in the NFL -- accuracy, anticipation and awareness -- and I believe he'll prove his doubters wrong and emerge as the most successful of the 2013 quarterback class. Of the Eagles other day three selections, I really like the schematic fits of Utah defensive end Joe Kruger and Oregon State cornerback Jordan Poyer, two more highly productive Pac-12 performers whom Kelly (and GM Howie Roseman) know well.

Grade: A-

[ice grillin you]

usa today...

Philadelphia Eagles: T Lane Johnson (No. 4 overall) projects as a special player and, given his rare athleticism, is uniquely qualified for Chip Kelly's high-octane offense. However, until the curtain goes up on Kelly's attack — and the revamped defense — we're not going to claim we understand how all this fits ... or if making a move for QB Matt Barkley was the right thing to do.

GRADE: C

[ice grillin you]

SI....

Philadelphia Eagles

Until we know more about Chip Kelly's plans, let's just chalk the Matt Barkley pickup to finding a potential first-round QB at No. 98. The rest of this class figures to be more important in 2013. No one more so than OT Lane Johnson, who has the athleticism to thrive under Kelly. TE Zach Ertz could be a dangerous weapon in this offense, too. Defensively, expect DT Bennie Logan to help and CB Jordan Poyer to possibly prove the steal of the draft.

Grade: B-plus


sporting news....

Philadelphia Eagles: Top to bottom, Chip Kelly had a great first NFL draft — using his college knowledge, especially from the Pac-12, to the Eagles' advantage. Oklahoma left tackle Lane Johnson and Stanford tight end Zach Ertz are ideal athletes for what Kelly wants to do, and he ended up just needing a fourth-rounder to bring USC's Matt Barkley into his quarterback competition. Defensively, with Philadelphia transitioning to a 3-4, it got the key elements of a nose tackle (LSU's Bennie Logan), edge rusher (Utah's Joe Kruger) and a starting-caliber corner (Oregon State's Jordan Poyer) in Round 7.

Grade: A

[Sgt PSN]

usa today...

We don't really care about sports.

GRADE: C

[ice grillin you]

Sal Pal and Mikey Miss are on Sports Final and absolutely hate this draft

-- Lane only shot up the draft because the other OTs went 1-2 and he's just another Watkins
-- The Eagles wanted Jordan and got beat by Miami
-- Tavon Austin should've been the pick at #4, not Lane or Jordan
-- Ertz was a wasted pick
-- Barkley will never start for the Eagles, even though they traded up for him
-- They didn't fix their secondary at all

i agree with pretty much all that except the take on the barkley pick....first of all how could they say he will never start for them and secondly they traded a 7th rounder to move up three spots...how can you be mad at that....its basically as minimal a trade up as you can get

[rjs246]

The trade up value in this draft was ridiculous. Almost no one gave up much of anything to move up when they wanted to.

[Sgt PSN]

Sal Pal and Mikey Miss are on Sports Final and absolutely hate this draft

-- Lane only shot up the draft because the other OTs went 1-2 and he's just another Watkins
-- The Eagles wanted Jordan and got beat by Miami
-- Tavon Austin should've been the pick at #4, not Lane or Jordan
-- Ertz was a wasted pick
-- Barkley will never start for the Eagles, even though they traded up for him
-- They didn't fix their secondary at all

i agree with pretty much all that except the take on the barkley pick....first of all how could they say he will never start for them and secondly they traded a 7th rounder to move up three spots...how can you be mad at that....its basically as minimal a trade up as you can get

Yeah, I don't really get that either.  In fact, I'd say there's at least a 50/50 shot that Barkley starts a game this year.  You know Vick is going to get hurt and miss a couple of games, which (as it stands right now) would leave Foles, Barkley and Dixon.  Assuming that Dixon has no chance to ever start and that his only role is to help the other 3 qb's learn Kelly's playbook, it comes down to Foles and Barkley.  So it's a coin flip at worst that Barkley will or won't start a game for them.  Is he saying that Foles is vastly superior to Barkley that it would be a no contest?  Because had Barkley come out last year, he'd have been a 1st round pick and Foles was lucky to go as high as he did.   

 

[Rome]

usa today...

We don't really care about sports.

GRADE: C

I actually busted up laughing at that.

You're still an assjack, though.