As the dust beings to settle from this year’s NFL draft, a few observations on the picks by the Eagles and Redskins:
- I think both teams had a successful draft overall. On our pre-draft edition of “SportsTalk,” I had identified several players that I thought would be available that would make sense for both the Skins and the Birds to select:
- CB Tre-Davious White, LSU
- LB Reuben Foster, Alabama
- WR John Ross, Washington
- DE Derek Barnett, Tennessee
- RB Dalvin Cook, Florida State
- DE Demarcus Walker, Florida State
- DL Jonathan Allen, Alabama
- DE Charles Walker, Oklahoma
Most of these players were, in fact, available and, although I was very high on Eagles adding Foster to shore-up their linebacker core, I can’t argue with the logic of either team’s number-one selection.
- Talking with Redskins insiders in the days leading up to the draft, they were unanimous in that Washington had multiple holes still to fill and that adding the “best available” player in each round was the way to go. They did that, picking up a stud defensive lineman in Allen with their top pick and acquired value at several positions—all of them should benefit from the added depth.
- Fabian Moreau was a good gamble for Washington to take with their third round pick. Unlike rounds 1 and 2 (see below), I don’t have a problem with selecting a top-tier player buoyed by injury concerns in round three. Moreau clearly will not be available for training camp, but hopefully we can start to see his potential by the season’s second half. With the league moving towards a more wide open/pass-happy offensive sets (and three WR looks becoming more prevalent), adding a physical corner with Moreau’s speed could be an excellent pickup for the Redskins.
- The Eagles also had multiple options to strengthen areas of need, specifically cornerback, running back, offensive line and wide receiver. Their biggest gap was a corner—an area I thought the Birds needed to add at least three quality CBs in order to have a “successful” draft. They responded by added one-and-a-half (Sidney Jones will probably not be available to play this fall). IF (and that’s a big IF) he returns in 2018 and plays up to his pre-injury capability, it will be a tremendous selection. However,…
- The Eagles still have gaping holes at corner, with their only other CB selection (and a good one at that) being Rasul Douglas. You could argue that Philadelphia will not be a realistic playoff contender this fall, so they could afford to wait a year and hope that Jones recovers completely from his Achilles tendon tear (same injury that felled Ryan Howard, btw). But, you won’t really know how good Jones will be by this time next year, leaving the Eagles will virtually the same concerns in their secondary going into NEXT year’s draft.
Another somewhat questionable decision by the Eagles was to NOT target a bruising running back who get can you yards between the tackles. In fact, with the Eagles decision to NOT bring a proven, short-yardage back and not adding depth along the offensive line, you may even have the same number of holes a year from now: corner, o-linemen, wide receiver (if either Alshon Jeffery and/or Torrey Smith don’t return), running back…clearly, this would be a ‘worst case scenario,’ but by gambling with your second round pick, this is a legit concern.
Now, if the Eagles are setting their sights on next year, when Penn State highly touted running back Saquon Barkley might be available…?
We’ll have more insights and analysis of this year’s NFL Drafts with NFL Beat Reporters Nick Fierro and George Wallace on this Thursday’s program, live at 7pm on RCN-TV. Email us (rcnsportstalk@rcn.com) your thoughts on this year’s draft along with questions as teams get ready for “voluntary” workouts.
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Again, big “thanks” are in order for some of our local “AD-s” for sending us this week’s top track and field performers:
4-28-17 boys frosh
4-28-17 girls top 60
4-28-17 girls relays
4-28-17 girls frosh
4-28-17 boys top 60
4-28-17 boys relays
Colonial League Boys Week 5 Link
http://www.colonialleague.org/sports/boys/boys-track-field/
Colonial League Girls Week 5 Link
http://www.colonialleague.org/sports/girls/girls-track-field/
School administrators: don’t forget to send us your news notes, top athletes and other special achievements to us as we continue to spotlight local student-athletes in the RCN viewing area each week. Also, be sure to catch our local sports features on this week’s “SportsTalk” show as well!
