So Many Holes (Draft a Tight End)

Too many Quinton Cavers, too many Jerome McDougles, too many Freddie Mitchells. Hell, while we're at it too many too many Jon Harrises, Mike Mamulas, Bernard Williamses, Lester Holmeses, Siran Staceys.

Aside from the overhyped class of 2002 (Sheppard, Brown and Lewis), the Eagles draft history is a sordid tale. Not only do they regularly blow their top picks, when was the last time the Eagles uncovered a diamond in the rough?

Okay, that's not fair. Day Two of the draft is pretty much a waste of time. For every "Tom Brady" 6th round pick, there is a bizillion flame-outs who never even make it through training camp. Chalk it up to positive feedback bias. Peeps hear about Tom Brady being a 6th round draft pick but they never hear about all the screw ups, so we just end up assuming that everyone else is getting lots of production out of their 6th round picks.

But it is fair to say that the Eagles do blow their Day One draft picks with alarming regularity. The goal should be to get one contributor out of the first three rounds of every draft. A team does that, fills in the rest of the roster with a solid core of free agents and you've got yourself a team.

Take the Steelers, going back to 2000, they've managed every year to snag a solid performer on Day One of the draft. (2005: Heath Miller; 2004: Roethlisberger; 2003: Polamalu; 2002: Randle El; 2001: Kendrell Bell; 2000: Burress, Poteat; 1999: Troy Edwards, Joey Porter). If only the Eagles could consistently year-after-year (Mc)knab a contributor.

Which brings me to this year's draft. Because as we know, they're not too good on draft day and when they do happen to get someone good, they let 'em go via free agency (Burgess), the Eagles have tons of holes. Both sides of the ball need help. D-line and LBs are by far the most lacking. But considering the Eagles recent success in that area (Caver and McDougle come to mind), I'd rather them open up their wallet and sign someone whose already got a proven track record.

Which brings me to offense. The offense is weak everywhere. The WRs are subpar, the offensive line could use some help and the running game needs some power. Is there any way to address each of these areas in one fell swoop?

Yes, draft a tight end.

L.J. is a horrible blocker. He's pretty much useless in the running game. And I have a hard time even recalling who is the Eagles second-string TE. I know they've got Bartrun but he's there just as a long snapper. Spach? See you in NFL Europe... and hopefully you'll never come back.

What made matters worse is that the TE problem made the Eagles entirely predictable. L.J. is in - the defense must defend the pass. L.J. comes out - the defense must defend the run. Once T.O. was exiled, playing the Eagles offense was a day off for opposing defensive coordinators.

And we all know Reid likes to create mismatches. How about this scenario - a two tight end set. Force the D to keep the nickel back off the field and then motion L.J. out to the flat pulling a backer out into coverage or maybe even a safety down into coverage. L.J. on a backer is a mismatch. Also, once the backer is forced to split out to cover L.J., the middle is open for the running game. Hell, forcing the safeties to help out the backers in coverage opens up the top for Reggie and Pinkston. All aspects of the offense benefit.

The two tight end set forces the defense to respect the run. Whereas, as we all know with L.J. in a single TE set, the 2005 Eagles base offense, the defense can go nickel all day knowing that they'll still be able to stop the run.

The best TE in the draft is Vernon Davis out of Maryland. The second tight end is also pretty damn good. Leonard Pope out of Georgia is a monster at 6'7''. Sure would be nice to add a little size to the Eagles roster.

Kiper has Vernon Davis going at 11 to St. Louis and Leonard Pope at 26 to Chicago. The Eagles at 14 have a good shot at either.

St. Louis is now coach by Scott Linehan, the former offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins. Considering the offensive success of the Dolphins over the last couple of years, it's hard to remember that Linehan was the Minnesota offensive coordinator a couple years back when they were setting all sorts of offensive records. Neither Minnesota or the Dolphins have been known for the TE play so obviously this is not a priority of his offense. Moreover, with graybeards Holt and Bruce a turf devil away from retirement, it may make sense for the Rams to look to a WR. That said, considering the play of their defense, the Rams really ought to go with a defensive stud. So, in other words, I find it hard to believe they're gonna take a TE.

Cleveland's up next and with the whole Kellen Winslow thing still fresh in their fans' minds, I can't see how they could possibly take a TE.

Up next, Baltimore and they've got Todd Heap so it looks like they'll address other needs.

So, that leaves the Eagles staring at the possiblity of taking the best TE in the draft. And the best TE in the draft is pretty darn good this year.

My bottom line is that a second TE is a desperate need for the Eagles. All aspects of the offense would benefit from a second contributor from that position. Just imagine if the Eagles could line up both L.J. and Vernon Davis. Force the defense's hand. They go nickel - the Eagles go off tackle. They go with three backers, motion L.J. into the flat and stretch the field.

Hell, if it were me, I'd ditch some of those worthless day two picks is and trade up just to make sure we get Vernon Davis. But Pope wouldn't be half bad either. Either way, the Eagles must take a TE in the first round. Hell, maybe they'll get lucky and find a Joey Porter in the third round.

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