Image courtesy of ESPN.com
GOOD teams are built through the Draft. While we know what WE did over the weekend, to really put it in perspective you have to get a look around your division to see who added the most firepower and who wasted the most picks.
DALLAS: Not a great Draft. They grabbed a solid building block in the 1st by getting an OT to maybe replace Doug Free (finally), and took a swipe at replacing DeMarcus Ware with DeMarcus Lawrence in the 2nd. They added some camp bodies later on, but no one we should be concerned about beyond their second pick.
NEW YORK: Did pretty well for themselves this year. The WR they got in the 1st looks like a solid addition, but it was the C they added in the 2nd that got my attention. During my Pre-Draft NFC Review I mentioned that they were revamping their O-line. Well when you take a C that high, you know there’s a solid commitment being made somewhere to a long-term picture. I was also impressed with the RB they added in the 4th. The knock on him is that he didn’t catch many balls in college, but since when did the giants make throwing to RB’s a big part of what they traditionally do? Keep your eye on that SS they added in the 5th. If he sticks this year, he could be trouble for us down the line.
WASHINGTON: Probably had the best Draft of the division. (Though some may say NY did.) Adding Trent Murphy to Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan was almost unfair. They followed that up by adding youth to their O-line, and in the 4th they added a CB with a 2-3 round grade on him. Couple rounds later they added a RB as if they wished to match our depth at that position.
Seeing how much attention our rivals paid to their O-lines, and looking at the age/injury issues with our own line, makes me uneasy to say the least. In fact, it makes it look like the team was lucky Evan Mathis didn’t call them on the threat to trade him by daring them to do something so stupid.
In any case, you build to chase the leader and right now the leader of the NFC East is the Eagles. The selection of OLB’s by Dallas and Washington, and NY’s selection of the specific SS they took in the 5th, says that teams are clearly concerned about setting the edge on defense. Likely this is a direct response to LeSean McCoy’s success last year.
Long story short: I think the ‘skins and giants made themselves better over the weekend. Dallas made an investment for down the road but might see some early returns on that O-line if they give their 1st rounder an early shot at the starting job.
So which rival would you say had the best Draft this year?
EAGLEMANIACAL.com 