More old faces, new places.  Does he have a shot at starting or is the rookie given the keys day 1?

Both Allbright and Pauline has the Eagles taking Nolan Smith at 10. Yup.

Just now, bpac55 said:

More old faces, new places.  Does he have a shot at starting or is the rookie given the keys day 1?

 

 

Depends on the rookie.  If its someone like CJ Stroud then I would bet on Stroud beating him out by week 1.  If it's someone like Richardson then Minshew might be able to start the entire season unless it turns into a dumpster fire.

1 hour ago, just relax said:

I'm not going to say he can't miss but I will say that if it happens it will be because of off-field stuff or injury. As a player he's head and shoulders above any player in this draft, IMHO, a perfect 3-tech DT who can also 2-gap. He's get quickness, strength, technique, and smarts. I truly do not understand how anyone who looks at his film does not see this. I feel like it's confirmation bias at work: people are looking for reasons NOT to take him and are manufacturing them.

I'm reminded of something Ulysses Grant said about Robert E. Lee.: "Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. . . Go back to your command, and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do.”

Not to throw this into a Civil War general tangent... but one of the biggest issues the Union army was dealing with (in the Eastern theater) was that they weren't fighting Lee, they were fighting the ghost of Lee, the mirage of Lee, the imagination of the worst case scenario of what Lee could do to them if they did the wrong thing, and as a result, they consistently moved hesitantly and paid unmercifully for it.   

To bring it back to football... the defensive side of the ball for this team needs to play with much more of an aggressive mindset and not be so worried about what the offense can do to them (too much deep zone coverage leaving the short stuff wide open) and start to actually dictate to the offense what they will allow them to do.   The defense last year was too talented to play as soft as they did... but the DC was too worried about getting beat deep that they struggled.   This year's defense won't be as talented (most likely, there's still time for that to change), and yet they could be just as effective, if not more so, with the right mindset and attacking style.   Hopefully, we see that from Desai's scheme this year!

And frankly, sometimes getting beat quickly by the offense is a GOOD thing.  In the Super Bowl, had the Eagles allowed the Chiefs to score quickly at the end, then the Eagles would have gotten the ball back with a chance to do something with it.  Instead, they (Gannon) allowed themselves to be slowly bled out.  Contrast that with Schwartz' comment to Pederson at the end of SBLII prior to the Brady fumble.  He said he was going to be ultra-aggressive and get the ball back to the offense quickly... one way or the other.  Either they score quick, and you have time to answer... or you stop them quick and get to bleed out the rest of the clock yourself.  For that reason alone, I can emphatically say that Schwartz was a much better DC than Gannon.  He understood the situation far better than Gannon, in the most critical moments.

4 minutes ago, RLC said:

Both Allbright and Pauline has the Eagles taking Nolan Smith at 10. Yup.

Far too early 

I think the Eagles select a player at #10 and trade down from 30.  The motivation to trade back from #10 is either:

 

A)  There are 4-5 players available you grade evenly, where you're comfortable to trade back a few spots and still land a player you covet.  Highly unlikely at 10

B)  There is no one left on the board you had a top 10-12 grade on, so trading out makes the most sense to recoup extra picks.  I think there will be 1-2 guys at #10

C)  There is a trade-up offer too good to pass up.  I don't think anyone is trading up a long way for either Levis or Richardson, especially with Hooker available.

 

A trade down from #30 makes more sense to me, as option A is much more likely in that spot and there will be a team (or teams) wanting to get back into the first round for the fifth year option on a prospect.

5 minutes ago, Texas Eagle said:

Far too early 

Yeah, I think Nolan Smith is more of a 20-30 range prospect -- but if Paris Johnson is off the board I can see the Eagles talking themselves into the pick.

14 hours ago, Sack that QB said:

I’m still not ruling out Carter falls to 10. History days GMs err on the side of caution. Tunsil fell because of a video of a bong. Which is about as harmless as it gets. Lael Collins went from 1st round to undrafted because he was questioned as a witness in a murder. Not even as suspect.

Carter’s concerns are much greater than either of those and he bombed the combine workout. I would not be stunned at all if he fell to 10. Maybe teams think they don’t have the advantage the Eagles have like having Jordan Davis who was the guy reported to have kept Carter in line. And also Dean a former teammate. The Eagles for a variety of reasons may simply be the only team that feels comfortable taking a chance.

Why would you want a player that needs to be looked after? That should be yet another red flag on top of his others

17 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

Pauline has Carter falling to 12

He also calls Van Ness undersized as an edge prospect. He's 6'5" 272. 

9 minutes ago, Texas Eagle said:

Far too early 

There is little to no major talent gap in this draft between 1st-round likely EDGE players after Anderson and Wilson. If this is the guy they want, then take him. Outside of Wilson and Anderson he's my top EDGE prospect. He's a high character and high intelligence guy who has a very soft landing here with Dean and Davis. He's superb against the run and an excellent athlete. He does not have the pass rush resume of some others, but that is due to scheme and usage rather than lack of talent. Him and Reddick together is very intriguing. In a draft short on blue chip talent, there are very few choices at 10 that would surprise me or upset me at this point.

8 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Not to throw this into a Civil War general tangent... but one of the biggest issues the Union army was dealing with (in the Eastern theater) was that they weren't fighting Lee, they were fighting the ghost of Lee, the mirage of Lee, the imagination of the worst case scenario of what Lee could do to them if they did the wrong thing, and as a result, they consistently moved hesitantly and paid unmercifully for it.   

To bring it back to football... the defensive side of the ball for this team needs to play with much more of an aggressive mindset and not be so worried about what the offense can do to them (too much deep zone coverage leaving the short stuff wide open) and start to actually dictate to the offense what they will allow them to do.   The defense last year was too talented to play as soft as they did... but the DC was too worried about getting beat deep that they struggled.   This year's defense won't be as talented (most likely, there's still time for that to change), and yet they could be just as effective, if not more so, with the right mindset and attacking style.   Hopefully, we see that from Desai's scheme this year!

And frankly, sometimes getting beat quickly by the offense is a GOOD thing.  In the Super Bowl, had the Eagles allowed the Chiefs to score quickly at the end, then the Eagles would have gotten the ball back with a chance to do something with it.  Instead, they (Gannon) allowed themselves to be slowly bled out.  Contrast that with Schwartz' comment to Pederson at the end of SBLII prior to the Brady fumble.  He said he was going to be ultra-aggressive and get the ball back to the offense quickly... one way or the other.  Either they score quick, and you have time to answer... or you stop them quick and get to bleed out the rest of the clock yourself.  For that reason alone, I can emphatically say that Schwartz was a much better DC than Gannon.  He understood the situation far better than Gannon, in the most critical moments.

Agreed. Monday-Saturday, Gannon is a top flight DC, and that will get you by in a league with only 8-10 really good QBs. But guess what, most of those 8-10 QBs are in the playoffs. If you can't play chess during the game, you're not beating those guys. Good riddance.

13 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

Pauline has Carter falling to 12

Nolan and Herbig - like the players, but a definite double dip positionally.  Nolan/Benton or Carter/Herbig is more of the mix I'd anticipate.

Right now, I'd rank Skoronski and Carter as most likely. Paris Johnson above Skoronski if he's there, but I don't think they'll move up for him like they might for Carter.

There doesn't seem to be a consensus favorite fan pick at #10.  When they drafted DeVonta Smith and Jordan Davis they were generally embraced (of course you always have some critics).  But generally fans and media thought they were solid picks.

I feel like whatever they do at #10 is going to be very mixed reviews.  

@Iggles_Phan

1st, yes

2nd, now I want to read a brunch of parody Andrew Luck Civil War letters.

This is not a good draft.

Nolan Smith is one of the safest prospects in the class. He's not my first choice either, but I get it. 

He has Christian Gonzalez.

2 minutes ago, RLC said:

This is not a good draft.

Nolan Smith is one of the safest prospects in the class. He's not my first choice either, but I get it. 

I read somewhere that a scout or GM said that he only has about 12 or so players with first round grades...  Yikes! 

1 minute ago, NOTW said:

There doesn't seem to be a consensus favorite fan pick at #10.  When they drafted DeVonta Smith and Jordan Davis they were generally embraced (of course you always have some critics).  But generally fans and media thought they were solid picks.

I feel like whatever they do at #10 is going to be very mixed reviews.  

I think most would get behind a Bijan pick - he's fun to watch and most folks aren't looking at the draft as a 10-year plan.  Barring injury he'll play right away and be productive.

 

If the Vikings sell the farm to move from 23 to 10 are you happy with that?

Are you OK with 2 1sts next year and some extra picks and you can still get 2 very good players in round 1?

7 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

Why would you want a player that needs to be looked after? That should be yet another red flag on top of his others

It's a fair question but there is a simple answer. He's the only true blue chip player in this draft. Well, maybe Bijan.

It is a common mantra in here that you always pick the BPA. Except when you don't. 

I think it's a matter of how risk-averse someone is. I am not very risk-averse, not always to my advantage, I'll admit. If he's there at #10, I take him 10 times out of 10. If Howie decides he has to move up two or three spots, it's more problematic but I'd still take him.

1 minute ago, SkippyX said:

If the Vikings sell the farm to move from 23 to 10 are you happy with that?

Are you OK with 2 1sts next year and some extra picks and you can still get 2 very good players in round 1?

Why would they?

2 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

Why would they?

If Richardson is still there at 10

6 minutes ago, Saltpeter said:

Right now, I'd rank Skoronski and Carter as most likely. Paris Johnson above Skoronski if he's there, but I don't think they'll move up for him like they might for Carter.

Here's your most likely top 9 players gone, barring major trades:

QB - Young, Stroud, Richardson, Levis

EDGE - Anderson, Wilson

CB - Witherspoon, Gonzalez

DL - Carter

Certainly one of the OT's could go over one of the corners, or Carter could fall...but we'll just use this as a most likely example.

 

That leaves the following plausible selections at 10 on the board as:

OT - Johnson, Jones, Skoronski

RB - Robinson

EDGE - Smith, Murphy

WR - Smith-Njigba

The case can be made that Robinson would be the most impactful of this group for this year. It also goes against conventional wisdom, and I just can't see the Eagles doing it. And if Stout is in love with one of the 3 OT's, who am I to argue? I can't see them going WR so early again, even though JSN would give them an awesome slot guy. So I just think out of this tier of choices, Smith is highly likely to be the pick. I'm a big fan of him as a player, and he also appears to be the high character and high intelligence guy they tend to covet. There is no slam dunk choice that will be unanimously praised, even if a Carter or Witherspoon/Gonzalez falls to 10. Smith and Reddick together could be very interesting, and Reddick is only here 2 more years.

 

3 minutes ago, NOTW said:

There doesn't seem to be a consensus favorite fan pick at #10.  When they drafted DeVonta Smith and Jordan Davis they were generally embraced (of course you always have some critics).  But generally fans and media thought they were solid picks.

I feel like whatever they do at #10 is going to be very mixed reviews.  

100%. There is no slam dunk at 10 this year.

5 minutes ago, Waiting4Someday said:

I think most would get behind a Bijan pick - he's fun to watch and most folks aren't looking at the draft as a 10-year plan.  Barring injury he'll play right away and be productive.

 

I think many fans would be excited to have his talent, but a lot of people think it's a waste to draft a RB in the 1st that you can get a good RB later.  Once he's in uniform people will be happy but the reaction to the pick.  I think Carter would be consensus liked pick for talent but the off the field concerns would cause some criticism.  I don't think they take him if they don't really trust the judgement of everyone involved in evaluating him so people would probably quickly not worry about his issues.

1 minute ago, just relax said:

It's a fair question but there is a simple answer. He's the only true blue chip player in this draft. Well, maybe Bijan.

It is a common mantra in here that you always pick the BPA. Except when you don't. 

I think it's a matter of how risk-averse someone is. I am not very risk-averse, not always to my advantage, I'll admit. If he's there at #10, I take him 10 times out of 10. If Howie decides he has to move up two or three spots, it's more problematic but I'd still take him.

Just watched the UGA defense vs Florida offense - Carter got low and pushed O'Cyrus off the LoS against the run (wow), and was a 2-way go when 1-gapping.  He essentially had to be double-teamed or he was winning his snaps.  That's a unique player.