Trade Down?
for the second year in a row, the birds traded out of the first round today. i'm scratching my head as much as anyone right now. while they did receive *very* good value in getting a 1, 2, and 4 for a mid-level 1, it seems especially curious is that jeff otah and devin thomas -- two players who were reported to be targets -- were both still on the board when they traded out.
here are some possible reasons off the top of my head:
- this draft is supposed to be short on difference makers but deep in overall talent pool while the 2009 draft is supposed to be very strong. so a possible reasoning here is that the eagles trade down to get essentially the same player they could have gotten with their mid-first round pick, and as a bonus, end up with 2 first rounders next year.
- we're all fixated on wideout and finding replacements for dawkins, thomas, and runyan, but if you think about it, the biggest problem area with the birds last season (aside from shoddy QB play) was special teams. the coverage teams were awful and the return teams were worse. if you listen to the media chatter on and on about how the eagles finished in "last place" in the nfc east you'd never guess that they finished ranked 6th on offense and 10th on defense. those are pretty good rankings. they couldn't score in the red zone, but maybe if they had shorter fields to work with, their points/yard output would have been better. maybe the birds are trading down because they expect to turn over a fairly significant number of players this season -- purely based on ability to play special teams. since there are few difference makers in the draft anyway, why pay someone first round salary when you are targeting special teams players?
- the bengals, cardinals, and lions have stated that chad johnson, anquan boldin, and roy williams are not going to be traded. at least one of those teams is going to come around and end up trading their guy. who'd be in a better position to trade for that player than the birds, sitting with 2 first rounders and lito sheppard as trade bait?
of course, it is possible that they're just idiots, but i highly doubt it. i know it's human nature to think that people are screwing up when you don't have insight into what's happening inside the black box, but andy still has more hits than misses on his track record and you have to give him the benefit of the doubt until we see what happens. i'm sure they have some reason for doing it, but we'll be in the dark until it plays out.
here are some possible reasons off the top of my head:
- this draft is supposed to be short on difference makers but deep in overall talent pool while the 2009 draft is supposed to be very strong. so a possible reasoning here is that the eagles trade down to get essentially the same player they could have gotten with their mid-first round pick, and as a bonus, end up with 2 first rounders next year.
- we're all fixated on wideout and finding replacements for dawkins, thomas, and runyan, but if you think about it, the biggest problem area with the birds last season (aside from shoddy QB play) was special teams. the coverage teams were awful and the return teams were worse. if you listen to the media chatter on and on about how the eagles finished in "last place" in the nfc east you'd never guess that they finished ranked 6th on offense and 10th on defense. those are pretty good rankings. they couldn't score in the red zone, but maybe if they had shorter fields to work with, their points/yard output would have been better. maybe the birds are trading down because they expect to turn over a fairly significant number of players this season -- purely based on ability to play special teams. since there are few difference makers in the draft anyway, why pay someone first round salary when you are targeting special teams players?
- the bengals, cardinals, and lions have stated that chad johnson, anquan boldin, and roy williams are not going to be traded. at least one of those teams is going to come around and end up trading their guy. who'd be in a better position to trade for that player than the birds, sitting with 2 first rounders and lito sheppard as trade bait?
of course, it is possible that they're just idiots, but i highly doubt it. i know it's human nature to think that people are screwing up when you don't have insight into what's happening inside the black box, but andy still has more hits than misses on his track record and you have to give him the benefit of the doubt until we see what happens. i'm sure they have some reason for doing it, but we'll be in the dark until it plays out.
posted by The Mean Guy at 6:56 PM
1 Comments:
the players they picked do appear to be 2 good need players, although I'd've liked another 3rd vs. a 4th from Minnesota. They have too many picks left and hopefully will get more 3rd picks.
If the 19th somehow becomes a trade for a top WR, then I'm excited, but I am scratching my enormous melon over today with what I know today. You heard all of this "active" hype and that's all it was.
I would NOT trade Lito now. They failed to get the value he's worth, so hold him for a big name WR trade or keep him and find a way to make it all work. If they move him for 3rds or 4ths, I am pissed.
Bumble
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