Eagles scored in draft: Here's how they did it

[SD_Eagle5]

Good insight from Heckert

Eagles scored in draft: Here's how they did it


Clark Judge May 1, 2006
By Clark Judge
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer




Few teams in last weekend's draft were as active or as successful as the Philadelphia Eagles. From the second round on, the club was in motion -- swinging deals to acquire descending talent, with the emphasis on talent.


The Eagles traded up to draft tackle Winston Justice in the second round. They traded up again to tap defensive end Chris Gocong in the third. Then they were back at it in the fourth round, maneuvering to grab guard Max Jean-Gilles and wide receiver Jason Avant.

When it was over, Philadelphia strengthened itself on both sides of the ball -- particularly on the line, where coach Andy Reid focuses most of his attention. Of the Eagles' eight choices, five were linemen -- including the first four selections.

But that's not the story. I'm more concerned how the club maneuvered to line its pockets, picking up the top-rated defensive tackle, the second-best offensive tackle and the second-best guard.

That's why I contacted Tom Heckert, the team's vice president of player personnel, and he joins us now to provide a round-by-round account of how Philadelphia swung this year's draft in its favor.

Round 1: DT Brodrick Bunkley, Florida State

Bunkley was the top defensive tackle on some boards, including the one at the NovaCare Complex, but Philadelphia didn't imagine him slipping to the 14th spot. The Eagles thought Buffalo might be interested; maybe Detroit; or Cleveland. In the end, all of them passed, which meant Philadelphia was left with a no-brainer of a decision.

Heckert: "There was no question about it. In fact, we talked to some teams about moving up to take him. But once he got by Buffalo we thought there was at least a chance of getting Bunkley. We knew (Kamerion) Wimbley would go in there and that (Haloti) Ngata would possibly go in there, too. But, originally, we didn't think Bunkley would be there, and we believed there was a chance that Justice would be gone, too. We didn't talk about which one we were going to take, but we had Brodrick Bunkley a little more highly rated. So we took him and really didn't think about Justice much more -- until, at least, a little later in the round."


Round 2: OT Winston Justice, USC

The Eagles had Justice in for an interview and liked the guy. In fact, they liked him so much there was talk about making him a first-round choice. But they chose Bunkley instead, a move that seemed to kill their chances with Justice. Not so fast. Once he cleared the first 20 choices, the Eagles started working the phones.
"We tried like crazy to get back up -- in fact to get back up in the first round to do it. When we couldn't do that, we kept trying with teams as far as we could go. We finally got a trade partner, so we moved up and got him. I still really don't know why he lasted that long. Obviously, some people didn't have him rated as highly as we did."

The knock on Justice was his character. He'd been arrested once and was suspended the entire 2004 season after threatening a student with a fake handgun. That pushed some teams away. Not Philadelphia.

"We have no problem with the kid. We interviewed him at the combine. We brought him to Philadelphia. We spent a lot of time with him and talked to a lot of people at USC. And they told us both incidents were out of character. We feel really comfortable with him. I think he's going to learn both left and right tackles, and we haven't quite decided if we're going to use him at guard. But right now I think we're going to sit him at both tackles, and see what happens."

Round 3: DE Chris Gocong, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo


At this juncture, you had to wonder when the Eagles would reach for a deep receiver. Patience, people, and listen to Reid: You can never have enough linemen, even if they play at a place you can't pronounce. Gocong was the most dominant pass rusher in Division 1-AA the past two years, leading the nation in sacks both seasons, and that caught the attention of a team that dropped from 47 sacks in 2004 to 29 a year later.

"He was still on the board and was by far the highest-rated guy there. We're going to play him at linebacker, but we thought we may have a need at 'Sam' (strong-side) linebacker and also with someone to help us as a pass rusher. He was so highly rated that we thought we had to go up and get up and try to get him. We did not think he was going to be there at our pick, so we said, 'We'd hate to sit there and lose him,' because he was sticking out like a sore thumb on our board."

Round 4: G Max Jean-Gilles, Georgia; WR Jason Avant, Michigan

While others were busy reaching in the fourth round, the Eagles attacked to take Jean-Gilles, considered by some to be the second best at his position. All he did was allow three sacks in 40 career starts and earn All-SEC and All-American status his senior season. So what's the knock? His weight. At the February scouting combine he checked in at 6-3?, 355.

"I think that's probably why he fell. He's 350 pounds, but it's not like he ever had a problem. At the end of the fourth quarter, he's playing as hard as he was in the first. We didn't think it was an issue. We had him and Gocong graded almost the same. Now, we have a chance to get this guy in the fourth round? We were thinking that everyone else probably is saying the same thing. So it's Saturday night, the first day is over and you look up on the board and this guy is way up there. ... We just said we have to do whatever we can do to get up there and get him. Luckily, we found a trade partner in New Orleans."
The Eagles maneuvered again to acquire Avant, spending two draft picks on a receiver who doesn't have the speed they covet but who was productive. A two-time Bilentikoff candidate, Avant wound up as the third-leading receiver in Michigan history -- with a career-best 82 catches last season.

"He was a guy we had targeted. He's a move-the-chains machine. He's a third-down guy who Donovan (McNabb) can trust and who can catch the ball. If we had stayed put in the third round, he was a guy we thought about taking there. We knew why his stock had fallen: Because he didn't run very well at his workout. But we just thought he was a good player who didn't run real fast. And if we thought: If he was good enough to take in the third we thought we better try to get him in the fourth. Fortunately, it worked out."

Round 5: WR Jeremy Bloom, Colorado; LB Omar Gaither, Tennessee

Here the Eagles ran into a problem. They wanted both of these players at the same spot in the round. So they had to decide who was more likely to disappear first, then take him. That man was Bloom, even though the Olympic freestyle skier hasn't played football in two years. The attraction: He was a playmaker who had five TDs of 75 yards or more in his abbreviated career at Colorado -- including three on returns -- and who has the speed to help at wide receiver.

"We weighed the options, with Jeremy not playing in two years and some people thinking he's just a return guy. We don't. We think he can be a wide receiver as well. So we made the decision to take Jeremy and hoped Omar would be there with our second pick. And he was. That was one of those where we held our breath after we took Jeremy and hoped Omar would fall to us."
He did, and Philadelphia pounced. A two-year starter at strong-side linebacker, Gaither is considered a hard worker with good range and instincts. He's not expected to push for a starting job, but that's OK. He's versatile, and the Eagles can use special-teams help.

"We don't have a lot of linebackers like him. (Jeremiah) Trotter is our only real big guy, and (Gaither) has been up to 245. We think he can be a backup 'Mike' (middle linebacker) and 'Will' (weak-side linebacker), and he can probably also get us through at 'Sam,' too. He's a leader and a bigger guy than we've had here."

Round 6: LaJuan Ramsey, DT, USC

A backup in 2004, Ramsey finally cracked the lineup last season, though part of it was interrupted by injury. Nevertheless, he showed enough -- particularly in an 11-tackle performance against Notre Dame -- to convince the Eagles to take a flyer on him. But it probably didn't hurt that he's the former roommate of Mike Patterson, the team's first-round pick a year ago.

"We watched him early, and he was hurt. He had a high ankle sprain, and he was battling that. But the last few games of the season -- especially the national championship game -- this guy was really, really good. We have Mike Patterson here, so we asked him about him. And he loves him. We talked to Coach (Pete) Carroll, too. We just thought he was a good football player, and we knew he was going to be under the radar because nobody was talking about the guy."

And that's where the Eagles stopped, kicking back Sunday night to assess the weekend's results. They were all good.

"We didn't expect to do quite as much (dealing) as we did, but the way it fell there were guys within reach. Now, we didn't think we were going to do it in almost every round but the first, but we do think that, in the end, it worked out pretty well."

[Zanshin]

I love it when a plan comes together.

[reese125]

good article...gets you a little more pumped than before.

[dis12]

it's like hoping you get all the Xmas gifts you want...and you do!

I'm gettin kinda giddy about the season already!

[mussa]

 

[Diomedes]

It must be nice to be Heckert and the boys this week.  Lots of back slapping and chortling going on.  Most of the fans happy, coach is happy, etc.

[dis12]

It must be nice to be Heckert and the boys this week.  Lots of back slapping and chortling going on.  Most of the fans happy, coach is happy, etc.

Let's just hope we'll still be happy at contract negotiation time.

[MadMarchHare]

That's never been a huge issue before.  Not with the draft picks.

[Diomedes]

Except for Raheem Brock, of course.  

[Rome]

It's nice to have competent player personnel people running things now.  Man, when I think back to the days where the Jon Harris's of the world were being picked... ugh.

[Drunkmasterflex]

Except for Raheem Brock, of course.   

Yeah that one still burns, considering how he has become such a productive player in the rotatiton for the Colts.

[MURP]

great article.  It's about time a sports writer did a little investigating and got us some inside info.  Im still surprised how much the Eagles moved around in the draft.  I wonder what the record is for trades on draft day?

[Zanshin]

What's great is that it was a purposeful moving around; very precise, almost like a surgeon.  Not that flailing around and hoping for the best that I've seen a bunch of teams do.

[SD_Eagle5]

It must be nice to be Heckert and the boys this week.  Lots of back slapping and chortling going on.  Most of the fans happy, coach is happy, etc.

rome used that word yesterday, that was the first time I had ever seen it:

chor·tle    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (chôrtl)
n.
A snorting, joyful laugh or chuckle.



Chortling is the 'word of the day'

Okay, back on subject. The more I read about Gean-Jiles the more I think we got a steal. Most draftniks were in agreement that the guy had 2nd round talent, but his weight forced him to drop. My early prediction is he's our starting LG come opening day.

[ice grillin you]

nice piece