Eagles Complete Rounds 2-3 of the Draft With no Real Impact Players

The Eagles addressed the offensive line in last night’s first round of the NFL draft.  They selected 26 year old, former fireman, Danny Watkins who should be an instant starter.  Today was rounds two and three, where teams find contributors and depth.  The Eagles made two selections and one trade.  They realized they had a need in the defensive backfield and addressed it, just not in the best of ways. 

With the 22nd pick in the second round and 54th overall, the Eagles selected a safety that played right in their backyard, Jaiquawn Jarrett from Temple.  Jarrett's selection is a bit of a reach for the Eagles.  This is a weak draft for safety's and Jarrett was the second highest rated, but that does not make it a great pick.  He is undersized to play the position in the NFL at just 6'0 and 198 pounds.  His 40 time is slow for a defensive back, recorded at 4.65.  He's too small to play safety and to slow to play corner, maybe he'll be the special teams captain this year.

The Eagles used the 26th pick in the 3rd round, 90th overall on corner back Curtis Marsh.  This is a value pick that should add some depth to the defensive backfield, but it does not answer the call for a corner to start opposite of Asante Samuel.  Marsh has ideal size for a corner, listed at 6'1 and 197 pounds, but he doesn’t have blazing speed, running a 4.46 forty at the combine.  I like the pick but I don't love it.

The Eagles head into Saturday still needing to address some positions.  They have eight total picks, two in each of the last 4 rounds.  They should address the defensive line, line backer, and offensive line with those picks, also picking up a late round quarterback along the way.  The problem with having a ton of late round picks is that they are late round picks.  The longer the draft goes, the harder it becomes to find quality talent. 

Overall I would give the Eagles a "C" grade for the second day of the draft.  They were able to pick up an additional 6th round pick from a trade with Baltimore, but that might be the highlight of the day.  The two players selected are decent football players, but as of today they are not instant contributors on the defense.  The Eagles are a super bowl caliber team and they need some contributors, in two days of the NFL draft, they selected one.  Hopefully they can fnd a couple of gems on Saturday.