7 Losses In A Row Mock Draft

[Meco]

Management:
The Eagles hire Tom Gamble as their general manager
-Tom Gamble has quite the resumé and a lot of ties to the Philadelphia Eagles. Gamble's dad, Harry Gamble, was the president of the Eagles during the Buddy Ryan years and Tom worked with the Eagles from 1988 to 1996. He's played a large role in the construction of the San Francisco 49ers' incredibly deep roster over the past seven seasons and prior to that he worked closely with Bill Polian in Indianapolis. Everywhere he goes a playoff team shortly follows. He's got experience as a coach, scout and contract negotiator.

Coaching:
The Eagles hire Perry Fewell as their head coach
-A strong, details oriented coach who has helped guide the Giants to a Superbowl title with a defense that suddenly became absolutely suffocating in the playoffs. He’s a top notch teacher who has gotten some really incredible results with limited talent in the back seven of the New York Giants defense. He plays a bend but don’t break defense that led the league in turnovers in 2010 and was 7th in yards allowed. He coached a top 10 defense in his first year, won a Superbowl in his second year and his team is currently second in the NFL in turnovers and 9th in sacks.

The Eagles hire Tom Rathman as their offensive coordinator
-Tom Rathman has made the football rounds. He was a star FB at Nebraska, he was a valuable utility back for two Superbowl champion San Francisco 49ers teams and he’s now been a RB coach in the NFL for 16 years. His west coast offense roots go all the way back to Bill Walsh himself and he played for an option team in college so his background is quite varied and it shows when the 49ers play today as the have one of the most unique and creative running games in the league with a myriad of different formations and concepts. His connection to Perry Fewell is through D!ck Jauron who worked with Rathman in Detroit.

The Eagles hire Chris Palmer as their QB Coach and passing game coordinator
-When the Titans make some staff changes, Palmer gets the boot. Palmer is the man who developed Eli Manning. Palmer has been a coach for 40 years now and he’s done a good job with quarterbacks, his list of protégés includes Drew Bledsoe, Tony Romo, Eli Manning and Jake Locker.

The Eagles hire Jon Hoke as their defensive coordinator
-Jon Hoke is quite connected with Perry Fewell. He first worked with Fewell waaaay back in the late 80’s and early 90’s at Kent State. Their paths crossed again in Jacksonville when Hoke was working with Dom Capers at the University of Florida when Perry Fewell was a coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Perry Fewell and Jon Hoke have both worked under Dom Capers and Lovie Smith. Hoke is the defensive backs coach of the Chicago Bears and brother of Brad Hoke, head coach of the University of Michigan. Hoke has done an absolutely fantastic job getting the best out of Chris Tillman, Tim Jennings, Major Wright and Chris Conte who he has playing like all-pros.

The Eagles hire D!ck Jauron as their defensive backs coach and assistant head coach
-Jauron gets canned in Cleveland with the rest of the staff and Perry Fewell calls his old mentor up and asks him to coach for the Eagles. They worked together in Buffalo and Jauron has extensive experience in the NFL that will be useful in bringing along Fewell as a head coach and Hoke as a defensive coordinator.

The Eagles hire Rich Bisaccia as their special teams coach
-One of the most respected guys in the league gets shipped out of San Diego when they blow the whole front office and staff up and Fewell snags him to come and coach in Philadelphia.

Free Agency:
The Eagles re-sign Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
-Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has shown flashes of brilliance and his talent warrants keeping. He’s been inconsistent under Juan Castillo and Todd Bowles but we’ll see if Perry Fewell, Jon Hoke and D!ck Jauron can get the best out of him. And regardless of his inconsistencies and tackling problems he’s a quality-starting corner in this league and those don’t just grow on trees.

The Eagles re-sign Akeem Jordan
-A valuable, versatile linebacker who can play weakside or strongside linebacker and is one of the best special teams players that we have. Keep.

The Eagles release Michael Vick, Nnamdi Asomugha, DeMetress Bell, Jason Babin and Cullen Jenkins.

The Eagles re-structure the contract of Jason Peters
-The Eagles gave Jason Peters his contract extension when he was a healthy, dominating LT. With two Achilles injuries in the span of four months he’ll likely never be the same player again and the plan is to shift him to RT so he gets a pay cut.

The Eagles sign Jairus Byrd S Buffalo Bills

Jairus Byrd has had a nice run in Buffalo but when free agency strikes the head coach and defensive coordinator that drafted him, who are now employed by one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world with one of the league's premier platforms at their disposal, show up at his door step and offer to make him the highest paid safety in the league. And luckily for the Eagles, Byrd agrees to a deal. The Eagles safeties are horrendously mistake prone in coverage and the Eagles defense is last in the NFL in takeaways. Jairus Byrd helps solve both those problems as he is widely regarded as one of the top cover safeties and he has 17 interceptions in 4 seasons in the NFL.

The Eagles sign Aqib Talib CB New England Patriots

-Extremely gifted player who would be a superstar if it weren’t for his own idiocy. Corners with his talent don’t usually hit the market and his penchant for off the field trouble brings his price down so the Eagles take a shot. This is a move with huge amounts of upside, Talib could easily become a pro-bowl corner and he’s in his prime.

The Eagles sign Jason Jones DL Seattle Seahawks

-Jon Hoke and Perry Fewell love versatile pieces on the defensive line. Hoke moves Isreal Idonije, Julius Peppers and Corey Wooten all over his line. Perry Fewell loves moving Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck around too. Jason Jones has experience at defensive end and defensive tackle and he’s a pretty disruptive and energetic presence on the defensive line. He’ll be a swiss army knife piece off the bench that the Eagles plug in all over the line.

The Eagles sign Geoff Schwartz OL Minnesota Vikings

-A one time starting player with experience at guard and right tackle who because of injury fell out of favor in Carolina and is now just sitting the bench in Minnesota. He’s a valuable back-up lineman who can play a number of different spots well.

The Eagles sign William Beatty OT New York Giants

-A tall, athletic left tackle who has done an admirable job protecting Eli Manning over the past two seasons. And as an added bonus, he's got experience at both left and right tackle.

The Eagles sign Jonathan Casillas LB New Orleans Saints

Casillas is an athletic linebacker who fits well in Fewell's and Hoke's coverage based schemes. He's done a good job in spot duty for the New Orleans Saints and he's got experience at strongside and weakside linebacker. And he's a good special teams player too.


NFL Draft
1 – Tyler Wilson QB Arkansas

-Tyler Wilson is not Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, he’s not a surgical passer. Rather, Tyler Wilson’s game resembles that of Brett Favre, Tony Romo, Jay Cutler and Eli Manning, a brazen gun slinger who trusts his arm and will go out there and try any throw at any time. He’s an incredibly confident player who trusts his receivers to make plays on the throws he makes and I love that about him. He is one of the toughest quarterbacks in the nation and he sticks in the pocket and takes some nasty hits behind one of the worst offensive lines in the country but it hardly even phases him. He’s confident and he’s as tough as nails, he’s the classic gunslinger passer, he sees things and makes throws that other QBs simply won’t make.

Tyler Wilson has a great arm, he doesn’t have a howitzer like Jay Cutler or Brett Favre but it’s a really good one with velocity and accuracy to all levels of the field. He’s got fantastic feet: he’s on the balls of his feet in the pocket, he can quickly shuffle his feet and move around the pocket and he can quickly re-set, create a new throwing platform and get the throw off from a variety of angles. He displays anticipation and accuracy in the passing game and this consistently allows receivers to make plays after the catch. He’s also easily able to abandon the pocket when needed and buy himself more time with his athleticism. The downside to Tyler Wilson is that he doesn’t always make good decisions. He’ll try to make throws that most players shouldn’t. This has resulted in 23 career interceptions so far. If he can get a coach that can harness his gunslinger ways he could become a franchise passer.

2 – Datone Jones DL UCLA

One thing that happened when Jim Washburn came to the Eagles was the Eagles defensive line got a lot smaller, especially on the edges. With the return of a more traditional defensive line the Eagles need to add someone who can hold the edge in run defense and rush the passer pinned in close on the line. At 6'4" and 275 pounds, Jones has supreme size for a defensive end. He immeadiately helps make the front 7 a little bigger and tougher against the run.

Jones is a true power pass rusher on the defensive line who knifes through the defensive line. He's got experience as an outside pass rusher and an inside pass rusher. He's got long arms and violent hands and he rocks offensive linemen backwards on contact. He might not ever turn into a sack master but he profiles as a fantastic situational football player who can play the edge, move inside on passing downs and be a run stopping force on the edge on running downs.

With the addition of Datone and Jason Jones the Eagles can put out Cole-Jones-Jones-Graham on passing downs and they can put out Jones-Cox-Patterson-Jones on running downs.

3 – Jon Bostic LB Florida

The Eagles draft Jon Bostic to come in and he'll compete at all three spots, in particular at WLB where he'll compete with Akeem Jordan, Casey Matthews and Jonathan Casillas for the starting job.

Jon Bostic is a well sized but athletic linebacker who flows sideline to sideline and is known for his skill in coverage. He's played MLB almost exclusively at Florida but he displays the athleticism to play any linebacker spot. The one negative is that he isn't the strongest at taking on blocks but I'd argue that he's not nearly as bad as some would have you believe. And he's an emotional presence too who plays fiery. Bostic was also a standout special teams player before he became a full time starter.

4 – DJ Swearinger DB South Carolina

DJ Swearinger is an animal, his twitter name actually includes the phrase "Jungle Boi" and that's got a hint of truth to it because on the field, DJ plays like a possessed wild man. He's a very physical safety who is an aggressive run defender and he's so athletic that South Carolina even played him at corner when players got injured. And despite his lack of size, DJ Swearinger will hit you. He consistently gets a solid run fit, he's an explosive hitter and he's a playmaker in coverage. He's Matt Elam without all the hype.

5 – Braxston Cave C Notre Dame

-Braxston Cave is an experienced, tough player who has seen it all at Notre Dame. He’s a throwback tough guy who will play through injury and he’ll play through the whistle too. He’ll give his all to block his man and he does a good job of creating space in the run game and if he can’t, he does a good job of walling off his man. He could play guard if the Eagles got into a pinch.

6 – Kyle Long OL Oregon

-This guy is interesting, really interesting. Kyle Long was initially drawn to baseball but entering his junior season in college he decided he was going to play football. He transferred to a JUCO and played so well that Chip Kelly called him up and got him to sign with Oregon. But then again, it’s kind of easy to get some hype when your dad is Hall-of-Famer Howie Long and your brother is the Ram’s stud DE Chris Long. Chris Long has actually gone on record and said that Kyle Long is the most naturally talented of the three and at 6’7” and 300 pounds with all the tools you could ever ask for, it’s easy to see why. He’s very raw and very inexperienced but he’s on the upswing and his talent is too good to pass on at this point. He’s got experience at tackle and guard at Oregon.

6 – Zach Rogers WR Tennessee

-Zach Rogers is the sort of player that doesn’t have the incredible athletic ability of players drafted higher but he’s gifted enough to play and his coordination more than makes up for his lack of elite speed and jumping ability. But what makes Rogers such a good prospect is his reliability; he’s a consistent route runner who will go all out to make any catch. He’s the sort of receiver that a QB can trust to be where he’s supposed to be which lends itself to a more efficient and surgical effort as a whole on offense. His coach, Derek Dooley who actually worked with Wes Welker says that Rogers is a similar player.

7 – Travis Kelce TE Cincinatti

-The 49ers are able to do a lot of crazy things with their running game because they have full backs and tight ends that can block. It affords them more flexibility. Travis Kelce, younger brother of Jason Kelce, is a fantastic blocking tight end at 6’6” and 260 pounds. And he’s done okay as a receiver too with 23 receptions for 422 yards and 4 TDs this season.

UDFA:
Wes Horton DE USC

Depth Chart:
QB: T. Wilson / N. Foles / T. Edwards
RB: L. McCoy / B. Brown / D. Lewis / C. Polk
FB: S. Havili
WR: D. Jackson / J. Maclin / J. Avant / R. Cooper / Z. Rogers
TE: B. Celek / C. Harbor / T. Kelce
LT: W. Beatty / K. Long
LG: T. Herremans / D. Watkins
C: J. Kelce / B. Cave
RG: E. Mathis / G. Schwartz
RT: J. Peters / D. Kelly

LE: B. Graham / D. Jones
DT: F. Cox / C. Thornton
DT: M. Patterson / J. Jones
RE: T. Cole / V. Curry / W. Horton
SLB: M. Kendricks / A. Jordan
MLB: D. Ryans / C. Matthews
WLB: J. Bostic / J. Casillas
CB: D. Rodgers-Cromartie / A. Talib / B. Boykin / C. Marsh / B. Hughes
SS: N. Allen / D. Sims
FS: J. Byrd / D. Swearinger

K: Henery
P: McBriar
LS: ??

Offseason Goals Were:
The goal of this offseason was to: Find a franchise passer (Tyler Wilson). Improve the offensive line (Beatty, Schwartz, Cave, Long). Get a competent defensive coaching staff (Fewell, Hoke, Jauron). Improve the secondary (Byrd, Talib, Swearinger). Get a coaching staff that will commit to the running game with McCoy and Brown. And finally, add some athletic and versatile linebacker talent that can play special teams.
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[RainbowCarebear]

Not a rob Ryan fan. Draft/FA is okay
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"Of gold and silver and gemstones, it had none; bronze and iron were the metals of winter"
"He is part of you, Robb. To fear him is to fear you."
"These are northmen, Uncle. The north remembers."

[marky_b27]

A solid mock, though it doesn't really have the impact factor that I would like.
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[oland11]

If this is how it actually went, I'd be I a neutral spot. So I give you a B-
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[willy_law]

almost stopped taking it seriously once i saw rob ryan but Zach Rogers saved you
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[Phire]

It's a nice mock, I don't know if San Fran makes that trade (has there been a similar one in terms of value in the recent past?) but I think the big stickler here is of course, Rob Ryan.

I'm totally down for a strong personality guy who fires up his team. I just don't want a clown who walks around with a halo around his head. I don't want my head coach making guarantees. But I would be intrigued by a Ryan defense in Philadelphia.

The only way I want Ryan in Philly is if his offensive coordinator is also assistant head coach.
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[EaglesFan5-36-81]

God no to Ryan, he's not his dad, hell, he's not even his brother. He's an awful head coaching candidate. Draft and free agency aren't so bad, but Rob Ryan is.
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[killdawabbit]

I don't want Rob Ryan anywhere near this team.

Love the signing of Goldson. Very underrated player, but I'd be somewhat suprised to see SF let him walk.

The fad of switching to a 3-4 defense is starting to reach an annoying point...again (for like the 4th or 5th time in the last several years). However, the draft looks solid if you are going for that.

I obviously like to see the OSU guys in the draft. Your description of Simon is pretty on point. However, I do think you undervalue him slightly (he probably won't go in the second, but I'd be suprised to see him on the board past the 4th).

An interesting note on Boren: Not only is he a very good FB but, due to injury and some key recruits not panning out, OSU has been using him at MLB. He has been a flat out stud run stopper there as well.
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[ninjapirate]

rob ryan is a bad defensive coordinator what qualifies him to head coach?
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[Meco]

Okay, I switched everything around. I'm liking this version much better.
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[Remixxxxxxx]

[willy_law]

Yeah, I really liked this updated version
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[WhackyPlague]

I mostly like the updated version, but I don't want Talib anywhere near this team.

[Meco]

[EaglesFan5-36-81]

I like it.
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