2009 NFL draft one year later: Philadelphia Eagles

This is how elite organizations remain elite. They score on their first two draft picks, and then find solid role players in the later rounds that can step in and help the team. It is what we expect from the finer organizations out there, and over the last decade that is exactly what the Philadelphia Eagles have been. One year ago I gave the Eagles high marks for adding new offensive weapons to the mix , and now year later I am still very high on this draft class.

A quick review of the 2009 draft of the Philadelphia Eagles:

•Round One (19)- Jeremy Maclin WR •Round Two (53)- Le Sean McCoy RB •Round Five (153)- Cornelius Ingram TE •Round Five (157)- Macho Harris S •Round Five (159)- Fenuki Tupou OT •Round Six (194)- Brandon Gibson WR •Round Seven (213)- Paul Fanaika OG •Round Seven (230)- Moise Fokou LB

So Macklin and McCoy look to be long term starters in the Eagles offense. Ingram went down with an injury, Harris won the starting strong safety job and started eight games and scored 41 tackles. Tupou missed the season with an injury; while Gibson was cut he went onto play with the St. Louis Rams. Fanaika was cut in the pre-season, while Fokou played in all 16 games and made 39 tackles.

While we could berate this class for having two misses in the late rounds, but teams who score long term starters with both of their top picks get a lot of leeway. A lot of times in the sixth and seventh rounds of the drafts teams adopt the best player available stance and they take guys who may not exactly fit what they are trying to do. Sometimes guys just flat don’t work out; the Detroit Lions take those kinds of players in the first round of the draft, while elite franchises like the Eagles limit their exposure to mistakes and take them in the final rounds of the draft.