The Eagles have selected DE Daniel Te’o Nesheim with the 86th overall pick (3rd round) of the NFL Draft.  Nesheim is 6′3″, 263 pounds and he runs a 4.77 40 so he is a pretty good athlete.  He played in 12 games last season for the Washington Huskies and he had 37 tackles, 14 tackles for a loss, he had 11 sacks and he forced 5 fumbles.  Nesheim was a 4-year starter at Washington in which he played in 49 games in which he made 194 tackles, 46 tackles for a loss and he had 30 sacks.  The 30 sacks makes Nesheim the all time leader in sacks at Washington.  He is a very aggressive player which often makes up for his shortcomings.  Many experts had Nesheim going in the 6th round or later so this was likely a reach for the Eagles this early in the draft.

The Eagles have selected safety Nate Allen out of South Florida with the 37th overall pick (2nd round) of the NFL Draft.  Allen is 6′1″, 205 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40.  He is a excellent pass defender but he needs to get a little more physical against the running game and that could come in time.  Allen played in 13 games (all starts) for the Bulls last season in which he finished up with 85 tackles, broke up 4 passes, he had 4 interceptions, forced 1 fumble and he recovered 1 fumble.  In his four years at South Florida, Allen played in 47 games (38 starts) in which he had 226 tackles, he broke up 12 passes, had 9 interceptions, forced 2 fumbles and he recovered 3 fumbles.  Allen was selected with the pick the Eagles got from the Redskins for Donovan McNabb which will likely put some added pressure on him.  But, I like this pick as Allen will be a starter for them as early as the opening game this season.

The Eagles traded up from #24 to #11 in the first round to select DE Brandon Graham out of Michigan.  The cost also included two third round picks going to the Broncos.  Graham played in 12 games (all starts) for Michigan last season and he finished up with 64 tackles, 26 tackles for a loss, 10.5 sacks, he batted down 2 passes, forced 2 fumbles and he had 1 fumble recovery.  Graham has good power despite weighing in at 263 pounds and he is fast as he can run a 4.6 40.  He was living in opposing backfields last season in the Big Ten and the Eagles hope he does exactly that starting in 2010 for them.  Graham played in 46 games (28 starts) in his four years with the Wolverines and he finished up with 124 tackles, 56 tackles for a loss, he had 29.5 sacks, batted down three passes, he forced 8 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble.  This could wind up being a outstanding pick for the Eagles.

The Philadelphia Eagles drafted with offense in mind early in the draft using both of their first day picks to boost that side of the football.  WR Jeremy Maclin (1st round, #19 overall) out of Missouri was solid for the Eagles as a rookie.  He played in 15 games for the Eagles last season and he caught 55 passes for 762 yards (13.9 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He also returned 7 kickoffs for 124 yards (17.7 avg) and 6 punts for 30 yards (5.0 avg).  Maclin will be a huge impact player in the near future for the Eagles because of his speed.  Running back Lesean McCoy (2nd round, #53 overall) out of Pittsburgh will have a huge role in the Eagles’ offense going forward as the team likely won’t bring back Brian Westbrook next season.  McCoy played in 16 games for the Eagles last season and he carried the ball 155 times for 637 yards (4.1 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  He also caught 40 passes for 308 yards (7.7 avg) last year.  The M&M boys were both great picks for the Eagles last April.  Tight end  Cornelius Ingram (5th round, #153 overall) out of Florida and OT Fenuki Topou (5th round, #159 overall) out of Oregon both missed their rookie seasons as they spent it on the Injured Reserve List.  CB/KR Victor “Macho” Harris (5th round, #157 overall) out of Virginia Tech was a nice little find for the Eagles.  He played in 15 games for the Eagles in which he made 41 tackles, 3 tackle for a loss and he defensed 2 passes.  Harris also returned 19 kickoffs for 394 yards (20.7 avg) last season.  LB Moise Fokou (7th round, #230 overall) out of Maryland was also a gem for the Eagles last season.  He played in all 16 games for the Eagles last season and he made 39 tackles and defensed 1 pass.  WR Brandon Gibson (6th round, #194 overall) out of Washington State did not play a down for the Eagles last season but he was valuable to them because they traded him to the Rams for linebacker Will Witherspoon.  Witherspoon played in 11 games for the Eagles in which he made 58 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, defensed 5 passes, had 1 sack, forced 1 fumble and he intercepted a pass that he returned 9 yards for a TD.  Gibson went on to play 9 games for the Rams in which he caught 34 passes for 348 yards (10.2 avg) with a TD grab.  Guard Paul Fanaika (7th round, #213 overall) out of Arizona State didn’t make the Eagles but he did finish the season with the Redskins but he didn’t play in any games for them.

GRADE FOR 2009:  A-

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A

The Eagles lost veteran running back Brian Westbrook for the second time in three weeks due to a concussion.  This time the Eagles will likely shut down Westbrook for a while to ensure his health.  Westbrook has played in 6 games for the Eagles this season and he has carried the ball 47 times for 225 yards (4.8 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also has caught 19 passes for 156 yards (8.2 avg) with 1 TD grab this year.  In other years the loss of Westbrook would have been huge but rookie Lesean McCoy will be able to replace Westbrook without the team losing much if at all.  McCoy has played in 9 games this year for the Eagles and he has carried the ball 86 times for 353 yards (4.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  McCoy also has caught 23 passes for 181 yards (7.9 avg) this year for the Eagles.  Look for McCoy to do a good job for the Eagles the rest of the way as the team’s main running back.