Rookie safety Nate Allen was picked in the second round last April out of South Florida.  He has been a starter since day #1 for the Eagles.  Allen has played in 7 games for the Eagles so far this year and he has 31 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 6 passes defensed and 3 interceptions.  The Eagles look like they have hit a homer with Nate Allen as he is a impact playmaker at the back end of the defense.  He has a very, very bright future for the Eagles.

The Eagles have picked safety Kurt Coleman with the 244th pick of the NFL Draft (7th round).  He is 5’10″, 192 pounds and he runs a 4.6 40.  Coleman is a try hard player who often comes up just a bit short of being a NFL type player.  He will likely have to make the Eagles on special teams first before getting any chance of playing safety.  Coleman played in 12 games for the Buckeyes last season and he had 68 tackles, he broke up 4 passes, had 5 interceptions, he had 2.5 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and he forced 3 fumbles.  Coleman played in 49 games in his career at Ohio State in which he had 264 tackles, he broke up 14 passes, had 9 interceptions, 16.5 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks and he forced 6 fumbles.  It will be interesting to see if the Eagles can coach up Coleman.

The Eagles have picked DT Jeffrey Owens out of Georgia with the 243rd overall pick (7th round) of the NFL Draft.  Owens has the size to handle the job at 6’1″, 304 pounds but he doesn’t have much athletic ability limiting him to making plays between the tackles.  Owens played in 13 games for the Bulldogs last season in which he had 32 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks.  He played in 52 games in his time with Georgia in which he finished with 102 tackles, 12.5 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, he broke up 3 passes and he forced 2 fumbles.  Owens will have to really bring his A-game in training camp if he wants to make the Eagles’ opening day roster.

The Eagles have picked inside linebacker Jamar Chaney with the 220nd overall pick (7th round) of the NFL Draft.  He is 6’0″, 241 pounds and he runs a 4.59 40.  Chaney has great athletic ability for a inside linebacker but he needs covered up by the D-Line so that he can flow to the ball.  Chaney played in 12 games (all starts) at Mississippi State last season and he had 90 tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss, he had 2 sacks, broke up 2 passes and he had 2 interceptions.  Chaney played in 49 games (39 starts) at Mississippi State in his career there and he finished up with 288 tackles, 16 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, he broke up 6 passes and he had 2 interceptions.  Look for Chaney to help out on special teams initially but if he responds well to Eagles’ coaches he can be much more than that down the road for them.

The Eagles have selected RB Charles Scott with the 200th overall pick (6th round) of the NFL Draft.  Scott is a power running back at 5’11″, 231 pounds.  He runs a 4.6 40 so he’s not much of a threat to break off many big runs but he is a bully between the tackles.  Scott played in 9 games (all starts) for LSU last season in which he carried the ball 116 times for 542 yards (4.7 ypc) with 4 TD runs and he also caught 8 passes for 54 yards (6.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He played in 43 games (23 starts) in his four years at LSU and he carried the ball 424 times for 2,317 yards (5.5 ypc) with 32 TD runs.  Scott also caught 31 passes for 260 yards (8.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs in his career at LSU.  Scott has a good chance to win the #3 RB job for the Eagles this season if he has a good training camp and pre-season and he could develop into much more down the road.

The Philadelphia Eagles pick WR Riley Cooper in the 5th round with the 159th overall pick (5th round) of the NFL Draft.  Cooper is a nice blend of size and speed as he is 6’3″, 214 pounds and he runs a 4.45 40.  Cooper is outstanding at run blocking and he’s a great special teams player which enhances his value as a player.  He is a good receiver but likely projects as a #3 or #4 WR in the pros.  Cooper played in 14 games (all starts) at Florida last season in which he caught 51 passes for 961 yards (18.8 avg) with 9 TD grabs.  In his four years at Florida, Cooper played in 50 games (28 starts) in which he caught 81 passes for 1,496 yards (18.5 avg) with 18 TD grabs.  This was another solid pick for the Eagles as Cooper was expected to be picked in the 2nd or 3rd round of the draft.

The Eagles have picked OLB/DE Ricky Sapp out of Clemson with the 134th pick of the NFL Draft (5th round).  Sapp is 6’4″, 245 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40 showing freakish athletic ability.  The Eagles will likely try to convert him to OLB but they might use him some at end in passing situations.  Sapp played in 14 games (all starts) for Clemson last season and he had 60 tackles, 15 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks, he forced 1 fumble and he recovered 1 fumble.  In his four years at Clemson, Sapp played in 47 games (36 starts) in which he finished up with 147 tackles, 39 tackles for a loss, 17.5 sacks, 5 batted down passes, 3 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.  Sapp was supposed to be picked in the 2nd or 3rd round according to most draft experts so the Eagles got outstanding value with this pick.

UPDATE:  (8/31/2010) – The Eagles have placed Sapp on the Injured Reserve List with a knee injury.

The Eagles have picked TE Clay Harbor out of Missouri State with the 125th overall pick (4th round) of the NFL Draft.  Harbor is 6’2″, 252 pounds and he runs a 4.69 40.  Harbor is a converted WR so he needs to be coached up on his blocking in the running game but he has the moves on pass routes to really exploit the middle of the field.  Harbor played in 11 games at Missouri State last season in which he caught 59 passes for 729 yards (12.4 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  In his four years in college Harbor played in 43 games in which he caught 150 passes for 1,906 yards (12.7 avg) with 10 TD grabs.  Harbor has a nice upside and he was another solid pick for the Eagles.

The Eagles have picked QB Mike Kafka out of Northwestern with the 122nd overall pick (4th round) of the NFL Draft.  Kafka has nice size at 6’2″, 216 pounds and he has enough speed (4.8 40) to buy time in the pocket or take off running.  Kafka played in 13 games (12 starts) for Northwestern last season in which he completed 319 of 492 passes (64.8%) for 3,430 yards with 16 TD passes and 12 INTs.  In his four years with the Wildcats he played in 31 games (18 starts) in which he completed 408 of 637 passes (64.1%) for 4,265 yards with 19 TD passes and 20 INTs.  The Eagles are hoping that Kafka will eventually develop into a #2 QB for them but he will start the year #3 on the depth chart behind starter Kevin Kolb and backup Michael Vick.

The Eagles have picked OLB Keenan Clayton with the 121st overall pick (4th round) of the NFL Draft.  Clayton is a good athlete as he is 6’1″, 229 pounds and he runs a 4.62 40.  He started out as a safety at Oklahoma but he got too big to stay there and the Sooners needed him at linebacker and he played well for them there.  Clayton played in 13 games for Oklahoma last season in which he had 75 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, he forced 2 fumbles, had 2 interceptions and he broke up 5 passes as he was really busy.  In his four years at Oklahoma, Clayton played in 54 games in which he finished up with 183 tackles, 16 tackles for a loss, he had 6 sacks, forced 8 fumbles, he broke up 15 passes and he had 3 interceptions.  The Eagles hope that Clayton will eventually work his way into the starting lineup for them.  But for 2010 they would likely be ecstatic if he excelled on special teams while showing potential as a backup on D.