With the 28th Pick in the 2009 Stampede Blue Community Mock Draft, Philadelphia selects...

I think I just pulled off two top 15, possibly top 10 picks with Davis and Wells. If shake didn’t take Pettigrew I was going to. I took Davis at 21 because he was BPA to me. But the whole needs axis intersecting with the talent axis thing, made it a pretty easy choice once Moreno was taken. Both times the guys I was going to draft were taken right before my pick.

The Eagles have one of the best secondaries in the league, but they’re really not as young as people realize. Their two best corners, Samuel and Brown, are 28 and 30, and Mikell is 29. They just lost Dawkins, and Sean Jones (his replacement) is coming off an injury plagued year so it’s not really a given as to well he performs. Not to mention he’s 27. Everyone’s talking about Joselio Hanson being good enough to take Lito Shephard’s job and he’ll be the replacement for Brown, well Hanson’s going to be 28 himself this year.

Demps is a good young guy, but as you can tell, there’s a pretty big age gap where the majority of their roster is going to be on the wrong side of 30 in a year or two. V. Davis has the ability, speed, size, and hitting power to play either safety or CB. And the learning curve for DBs in the NFL is generally 2 years before you can really feel comfortable with them out there. So with Davis, you have the option of replacing either a safety or a CB that can contribute in nickel and dime situations now, and when ready, come in while Brown, Mikell or whomever leaves via free agency or is released.

Obviously by the votes, thinking ahead and taking talent to groom is frowned upon. But I still stand by that being a fantastic value pick at 21. CB is one of the most in demand, crucial positions. And the room’s divided on if Jenkins or Davis is the best CB/S in the draft. It’s also worth noting that the Eagles have been showing extremely heavy interest in DBs. In fact, I think the day I made the pick the Eagles brought Davis in for a private workout.

And with Wells, after I was discussing it and looking up stuff on him, I was almost thinking I was an idiot for not taking him at 21. I didn’t expect him to fall, but I was thinking Pettigrew might. And if shake hadn’t decided to add the 6th TE for the Ravens, I would’ve taken him and gone for D. Brown or probably Jennings/McCoy in round 2 or A. Brown in the 3rd.

It didn’t take me long to decide to go RB when Pettigrew went off the board. The hardest choice was between D. Brown and Wells. I was really tempted to take Brown because he has at least shown some ability to receive, but then I started thinking about it. Why would I take a guy that has all the attributes and abilities to possibly be the next Westbrook with Westbrook still on the team? The problem the Eagles had was that Westbrook, even when healthy, couldn’t get short yardage and he would consistently get banged up. So now you have a RB that is pretty much going to be on the bench until Westbrook gets hurt. Because I don’t think anybody thinks that Brown will be able to be able to contribute as much as Westbrook could his first couple of seasons. And Westbrook just signed a fat deal to be in Philly for at least 2 more seasons with options through 2012. So Wells just made sense. He definitely is the best rusher in the draft hands down. And he’s the type of back that can be the grind out, short yardage back that the Eagles were desperately looking for. Combined with Westbrook in a Jacobs/Ward scenerio would be straight scary. The talent of Wells/Westbrook far exceeds Jacobs/Ward, and we saw how dominant that was. I mean seriously, Wells is the 240 lb version of Adrian Peterson. Same speed and similar style. Although I think Wells has the sickest stiff arm I’ve ever seen. I’d be laughing my way to the bank if I were the Eagles and got him at 28.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f718Ei0TAck

Specifically about Pettigrew, I’m not sure he’s worth a 1st round pick to the Eagles. Andy Reid was quoted when asked about him as saying “He’s not very fast.” and then moved on. I definitely think they’ll be looking for a TE, but more along the lines of a Travis Beckum or a Chase Coffman. Both are better receivers than Pettigrew and could work on their blocking technique. They might never be as good of a blocker as him, but I don’t think the Eagles need, or are looking at a TE for their blocking ability. And I think it’s easier to improve your blocking that it is your receiving. At 28 he would’ve been worth it I think, but not at 21. Depending on where the run goes, Coffman and Beckum could probably both be had in the 3rd.

So to be perfectly honest, and I’m not saying this because it’s what I did, I think Davis/Wells would be my preferred draft over Pettigrew/Wells. I think there’s better receiving TEs that can block as opposed to Pettigrew being a blocking TE that can receive and I think that’s what the Eagles would like and fit their system better. L.J. Smith wasn’t hated because he couldn’t block (he can’t do that either), he was hated because he couldn’t catch and was always injured. And I don’t think there’s a second round DB that’s as talented as Davis.