As we sleep tonight the dust will settle and the seemingly bizarre events that transpired over the weekend will clearly show that the Philadelphia Eagles made some interesting, if unspectacular, moves.

Sure, the fans and so called draft “experts” will pan the Eagles for their decision to trade out of the first round for the second year in a row, but when you consider everything as a whole, do any of us know one way or another?
Felix Jones, Rashard Mendenhall, Limas Sweed, Mario Mannigham, Jeff Otah,  and Kenny Phillips remained on the board (along with many other highly rated prospects), when the Eagles decided to trade their first round choice with the Carolina Panthers, for the Panthers second round choice and a fourth rounder, (which they also traded away) and Carolina’s first pick next year.

Once Eagles fans wipe their tears and calm themselves, a look at the big picture may not be of comfort, but has to be realized before making any rush to judgement.

At the end of the first day of the draft, the Eagles went home with a potent kick returner in DeSean Jackson (including his listed 4.35 40 yard dash time and reportedly 4.29 40 yard speed).  They also picked up DT Trevor Lawswho many projected to go in the first round and is a cannon ball and kick blocking specialist (6 blocks in his career at Notre Dame), and Lorenzo Booker (a somewhat promising 2nd year running back they received for a 4th round pick from the Miami Dolphins).

In addition, they have virtually secured a top 15 pick in next years draft, which we can only hope is a much better rated draft, in terms of immediate impact then this years class was rated.  Lets face fact folks, this draft was not one in which impact players were rampant (at least in how they were rated against drafts from previous years).  It’s obvious that most of the experts had a much different idea of who was rated higher then all the teams in the NFL did.

The first ten picks were great prospects, but after that, the talent level was mooshed.  That’s not to say there was not quality from that point on, but more or less, after the 15th pick or so, most teams had similar ratings for the players projected in the 2nd half of the first round through the 3rd rounds.

It’s a ritual played out every year, whether that’s in Philly, New York, or East Jabip.  none of us know how this draft and partcular players will pan out.  Killing the Eagles or praising them for what they did (or any other team for that mater), is completely premature and ill-advised.

Would I have loved the Eagles to take Limas Sweed in the second round instead of Jackson?  Yeah, I would have.  He’s a big wide receiver that seems to fit the mold of the prototype superstar.  Would I have preferred they take Otah instead of trading for Carolina’s first pick next year?  Hell no.  I love they go into next years draft with two 1st rounders (at least one will be high, 2 if Donovan McNabb is injured again).

I heard Ray Diddinger freaking out in his nerdy best at the fact the Eagles traded out of the first round on Saturday.  He was outraged the Eagles didn’t take a potential impact player with the pick.  Sorry Ray, you tell a nice story, but you can’t be serious about being upset the Eagles didn’t take Otah, (which is exactly what they would have done if Carolina didn’t offer them the insane deal they did).

Ray, you’ll be praising them next year at this time (Carolina’s prospects are dim at best and by the outrageous chance they win the Super Bowl and have the 32nd pick… that still gives the Birds a better chance at nabbing a higher rated player then what was available to them this year with the 19th pick).  Fact is, the draft was deep with mid graded talent.  There certainly may be a lot of Omar Gaither’s and Tent Cole’s, but no one knows for sure.

Felix Jones and Rashard Mendenhall may turn out to be Jim Brownand Gale Sayers… but so could Jason Parmele of Toledo.  And how much of an impact do you expect them to have playing behind the likes of Marion Barber and Willie Parker, respectively.

Dallas got Jones and all of Philadelphia has decided to stand on top of the Ben Franklin bridge just waiting to jump.   Wasn’t Anthony Spencer Dallas’ great pick last year.  Wasn’t he supposed to wreak mayhem in NFL?  How many of you even remember his name?  How about Robert Gallery, Mike Williams, Carlos Rogers, and Cedrick Benson?  It’s amazing to me that people (fans and experts alike) still haven’t realized that the draft is a complete crap shoot.  A game of chance.  We all loved Jerry Rice, Tom Brady, and even Jeramiah Trotter when they were drafted too, right?  Some “expert” thought Shawn Merriman would be a 3 year project (as pointed out in Sports Illustrated’s draft preview).  Not many people thought Chad Johnson, T.O, or Hines Ward would ever make their prospective teams.  I certainly didn’t and not many experts or teams did either.

I’ve called many picks over the past 20 years as great ones.  I was right on a lot of them (Trotter and Tre “William” Thomas, and Gaither to name a few), and wrong just as many times (Siran Stacey, Bernard Williams and Jerome McDougle).  And so has everyone else.  Truth is, great prospects are prospects… you never know how they will respond once they get to the NFL.

Adam Carriker, Justin Harnell, Leon Hall, Brandon Meriweather, Robert Meachum,  Craig Davis, and Anthony Gonzales are all players taken in the first round of the draft last year.  What kind of impact did they make?  Silence is telling.  These are some of the same players the Eagles were panned for not taking last year.  They may still have an impact, but its becoming increasingly obvious that the draft is more media related then anything.

Think the Saints were just dying to get their hands on Marques Colston two years ago and just wished he lasted until the 7th round?  Get real, y’all.   Did Mel Kiper even know who the kid was?  Who had Anquan Boldin starting for their fantasy team his rookie year before he broke out with over two hundred receiving yards his first game?  Could you even pronounce his name Ray?

Lesson is, relax… there is no way to judge, either way, on how the draft will turn out.  Jackson may turn out to be better then Devin Hester (and if you look at any of his kick or punt returns, you could make a case for it).  Laws could be the second coming of Jerome Brown, and the Eagles may end up with the first pick in next years draft.

Or Jackson could turn out to be more fragile then Jeremy Bloom with a cold, and the Carolina pick may turn out to be a bust itself.   There is simply no way to tell, at least for now.

Dawn is not scheduled for the Eagles season until July when they begin training camp, that means all the talk should be put to rest until then, simply because the experts, scouts and fans alike generally have their heads up their ass when it comes to evaluating any prospect coming in, and my head is right up there with them.