Quick trivia: Who drafted Raheem Brock in 2002?
Even those who don't exactly support Andy Reid can't argue that he doesn't have an eye for talent when it comes to the draft.
Outside of Jerome McDougle and Freddie Mitchell, his first-round picks are usually spot-on. And as far as McDougle goes, there were mitigating and unforeseeable factors that relieves Reid of a lot of the blame. Getting shot, for instance, is not something Reid could have possibly taken into account when he drafted McDougle.
Mitchell, of course, is an entirely different story. His cockiness wasn't warranted by his skill-set, or lack thereof, and Reid just flat-out misjudged him. Although he did give us 4th and 26, and for that Philadelphia will always kinda-sorta like him a little bit sometimes.
Reid's hits in the second, third, fourth, and fifth rounds are also well-documented. For example, DeSean Jackson came in the second round, Brian Westbrook was a third-round pick, Jason Avant and Todd Herremans were fourth-round picks, and Trent Cole and Brent Celek both came in the fifth round.
The sixth and seventh rounds, however, have been complete misses for Reid. And even when he does draft a good player, it seems like he doesn't keep them around long enough and they enjoy their success elsewhere.
The biggest mistake has to be Raheem Brock. Brock was a seventh-round pick of the Eagles back in 2002, but never officially joined the team because they ran out of money to sign him. $10,000 was, I believe, the difference in being able to keep Brock.
He wasn't a superstar for the Colts, but he was a very good player who did extremely well in his role and could have been a big help to the Birds all these years.
Then there are players like Jeremy Bridges, Andy Studebaker, and Brandon Gibson. All three guys were taken in the sixth round, and all three appear ready to have success elsewhere.
Bridges started a few games at left tackle for the Arizona Cardinals last season, Studebaker is an up-and-comer in Kansas City for the Chiefs, and Gibson is likely to be the No. 2 receiver in St. Louis across from Donnie Avery.
The seventh round has produced Brock and Moise Fokou, who could challenge for to be the starting SAM linebacker, but that's it.
Other players taken in the final two rounds of the draft:
Sixth round:
- Joe Mays, LB
- Mike Gibson, OL
- Cecil Martin, FB
- LaJuan Ramsey, DT
- Tyreo Harrison, LB
- Calvin Armstrong, OL
- Andy Hall, QB
- Dexter Wynn, CB/KR
- Thomas Hamner, RB
- John Frank, DE
- John Romero, OL
- Troy Smith, WR
- Rashad Barksdale, CB
- King Dunlap, OL
- Jed Weaver, TE
- Nate Ilaoa, FB
- Keyonta Marshall, DT
- David Bergeron, LB
- Adrien Clark, OL
- Bruce Perry, RB
- Dominic Furio, OL
- Norman LeJuene, CB
- Pernell Davis, DT
Drafting starters in those final two rounds can be difficult, but it's something Reid and the Eagles will have to do this season if they expect to make a run for anything. They're relying heavily on the draft to plug their holes, but it's not going to happen if they can't find some gems in the later rounds as well as the early ones.