Nate Allen was the Eagles' pick in the second round.


The Eagles came into Day Two of the draft knowing they needed to address the secondary, and they did just that by selecting USF free safety Nate Allen with the 37th overall pick.

The 37th pick is what the Eagles received as part of the deal that sent Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins, so they had better hope that Allen turns into a first-rate player. Allen will likely compete with Marlin Jackson for the starting spot at free safety, but Allen should be able to win the spot outright fairly early on.

"(Allen's) strengths are he has a great eye for the ball; ball hawk," Andy Reid said at his post-draft press conference. "He's a very, very good tackler. I think those are two important things when you are the last guy to the end zone. I feel very comfortable with him, he's very intelligent, he's got everything that we like here and we look forward to getting him in."

That's not even a knock on Jackson as much as it is a testament to how much the Eagles seem to love Allen. They feel he's the complete package, a ballhawk and a sure tackler, and would probably like to use Jackson as a depth guy at cornerback.

"I just know it's a good thing to get Marlin all the way back," Reid continued. "It gives us flexibility at the corner spot and it gives us flexibility at the safety spot. I just think it's good."

Allen is a good value at 37th overall, and should make an impact right off the bat.

Then, after trading out of the 55th selection three different times (from 55 to 59 to 71 to 86), the Eagles drafted Washington defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim.

If you're not sure who that is, don't worry about it. I wasn't exactly sure either until I did some snooping and found a great highlight film on him. From what I can tell, he's an instinctive player who knows how to manipulate an offensive lineman.

Throughout the video you can see examples of him using the lineman's lack of foot-speed to his advantage as he is able to break their hands, disengage, and show an incredible burst around the outside, even chasing down running backs and quarterbacks with his 4.67 speed.

Te'o-Nesheim is 6'4, 265 pounds, and, according to Reid, he can play defensive end and be the third-down inside pass-rusher that Darren Howard used to be. I'm an opponent to the thought of taking the big tackles off the field on third down, but with Te'o-Nesheim it looks like the defense shouldn't lose any ability to play the run if need be.

"(Te'o-Nesheim) can also play defensive tackle, particularly on pass-rush situations although he did it both ways there. He was the career sack leader for the University of Washington. I believe he had 31 sacks. That's quite a statement in itself. He's very good against the run."

Mike Mayock of NFL Network -- the best amateur scout out there, hands down -- had Te'o-Nesheim listed as his top sleeper pick in this draft.

"A 4-3 end/outside linebacker," Mayock writes. "He's a hustle guy. A core special-teams guy. I think it's going to be difficult to cut him because he works so hard. He's a little quicker than people think. I think he's a good player and makes a team."

If that doesn't sound to you like Mayock believes Te'o-Nesheim was worth a third-round pick, you're right. Mayock has him slated to go between the sixth and seventh rounds, but, of course, it's possible the Eagles knew something that Mayock doesn't about what other teams might do.

It's a gutsy move by the Eagles, and the kid looks good on tape, so everyone just cross your fingers that we don't have another Bryan Smith or Chris Gocong on our hands.