NFC East Draft Grades

Cowboys- B+ : They were able to get the top receiver, Dez Bryant, in the draft to fall to them in the late first round and they were also able to make a trade with the rival Eagles to trade up and get Sean Lee, a LB from PSU, who can come in immediately and start. (See Dan Connor and Paul Posluszny). Also, they added one of the most athletic CBs in the draft, Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, with the 28th pick in the forth round. (The Eagles had four picks in the fourth round and passed on Owusu-Ansah each and every time.) I really do think that he will come back to bite the Eagles in the ass once he gets onto the field. You can teach a player position, you cant teach them athleticism and this kid has a ton of it. In the 6th round they added Sam Young, OT Notre Dame, and Jamar Wall, CB Texas Tech. Both of these players are guys to watch in the next 3-4 years because they both have good upside.

Eagles- B+ : The Eagles are masters at dominating the later rounds as they showed that again this year. However, what was unique this year was the activity early trading up to No. 13 to draft a DE out of the University of Michigan named Brandon Graham. He is a special talent that has many people in Philly thinking about the next Hugh Douglas. But, the Eagles didn't go with a CB until the fourth round, which was a major need heading into the draft. They took Trevard Lindley out of Kentucky. The Eagles officials are sticking by the old adage "The best pass defense is a good pass rush." The Eagles certainly have a solid d-line now with the addition of Graham. They also added a DE from Washington, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, in the third round and a DE from Clemson, Ricky Sapp, in the fifth round. Te'o-Nesheim is more of a high-motor run stopper with great character, whereas Sapp is a pure pass rusher. The Eagles love bulking up the DE depth so they can rotate fresh players in constantly. With the addition of three DEs in the draft and Darryl Tapp via trade the Eagles have a very young, athletic d-line. In the second round they took Nate Allen, S South Florida. I personally disliked this pick; I wanted the Eagles to pick safety Taylor Mays from USC who is known for his size, speed and highlight reel hits. But, the Eagles seemed to love the coverage ability of Allen over the physicality of Mays, so as a fan I pray Allen becomes a stud. Besides Lindley, in the fourth round the Eagles added some high potential players in TE Clay Harbor, QB Mike Kafka and LB Keenan Clayton. Harbor is a small, quick TE with great hands and a surplus of athleticism. Kafka is in my opinion the smartest QB in this draft and is a great pick. He can learn the system for a couple years and then hopefully be a potential starter and, if Kolb works out, good trade bait. Clayton is a unknown LB from Oklahoma that entered college as a safety. He is flying under the radar, but I have a good feeling about this guy and he can come in right away and help the special teams unit. In the fifth round other than Sapp, Philly picked a large receiver from Florida, Riley Cooper. Cooper has a chance to come in and add a new aspect to an already stellar WR corp, his size advantage. With their only pick in the sixth round the Eagles selected a power back from LSU, Charles Scott. Lets hope he isn't among the likes of Tony Hunt. They added more depth in the seventh round with three picks.

NY Giants- C : The only reason I have the Giants above the Skins is because of the picks NY made in the middle rounds. I think that JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul) is a one-year wonder and will never amount to anything more than a situational DE. He has already come into camp out of shape and is struggling to adapt to the NFL. Linval Joseph is a DT from East Carolina who is massive but lacks explosiveness to break through the line and stuff the RB. He brings good depth to a team with strong DTs. Chad Jones, S LSU, and Phillip Dillard, LB Nebraska, both have the makings of future starters, but I'm not sold on either yet. I think Dillard has a better upside than Jones, but Ill bet the Giants wish that Rolando McClain, LB Alabama, was available at No. 15. Mitch Petrus, OG Arkansas, will provide good depth at guard and I think in the future he could develop into an adequate starter.

Redskins- C- : When will the Redskins realize that building a team is done through the draft, not free agency? With that said the addition of Donovan McNabb gives them a solid QB finally after the Jason Campbell experiment finally ended. However, with the need of a LT to protect McNabb this year they take a high risk high reward player over the proven Russell Okung who is the most NFL-ready tackle in the draft. Perry Riley, LB LSU, seems to fit into their 3-4 system as an inside linebacker, but this pick didn't come until the forth round because they did not own a second or a third round pick. With their final four picks, three coming in the seventh round, they took two offensive linemen that are both projects. Overall, the Skins only had six picks and with so few picks they were unable to address all of their glaring needs. As a result they will continue to struggle in the physical, fast NFC East.