Grotz: Roseman should make a dramatic move
My spies tell me they’re already constructing the theatre outside the Philadelphia Art Museum to host the NFL draft.
It got me thinking about what the Eagles absolutely, positively must do to make a splash in this draft.
That would be trading up from No. 14 into the top eight.
What the Eagles absolutely, positively cannot do is trade back from the 14th pick, even though there will be situations worthy of doing just that, considering the steady supply of quality cornerbacks, running backs and pass rushers in each and every round of the threeday draft.
Just imagine the reaction of Eagles fans rocking the Ben Franklin Parkway for the first round with their refrains of E-A-G-L-E-S if commissioner Roger Goodell walks up to the podium under a blanket of boos at the 14th slot and says, “there has been a trade.”
It would be 1999 all over again.
The ’99 draft was unforgettable, for sure. It scarred the Eagles and the fan base. WIP Morning Show host Angelo Cataldi, fortified with like-minded thinkers, took over Madison Square Garden, where the draft was held. The group pleaded for the Eagles to select running back Ricky Williams, who was really good.
The Eagles chose Donovan McNabb. If you didn’t at least grin when the booing began, you’ll never, ever understand what it means to bleed green. McNabb had a distinguished career but came up short in the Super Bowl.
The Eagles, and the NFL, don’t want to revisit that.
If Howie Roseman trades down in this draft, the reverberations will set off alarms protecting the Cezanne and Dali paintings inside the museum.
Trading up, on the other hand, would endear Roseman to Eagles fans forever. At worst, they could say that at least Howie tried.
Assuming, of course, the Eagles traded up for someone other than a fireman from Canada or a player who thinks he’s a second-round talent.
So trading up is the play. And the home run target would be cornerback Marshon Lattimore of Ohio State.
Lattimore (6-0, 193) is slipping on some typically reliable mock draft boards at least partly because he has a history of hamstring issues. His freshman year was wiped out by surgery. The next second season was cut short by a hamstring injury.
Lattimore is coming off an outstanding redshirt-sophomore season in which he not only intercepted four passes for the Buckeyes, but showed such natural maneuverability and skills he declared for the draft.
Why could Lattimore be available? Around the time he clocked a healthy 4.36 in the 40-yard dash, a38 ½-inch vertical leap and an 11-foot standing long jump at the scouting combine, he hurt his leg again. He claims it was a hip flexor, not a hamstring.
In all fairness, the position drills Lattimore escaped due to the injury are ridiculous. They’re right there with the three-cone drills and bench-press. It’s amazing top prospects even give those tests the time of day. The same people who put players through those demeaning drills talk about how the game film is most important in evaluations.
But back to Lattimore. I think Mel Kiper has stuck the landing on his evaluation of this pure cover corner. Watch video of Lattimore and he’s Darrelle Revis before the injuries. Lattimore is in the face of every receiver he covers. The hands, instincts, feet and ball skills are almost as smooth as Malik Hooker, his Ohio State teammate and a top-five talent.
The 14th draft pick is worth 1,100 points on the Drafttek.com interactive trade chart. The Birds’ third-round pick, after the trade for Timmy Jernigan, is worth 104 points. That would only get the Eagles up to around the 12th overall selection, held by the Cleveland Browns.
To get Lattimore the Eagles would have to trade their first- and second-round (470 points) selections, which would elevate them between the New York Jets and the Los Angeles Chargers on the points chart. Both of those teams need a cornerback. The Jets need a quarterback. There’s more than a chance of this happening.
The Eagles likely are going to have to get ahead of the Carolina Panthers, who choose eighth, to secure Lattimore. Then again, there are always surprise moves by teams at the top of the board or barreling up the board to draft a quarterback, wide receiver or pass rusher.
Lattimore would be a slam-dunk pick for the Eagles, a guy worth the price of admission — two decent draft picks.
The good times would start to roll the second the NFL people cranked up the highlight videos on the big screens outside the museum.
If Lattimore stays healthy you’d have your Eagles rub-out corner for the ages. Veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins, the Buckeyes alum, would make sure of it.
There’s really nobody else worth trading up for. Not that that the Eagles can afford, at least.
If the Eagles stay at 14, the splash pick should be running back Dalvin Cook, not Christian McCaffrey, Corey Davis, Mike Williams or Johnny Ross. Cook is so much more skilled than the others it’s worth crossing your fingers and taking him at his word that the off-the-field stuff is behind him. It’s safe to say even the Ricky Williams fans would be on board with this running back.
To contact Bob Grotz email bgrotz@21stcenturymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @BobGrotz