I wonder if the Colts will regret trading their first round pick for Trent Richardson? Maybe he'll have a great playoff run to make that trade look better.
It's a bit ironic that the Redskins traded up to get the second overall pick in the draft to get RGIII only to end up earning it back for the Rams now two years later. That's great for the Rams. They got a player they wanted in the RGIII draft and a bunch of additional picks and one of those additional picks ends up being the second overall pick in a deep draft year.
The Eagles now have the 23rd pick in the draft, but I'm hoping that moves back to the 32nd pick by the time the playoffs end. Some of the draft experts say we'll be looking to get a wide receiver in the draft, but I'm not so sure about that. We've got Jeremy Maclin and Arrelious Benn both recovering from torn ACL's in training camp and if one or both of those guys comes back at full strength then any need for a receiver pretty much disappears. I suspect we'll be looking for a young offensive lineman, a linebacker, and defensive backs more than anything else. Those are the areas where we're older/thinner. If a quarterback pops up where he shouldn't (Aaron Murray in the third or fourth round for example) you could see the Eagles grab him to groom him for the future.
The Eagles have been pretty clever working young players into games all season long. Guys like Jake Knott, Najee Goode, Damion Square, Clifton Geathers, and more have all played a decent number of defensive snaps this year and been given a chance to show what they can do. That experience will help them know what they have to do to improve for next season and gives the coaches/personnel guys a better idea on how big a dropoff there is from the number ones to the twos and threes. (There doesn't appear to be much of a dropoff to be honest which is probably why the coaches are still doing it.)
Pretty much every player on the roster gets a chance to play pretty much every week for the Eagles. They might only be in for a couple of snaps, but it gives them a chance to get on the field and get a taste of the NFL experience. On a lot of teams (probably most teams) if you're not the starter, you're on the bench unless/until the starter goes down. About the only exception with the Eagles is the offensive line. If the game's a blowout the entire offensive line will be replaced by the twos, but they don't shuffle one guy in or out randomly through the game. Continuity on the line is too important and one mistake there can cost you a quarterback, so the coaches are a little more hesitant rotating those guys.
I think the rotating of players is pretty smart and likely to lead to better evaluation of the existing roster, more motivated players (ones don't want to look worse than their backups, backups want to show what they can do), and should help make the team better. Having a backup sitting on the bench all season doesn't help the team a lot. Rotating him in, getting him a few snaps a game, then evaluating him each week should make him better and help the team. Chip Kelly's a pretty smart coach who's doing some really smart stuff with this team.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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