Dirty Sanchez may probably end up being a better pro QB compared to Stafford, but Stafford's the one getting a 41 million dollar signing bonus. If the Eagles never had McNabb and had one of these 1st overall picks, you can bet your house they would trade down. No way in hell would they pay 41 mil in guaranteed money to someone who hasn't thrown a single pass at the next level. As Stafford's getting his ass kicked in behind that shoddy Lion o-line. Sanchez COULD be picking apart NFL defenses, having time in the pocket to make reads along with handing the ball off to a deep back field. Shonn Greene, whom I wanted the Eagles to draft in the 2nd round will eventually become the starter in New York. The guy is a monster with amazing balance and really deceptive speed for such a big back.
Can we please thank Al Davis? I KNEW he would select DHB. I've figured this guy out. Of course he was gonna select a work out warrior. Add to the fact that this guy ran a 4.3 at the combine, he was destined to sit on Al Davis' lap come draft day. Nevermind that he didn't really show much at Maryland. It was all about potential, a track star who has potential to be the next dominant WR at the next level. The last track star turned reciever who had the chance of becoming a supposed stud reciever was Troy Williamson...and we all know how that turned out.
Because of Al Davis' antics, Maclin slid a bit. Just enough for Reid to pounce on him with the 19th pick, which they traded up from #21, giving up chump change. Maclin was the consensus #2 reciever in this draft class, in fact, some 'experts' pegged him as the best.
Maclin was one of the few players I followed during the college football season and it's easy to see why. For the past two seasons, he was one of the most productive recievers EVER in college football racking up over 2,500+ all-purpose yards in each of those two seasons.
His value is tremendously increased because of his willingness to return kicks and punts, which he excelled at. You know what, screw 40 times. Maclin could have easily ran a sub 4.3 at the combines, but he injured his knee while participating in catching drills, and yep, still ran the 40...in 4.4 seconds.
He ran a 4.4 on a bum knee, folks.
Does that speed translate to the football field in pads? Hell yes. The guy is such a smooth runner, looks like he glides out there, almost effortlessly. He showed quick acceleration after the catch and showed pretty good YAC ability. Maclin doesn't get enough credit for being a physical reciever. He'll go over the middle and he'll break tackles. He is much stronger than he looks. Mizzou's spread offense was detrimental in that Maclin never had to run an NFL route. But that's what coaching is for. He has the quickness, and cutting ability to be a good route runner. You know what. There is a chance his ACL injury took away some of his cutting ability. But he is still plenty quick, quick enough to get open.
What Maclin brings to the table as a rookie is his versatility in the return game, WR screens, reverses and last but certainly not least, be a tremendous threat in the vertical game. Learning to run proper routes is going to take some time however.
Let's not forget that the kid's only 20 years old, By the time he's 22, he could very well become the Eagles #1 reciever. Unbelievable.
btw, Maclin scored a 25 on the Wonderlic test given to NFL prospects every year to see how intelligent they are. Mostly to do with how fast they can pick up a playbook. How did Maclin's peers do?
Crabtree, Harvin, Nicks, Britt all scored in the low teens. But whatever, if you can play, you can play. DeSean Jackson scored in the single digits I believe but that didn't stop him from breaking Eagles rookie records...while making some outrageously dumb plays along the way...
hmmm...maybe these tests do mean something.
Damn, I felt like Mel Kiper there for a second.
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