Is It A Coincidence?

I spotted a common trait among the 13 newest Eagles that has nothing to do with having a “high motor.” They might be young, but they sure have played a lot of football. Check out my fancy chart after the jump.

Player	Class	Games Played
Brandon Graham	Senior	47
Nate Allen	Senior	48
Te’o-Nesheim	5^th Yr	49
Trevard Lindley	5^th Yr	48
Keenan Clayton	5^th Yr	54
Mike Kafka	5^th Yr	30
Clay Harbor	5^th Yr	43
Riley Cooper	Senior	51
Ricky Sapp	Senior	50
Charles Scott	Senior	43
Jamar Chaney	5^th Yr	49
Jeff Owens	5^th Yr	52
Kurt Coleman	Senior	44

Not one underclassman in the bunch. And is that a record for fifth-year seniors or what? Experience had to play a part in the selection process, right?

I think this can be attributed to the Howie Factor. He targeted guys from big schools with a lot of games under their belts. Maybe this is what Reid meant when he repeatedly brought up getting players who “love the game.”

There are plenty of ways to skin a draftee. Jeremy Maclin and Shady McCoy were both redshirt sophomores, but offensive playmakers are often better with more tread on the tires.

I’ll say one thing about the lucky 13. None of them are one-year wonders. Each was consistently productive throughout their collegiate careers, even those who had to battle back from season-ending injuries. I’ve always been leery of players who blow up for one season because you don’t know what you’re getting. The guy who dominated for one year, or the guy who was average for two or three? See Jason Pierre-Paul.

I’m not suggesting this will increase their chances of becoming impact players. I just found it interesting.

Subscribe to ITI

Topics: 2010 NFL Draft, Eagles Draft 13 Players

http://mcnabborkolb.tumblr.com bsencore

Wow. Nice find. Didn’t realize this as we were going along. And only Clay Harbor was from a small school.

In some ways when you (quickly) look back, Maclin and McCoy were the exceptions to the rule. It’ll be interesting to see how this class pans out comparatively.
Ajay

Nice work dude! Good sleuthing skills. A real change from last year’s draft…
Scott Tunstall

Most of the time Reid does prefer guys who graduated, but to have not one player outta 13 be an underclassmen still amazes me. Especially when you consider how many declare for the draft every year.
Pingback: Draft and Eagles After Donovan
bula

they want their defense to be experienced soon. hopefully this means they can get the hang of things quicker and are more polished. we expect the offense to be pretty good pretty quickly so might as well get the defense going asap
PhxPhilly

Most of them have the extra year / years because of injury. It was mentioned elsewhere but maybe value = was injured.