Saturday, February 25, 2017

Eagles 2017 Draft Picks

Courtesy of my friends at Bleeding Green Nation, the following is the complete list of Philadelphia's draft picks this year after receiving an additional fourth round pick from Cleveland as a result of last season's trade with the Browns that brought Carson Wentz to town.

Eagles' 2017 NFL Draft Lineup

1st - No. 14 or 15 (from Minnesota) TBD with a coin toss at the NFL Combine

2nd - No. 42

3rd - No. 75

4th - No. 119

4th - No. 139 (from Cleveland)

5th - No. 154

6th - No. 197

7th - No. 232


In the coming weeks, I will be weighing in on which direction I believe the Eagles will take in this year's draft based on a number of areas of need.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Eagles Well Down the NFL Futures Odds List to Win Super Bowl LII

The confetti was still flying in the streets of Boston following the Patriots' incredible overtime victory in Super Bowl LI when the futures odds to win next season’s NFL title game were first released. As expected, New England has been opened as a +500 favorite to repeat. As far as the betting odds for our beloved Philadelphia Eagles, the current outlook is not as nearly as encouraging.

It should not come as any big surprise that Philadelphia is well down the list as a +5000 longshot to win Super Bowl LII after going 7-9 in 2016, but we also have to live with the fact that the Eagles have the longest odds on the board of any team in the NFC East. The Dallas Cowboys have been opened as +800 second-favorites to win it all next season after posting the best straight-up record in the NFC this year to earn the top seed in the playoffs. The New York Giants’ betting odds to win Super Bowl LII are set at +2000 and the Washington Redskins are next in the division at +4000 odds.

Looking back at Covers.com’s final football Power Rankings for the NFL this past season, the Eagles came in at No. 23 on the list, so there is some serious ground to make up in the NFC East in light of Dallas being ranked second and the Giants coming in at No. 7. Washington contended for the division title for most of the season, but it faded to No. 20 on Covers' list with just two victories in its last six games.

The good news for tortured Eagles’ fans is that the precedent for a worst-to-first run in the division has already been accomplished three times in the past five seasons. The Redskins pulled off this feat in 2012 and in 2015 and more recently Dallas went from worst to first this past season. The Cowboys sunk to 4-12 in 2015 before a pair of rookies propelled them to the top of the heap with this season’s 13-3 run. What’s to say that Eagles’ vice president Howie Roseman and second-year head coach Doug Pederson do not cook up a couple of hot free agent deals along with some more wheeling and dealing on draft day to add the necessary player personal to quickly turn things for the Birds next season.