The Eagles' most glaring weakness is the offensive line. They surrendered 52 sacks this year, including six in that weird Tuesday night game against the Vikings.
At the same time they lack secondary depth and pretty much suck at the CB position accross from Asante Samuel.
The Eagles consider Nate Solder and Jimmy Smith. While the Eagles are intruiged by the talent of Jimmy Smith, he's a huge character risk. They are still shocked some of the teams ahead of them drafted lesser players than Solder and at this point they are taking the BPA here knowing they might modify some positions at their OL due to this pick.
DA EAGLES SELECT.........................
Nate Solder, OT, Colorado. It's hard to ignore the offensive line issues Philly had in a disappointing close to the 2010 season. Solder does not have the strength to play right away for Andy Reid, but it's hard to imagine Reid not being enamored with Solder's physical talents.
Solder is an interesting prospect and one that does fit the mold of the Andy Reid type lineman in a lot of ways. He's got a big frame at 6-8/314 lbs and he's extremely athletic. In fact, he started as a blocking TE much like Jason Peters did. Scouting reports will talk about his good knee bend and footwork like they did with Winston Justice.
The big knock against him in this draft process is his lack of bulk. In fact, he lost 7 pounds between the combine and the pro day. Usually, teams are looking to see guys adding weight over that period. While Solder was probably the most impressive offensive lineman at the combine in the athletic drills like 40 yard dash, shuttle drill, broad jump ect, his raw strength did test particularly well
At the same time they lack secondary depth and pretty much suck at the CB position accross from Asante Samuel.
The Eagles consider Nate Solder and Jimmy Smith. While the Eagles are intruiged by the talent of Jimmy Smith, he's a huge character risk. They are still shocked some of the teams ahead of them drafted lesser players than Solder and at this point they are taking the BPA here knowing they might modify some positions at their OL due to this pick.
DA EAGLES SELECT.........................
Nate Solder, OT, Colorado. It's hard to ignore the offensive line issues Philly had in a disappointing close to the 2010 season. Solder does not have the strength to play right away for Andy Reid, but it's hard to imagine Reid not being enamored with Solder's physical talents.
Solder is an interesting prospect and one that does fit the mold of the Andy Reid type lineman in a lot of ways. He's got a big frame at 6-8/314 lbs and he's extremely athletic. In fact, he started as a blocking TE much like Jason Peters did. Scouting reports will talk about his good knee bend and footwork like they did with Winston Justice.
The big knock against him in this draft process is his lack of bulk. In fact, he lost 7 pounds between the combine and the pro day. Usually, teams are looking to see guys adding weight over that period. While Solder was probably the most impressive offensive lineman at the combine in the athletic drills like 40 yard dash, shuttle drill, broad jump ect, his raw strength did test particularly well

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