Tackling Dummy

It'd be understandable with all the hoopla concerning T.O. that you might forget that Corey Simon was also a no-show at recent minicamps (though he will eventually to have to sign the Eagles one-year offer if he wants to make any money this year) and Hollis Thomas is disgruntled with his contract. Well, the Eagles sure didn't at draft day, not only taking a DT in the first round, but also in the final round. Mike Patterson plays a similar shoot-the-gap style as Simon, and 325-pound Kenyonta Marshall can eat up even more space than Thomas. Jim Johnson went out of his way to compliment both during the team's most recent minicamp.

But the team may not stop there in its attempt to create a new tackle rotation for 2006. Both the Trenton Times' Mark Eckel (here) and ESPN.com's Len Pasquerelli (here) have reported that the Eagles are interested in another USC tackle, Manuel Wright, who will be available in a supplemental draft on July 14. According to Eckel, the Birds could use one of the three fourth-round picks they have next season to grab Wright. (They could even take him with a third-round pick if they think the Packers or Dolphins would grab him with their own fourth-round pick, then use a couple of their fourth rounders to move back into the third round next April.)

Wright has prototypical size and showed flashes for the national champs last year, and as much as I'd love to have another Trojan on our roster (yes, I'm a grad school alum), the more you read about him, the less he seems like an Andy Reid guy. Sure, he's not a trouble maker, but he volunteered himself for the supplemental draft because he would have been academically ineligible to play in the fall, and this comes after he had to spend a year at Long Beach City College to get the academic standing to play for the Trojans to begin with.

Ok, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to play defensive tackle. But beyond the lack of book smarts he has displayed, Wright has had a questionable work ethic. He apparently came to USC out of shape, although he was better prepared last season. (More here) But Eckel even quotes Patterson as saying about Wright that "When he puts his mind to it he can be a heck of a player. He has to show he wants it. But he has great size and teams like that size."

Perhaps the thinking is that he will "want it" more if he's around his former USC teammate. It could also hasten Darwin Walker's move to end. While Walker is always mentioned as the strongest guy on the team, he's yet to become a dominant force inside.

Whether the Eagles wind up selecting Wright or not, I do know one thing: Paul Grasmanis is going to have to have a heckuva preseason to make this team. (Unless, of course, there's a rash of injuries.)