If He’s There in Round 2, Eagles Should Draft Locker

Some of you may have looked at this title and said, “Is this guy serious?” Yes, the Eagles may have more pressing needs at CB, RT, and LB, but for Locker, I believe you make an exception to your more pressing needs. Now, all of this is predicated on the Eagles trading Kevin Kolb, which is easier said than done due to the CBA or lack thereof. However, if the Eagles are able to secure a first round pick for Kolb (Seattle?), than the Eagles must draft Locker if he’s there at pick 54.

Why should the Eagles draft a guy who had just a 55.4% completion percentage last season? Because Locker would be perfect for Andy Reid’s offense. While Michael Vick may be coming off his best season as a pro, finishing second in MVP voting after throwing for 3018 yards and 21 TD’s while rushing for 679 yards and 9 TD’s, he is also prone to injury. With Vick’s unwillingness to slide, he is in constant danger of being one hit away from being knocked out with a concussion. Locker would provide very similar skills and could be groomed as Vick’s successor.

Just a year ago, there was a debate as to whether Locker or Sam Bradford would be the number one pick had both come out for the draft. Locker’s decision to return to school certainly hurt his draft stock, but his QB rating fell from 129.75 to just 124.20, meaning he wasn’t much worse than his previous season. The main knock on Locker is his accuracy, however, if the Eagles were to draft him, he could sit behind Michael Vick for three or four years and in that time be tutored by Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweig, who helped transform Vick from a QB who had a career high 56.4 completion percentage in 2004 into a QB who completed 62.4 percent of his passes in 2010. Locker would have time to learn and develop. With a little patience, a second round gamble could turn into a giant reward.