Philly.com: Will Eagles pick McNabb's successor?

[tr1]

Heckert is being brutally honest...does he need to do it in the press where McNabb (already suffering from psyche problems) is likely to read it? It's a two-fer for Heckert...earlier this week it was WB, now it's McNabb. The guy needs to keep his trap shut.

By LES BOWEN

bowenl@phillynews.com

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14439173.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

THE DAY is coming.

It might not be here yet, but it's coming.

Donovan McNabb turns 30 in November. At some point, the Eagles need to think not just about a stopgap injury replacement, like 36-year-old Jeff Garcia, signed to a 1-year contract last month, but about the future. Or The Future, even.

When do you decide it's time to start that process?

"That's a good question," Eagles general manager Tom Heckert said this week. "The infamous problem is, you get into the Schaub thing - you're going to lose the guy eventually [if you're not ready to replace the incumbent].

"You're always looking for that quarterback, it's just how early do you take a guy like that, knowing you're not going to be able to keep him for, really, [more than] 4 years, now [because of free agency]."

[Number5]

The entire article......

THE DAY is coming.

It might not be here yet, but it's coming.

Donovan McNabb turns 30 in November. At some point, the Eagles need to think not just about a stopgap injury replacement, like 36-year-old Jeff Garcia, signed to a 1-year contract last month, but about the future. Or The Future, even.

When do you decide it's time to start that process?

"That's a good question," Eagles general manager Tom Heckert said this week. "The infamous problem is, you get into the Schaub thing - you're going to lose the guy eventually [if you're not ready to replace the incumbent].

"You're always looking for that quarterback, it's just how early do you take a guy like that, knowing you're not going to be able to keep him for, really, [more than] 4 years, now [because of free agency]."

In 2004, the Atlanta Falcons, noticing that there was nothing in the NFL bylaws that prohibited drafting another star-quality quarterback just because you already have one, selected Matt Schaub in the third round, 3 years after drafting Michael Vick first overall. Now, Vick's development seems stalled, and a lot of people think the team might be better off going with Schaub. Except there's no way the Falcons are going to be able to unload the remaining 9 years of Vick's 10-year, $130 million contract.

In 2000, the New England Patriots were perfectly happy with then 28-year-old Drew Bledsoe, but they drafted Tom Brady in the sixth round. That one worked out more cleanly, with Brady winning the first of three Super Bowls in his second season, and Bledsoe then traded.

The Eagles seem fairly likely to draft a late-round QB this year, given that they've cut their most recent developmental project, 2004 sixth-rounder Andy Hall. They just can't be sure the player they draft is going to be Matt Schaub or Tom Brady. And, obviously, if he is, that's a bit of a problem, as well.

McNabb is already the subject of much fan scrutiny, whether he deserves it or not. The Eagles turned up the heat on him at least a little when they upgraded to Garcia as the backup - it doesn't take much imagination to envision the Birds off to a bad start in a home game and the chant for the backup rolling through the Linc.

Drafting a legitimate eventual successor, say, with one of those three fourth-round picks the Eagles have in this weekend's swap meet, would ratchet that heat up another notch, especially if that player really started to look like an heir apparent.

Back when McNabb was closer to the start of his career, the A.J. Feeley scenario was ideal. The Birds drafted Feeley in the fifth round in 2001, and he was good enough to go 4-1 when McNabb broke his fibula in 2002, but he wasn't good enough for anyone to seriously entertain ditching McNabb. In 2004, the Eagles were able to trade Feeley to Miami for the 2005 second-round pick they used to obtain wideout Reggie Brown.

Obviously, they could embark on that sort of speculative enterprise again, as Heckert noted.

"Especially in the later rounds, you're always trying to draft a Brady or something like that. At the worst-case scenario, you trade him," Heckert said.

Of course, McNabb is 5 years older than he was when the team drafted Feeley, and the current situation might call for something more than a late-round shot in the dark. That's really what Brady must have been, Heckert said - if the Patriots thought he was all that good, they wouldn't have risked waiting so long to take him.

Quarterback is the hardest position to project from college to the pros; that's why there are so many high-profile busts. The position is about so much more than size or even arm strength, and most college offenses don't really show pro scouts what they need to know about the guy running the team. Heckert noted that for one QB - predicted to be drafted on the first day this year - the receiving corps was so bad that it was hard to fault the QB for not winning more games. And pro defenses are vastly different, in the mental and physical challenges they present to a quarterback.

Odds seem stacked against the Birds taking a QB on Saturday, the first day of the draft (though wouldn't it be a bit sticky if Matt Leinart or Jay Cutler somehow dropped on the board and was still sitting there when the Eagles' 14th overall selection arrived?). There are several interesting second-day possibilities.

Texas A & M's Reggie McNeal is said to possess McNabb's athleticism and instinct for avoiding the rush, even if at 6-2, 198, he lacks McNabb's size and strength. Clemson's Charlie Whitehurst (6-4 ¾, 223) certainly has the size, if not the quick release. Toledo's Bruce Gradkowski doesn't have great size (6-1 ½, 217) but his leadership and toughness are lauded.

That's assuming that the guys just a notch below the Leinart-Cutler-Vince Young level all are off the board by the time the Birds get ready to think about a QB. That group of potential second- or third-round quarterbacks includes Alabama's Brodie Croyle (6-2 ½, 205), Bowling Green's Omar Jacobs (6-4, 232), and Oregon's Kellen Clemens (6-1 ½, 224).

If Heckert and Reid are really in a gambling mood, there's Virginia Tech's Marcus Vick (6-0, 200), whose off-the-field problems have obscured clear first-day draft potential.

If the Eagles somehow surprise everyone and take a quarterback on the first day, it will be hard to discount the notion that the clock is ticking toward the post-McNabb Era.

Why did I post the entire article? Because once you read the entire thing, Heckert isn't bashing anyone. The article is about the Eagles looking towards the future and drafting a QB for the future because McNabb is turning 30. What's wrong with that? If anything, Bowen uses examples of using mid to late draft picks on QBs such as Schaub or Brady and the fact that its like a shot in the dark. The mere mention of AJ Feely also shows that sometimes things don't always work out in the end, but for temporay help, they might.

Basically, again, reading the article, its about looking towards a potential future without McNabb either because of injury or because of age, but it has absolutely nothing to do with McNabb bashing!

tr1......did you even read this entire article? Because if you did, then you wouldn't hae come to the conclusion that you did.

[dockeryfan]

McNabb won't last forever, but he'll be here for a while. The Eagles won't use a day one pick on a QB this year, even if QB is one position Reid evaluates pretty well.

[pvkeeper19]

It's hard to say with any degree of certainty how many good years a player has left in him, but I think it's safe to say that barring injury, McNabb has more than the two or three an early QB pick would make it seem like. I understand the need for an insurance policy, because he could go down at any time. But it seems a waste to pick a quarterback and groom him to be a starter while McNabb, who I begrudgingly acknowledge is one of the best, is still going strong.

Maybe they know something about his injuries last year that makes them nervous? Or do they just want to err on the side of caution?

[Leonard Washington]

qbs play at a high level into their mid 30s. mcnabb still got a strong arm and legs so i don't think the eagles should seriously consider grooming a replacement for at least 1-2 more offseasons.