With recent reports from Philadelphia claiming that the Eagles have a “man-crush” on second-round running back LeSean McCoy and that McCoy has been one of the stars of training camp thus far despite being drafted as just a third-year sophomore, I figured I’d take a look at the one rookie who could have the biggest impact on the NFL this season.

Coming into the 2009 draft, on my website draftheadquarters.com, I had McCoy ranked ahead of Connecticut running back Donald Brown, even when many in the media had Brown rated ahead of Knowshon Moreno and Chris Wells. There was one thing that I noticed in McCoy that I hadn’t seen in many other running backs that I’ve scouted for the NFL: He was arguably the most “natural” runner in the draft, meaning he did it with fluidity and he didn’t have to try as hard as some of the other running backs to make a play. McCoy was also one of the most complete backs this year, having caught the ball out of the backfield as well as had experience as a blocker in the passing game while at Pitt. Here’s what I added at the end of my scouting report on McCoy back in March:

“Between his competitive nature on the field and his strong work ethic off of it, McCoy is a player that I really like. I love his running style and I think that in a zone-blocking scheme where he could take advantage of his terrific cutback ability, he could be a very good player. McCoy has the potential to be one of the better running backs in the league if he lands with the right team.”

The right team for McCoy is the Eagles. In addition to being able to play in the same state that he grew up in in both college and now in the pros, McCoy’s style of play mirrors that of Pro Bowl running back Brian Westbrook. With Westbrook hitting that dreaded age of 30 on September 2nd, it seems like it’d make sense to see McCoy take over for him in 2010 after splitting carries this year. In any league, this player is a “must-get”. Re-draft leagues can find him late, while he should be coveted in keeper and dynasty leagues.

McCoy, along with the receiving combination of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin are the future of the Philadelphia Eagles. Like it or not, they’re going to be an exciting and extremely productive offense for quite a few years to come…which is music to the ears of fantasy owners!

Despite his typical welcome into the booing arms of Philadelphia Eagles fans, I think the Jeremy Maclin 1st round pick by the Eagles will prove to be a wise one. Right now I am salivating at the possibilities the Eagles offense will have with Brian Westbrook and Jeremy Maclin on the field at the same time. Either one of those guys can create nightmares for DC’s around the league, but in tandem they could create major headaches for their division rivals this year.

Eagles fans were understandably disappointed when the Boldin dream did not come to pass, but in the long run I think the Eagles made the right moves, and this Eagles offense could be scary even without a “big name” receiver. Maclin is a player, and I am anxious to see what he will bring to his new team. He might just be the guy they need to pull this offense together.

Mock Draft 3.0 might require a companion piece.

After all, any mock draft in which the top-ranked running back—one who has drawn at least some comparisons to Adrian Peterson—doesn’t appear in the first round demands a little additional explanation.

It’s not that I don’t like Beanie Wells; in fact, I’m the one who sees similarities between Wells and the Vikings’ All-Pro runner.

Both are bigger than your average feature back, yet have enough speed to hit holes quickly and leave defenders in their wake. Both enter the league with tons of potential, as well as question marks about their durability. And both are likely to be see their draft stock slide to a position lower than their talent would suggest.

But all the way out of the first round entirely?

Actually, I don’t feel quite as queasy about Wells not appearing in the first round after checking the mock draft avid members of The Huddle forums are conducting. In that mock, Wells goes 31st overall to the Cardinals—in other words, just two picks shy of tumbling out of the first round.

Truth be told, I don’t know that anyone would be all that surprised if Wells went to the Browns with the fifth overall selection. The team needs a future beyond Jamal Lewis, Wells would come with a built-in local fan club from his days at Ohio State and Garfield High, and Eric Mangini’s best days with the Jets featured a run-heavy offense.

However, as you might expect from a club that fired its coach and GM and is picking near the top of the draft, the Browns have other needs as well. Mock Draft 3.0 has them taking DE/OLB Brian Orakpo, though if Wake Forest LB Aaron Curry falls to 5 you’d see Mangini sprint to the podium to get the pick in.

The Browns have traded back into the first round in the past—to get Brady Quinn just a couple years back—though that was under a previous administration. Nonetheless, if Wells is hanging around in the late 20s it wouldn’t be prohibitive for the Browns to move up from 36.

Or maybe the Browns’ draft board looks like mine, and they wouldn’t have to move that far.

Ultimately, the range for Wells’ selection is anywhere from 5th to 36th, with a very strong possibility that if he’s trending towards the lower end of that scale at least a couple teams will inquire about trading back up to acquire him. And if he does slip out of the first round entirely, you can bet he’ll bring not only considerable athletic prowess but also a Shaun Rogers-sized chip on his shoulder to his NFL career.

We’ll see plenty of recaps focusing on the highlights of the 2008 NFL draft over the next week, so for now I’m going to focus on the negative.

We’ll start with the Oakland Raiders. As if it weren’t enough to have Al Davis running the War Room, the Silver & Black also sent Big Al’s brother to New York to work the table at Radio City Music Hall. Neither looked as if they should be expected to make it through the round without requiring a nap. End result? A team that finished sixth in the league in rushing last year and has roughly $15 million tied up in its current stable of backfield bypasses the perfect replacement for Warren Sapp (which the 31st-ranked run defense desperately needs) to swing for the fences with Darren McFadden.

On the heels of that pick, the Chiefs apparently turned down a trade from the Saints that included the 10th overall selection, the Saints second-rounder (40th overall), and New Orleans’ first-round pick in 2009. Glenn Dorsey is a stud, no question, but that’s a whole lot to pass up. Ultimately the Chiefs fared quite well on Day One, but… two ones and a two to move back five spots? If you’re coming off of 4-12 with multiple holes to fill, you gotta make that deal, don’t you?

Last year the Detroit Lions were on the verge of kicking Tatum Bell to the curb. This year, with Bell the lead back in their stable, they pass on Rashard Mendenhall in Round One, then in Round Two add an undersized linebacker who most likely would have been there when they picked early in Round Three. Then again, who are we to question the genius that is Matt Millen? If any of us demonstrated as much sheer incompetence at our jobs as he does at his we would have been out on our backsides a long time ago.

The last time the Ravens traded up into the first round to draft a quarterback they hitched their wagon to the strong arm of Kyle Boller. As Brian Billick admitted during his stint as an NFL Network commentator, that decision helped get him run out of town. So a new administration rolls in… then trades up in the first round to hitch its wagon to the strong arm of Joe Flacco. Somewhere George Santayana is spinning in his grave.

There is no bigger Jeff Fisher fan on the planet than me, but… Chris Johnson? Really? I understand the hope is to create a thunder/lightning thing with Johnson and LenDale White. But unless you’re switching to the wishbone and running old-school triple option it doesn’t make sense. First, it says you made a mistake drafting Chris Henry in the second round last year. And second, it still leaves Vince Young without a target. Either the plan is to switch Johnson to wideout or the Titans figure Young couldn’t hit the target anyway so a 6-4 receiver like Limas Sweed wouldn’t have mattered.

Houston, Houston, Houston. You could have had Rashard Mendenhall or Mike Jenkins at 18, but you traded down. Understandable, since you didn’t have a second-rounder and your primary need is offensive line help. And you tried, you really tried, drafting an offensive tackle at 26. But you probably could have traded back another 10 or 15 spots and still selected Duane Brown. And you still don’t have a second-round pick. Or a running back. Or a cornerback.

The Jets have apparently forgotten Johnnie Mitchell. And Kyle Brady. And their other more pressing needs.

I’d hate to be the Rams intern who figured after round one you just erase the top 10 wide receivers on the draft board, because when the team finds out just who was still actually available when they took Donnie Avery 33rd overall, they are not going to be happy.

Nothing against Jordy Nelson, who I think will be a solid pro. And nothing against the Packers, who once again deftly traded down. But I’m not sure the Pack is good enough to afford an absolute luxury pick like a fifth wide receiver.

I’ll be checking the Bay Area news tomorrow morning for reports of a Mike Martz killing spree. A tip to CSI SF: one stab wound for every good receiver still on the board when the Niners picked Chilo Rachal at No. 39.

The worst moment of Day One occurred at No. 40, and it has nothing to do with the Saints’ selection of Tracy Porter. While NFL Network was interviewing Jerry Jones (thankfully, I was not watching in hi-def), I switched over to ESPN to find the once-great Chris Berman mubmlin’ bumblin’ stumblin’ over himself. I opted for a commercial on another channel.

As a Vikings’ fan, I’ll remember the 2008 draft for the acquisition of Jared Allen. And I do think Tyrell Johnson will be a good player some day. But unless Minnesota plans on lining up Allen at right tackle and Johnson at tight end, the Purple still have two glaring needs to fill. And because Brad Childress gifted the Vikings’ fourth-round pick to his former employers in Philly, Minnesota won’t have a chance to address those needs until pick No. 150. Jared Allen… serenity now.. Jared Allen… serenity now… Jared Allen…

It’s become a contest: who can pick “the next Marques Colston” too early this year? In 2007 that moniker elevated Jacoby Jones to the third round; this year, the Bengals took Jerome Simpson at No. 46—with Limas Sweed, Malcolm Kelly, and Mario Manningham still on the board. Maybe Marv and Ocho Cinco can still kiss and make up.

If Adam Schefter is to be believed—and there’s really no reason to think he shouldn’t—the Dolphins have committed $57.5 million, more than half of it guaranteed, to offensive tackle Jake Long with the first overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

It should come as no surprise to those who know my penchant for offensive linemen that I’m a big fan of this move.

For starters, the Miami depth chart at tackle looks a little something like this:

LT: Vernon Carey, a converted guard
RT: Julius Wilson, an undrafted free agent last season who was signed off their practice squad in December

There are no other tackles on their current roster. So to say Long fills an immediate need for the Dolphins is an understatement along the lines of saying Neil Peart fills a need for a drummer in a Canadian power rock trio.

And while the move may seem to fly in the face of Bill Parcell’s “defense first” philosophy, it makes sense on a couple more levels beyond sheer “need”.

There’s the historical perspective. Since the inception of the NFL Draft, two teams have had the foresight and intelligence to spend the first overall selection on an offensive tackle. The result? Ron Yary (Vikings, 1968) and Orlando Pace (Rams, 1997) have combined for 25 NFL seasons and 14 Pro Bowl appearances. That’s a solid track record of success.

Then there’s the functional perspective. Sure, the Dolphins could draft Matt Ryan first overall, but with no one to protect him he’d be doomed to a fate similar to Tim Couch and David Carr—two first-overall selections with talent who had their potential beaten out of them as they absorbed sack after sack after spleen-bursting sack behind patchwork offensive lines. At a minimum, this approach should give John Beck or Josh McCown a little extra time as they try to prove their worth under center—an approach that worked remarkably well for the Browns and Derek Anderson last season.

And if the Dolphins are still brutal next season they’ll have another opportunity to land a franchise quarterback—one who will be well protected on the blindside.

So go ahead and tweak your draft contest entries. Locking in Jake Long at No. 1 is a freebie, but you still have 30 other slots to fill in.