The Philadelphia Eagles are drafting 23rd in SB Nation's 2011 NFL mock draft and representing the birds, Bleeding Green Nation, has selected CB Jimmy Smith. The Eagles two biggest areas of need are offensive line and cornerback. OTs Anthony Castonzo and Gabe Carimi are off the board so this is a somewhat easy pick for BGN.
2011 NFL Mock Draft: Philadelphia Eagles Select CB Jimmy Smith
The biggest question mark with Smith is of course “character concerns.” On that, BGN writes:
We've heard rumors that he's overly cocky, but we heard those same things about DeSean Jackson, and look how that turned out. A lot of teams outsmarted themselves taking guys like Devin Thomas and Jerome Simpson before him. A lot of teams probably did the same thing last year with Dez Bryant. The Eagles have never shied away from taking guys with character concerns, and I know they recently had Smith in for a visit to Philadelphia. Assuming he carried himself reasonably well in that face to face interview, I don't think the Eagles would have any reservations about taking him.
Character is important but if you have a veteran locker room, I think you can handle it. The Eagles are a veteran team, with a coach who has won a lot before, so I think they can handle guys with character concerns.
For the full explanation of the pick, check out Mocking The Draft.
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