No. 49

by Bleeding Green Nation DaJuan Morgan Safety North Carolina State

With the 49th overall selection in the 2008 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles have selected NC State safety DaJuan Morgan.  JasonB, lead blogger over at Bleeding Green Nation, made the selection and joins us now to explain his pick:

  After taking Limas Sweed in the first round the Eagles biggest remaining needs are safety and OT. Both are positions where the Eagles have aging pro bowlers who may or may not be around in 2009. So the good things is any rookie at either of those positions should have a good year to learn and develop before he's asked to step in and start.

Currently at safety, the Eagles have first and foremost future hall of famer Brian Dawkins. He's clearly one of the great Eagles ever and has been one of, if not the best best safety in the NFL over the past 10 years. Problem is, he'll be 35 this year and is coming off an injury plagued 2007.

I'm confident that Dawk can bounce back and give us one more great effort in 2008, but the likelihood of him playing past this year is slim. What's worse... the man drafted to be his eventual replacement, Sean Considine, has been a disappointment and rather injury prone. At the other safety position is Quintin Mikell, who is a former undrafted free agent and special teams stand out. Mikell, while very solid when he's been asked to start, by no means has a stranglehold on a starting job.

Enter DaJuan Morgan. A guy who is very athletic and can play either safety position. He's tough against the run and has improved in coverage. He's also shown a knack for making plays, leading NC State in tackles, forcing a fumble, 6 passes defensed, and 3 picks. He's also been a very good special teamer.

His main criticisms appear to be his tackling technique, in which he goes for the knockout too often rather than the smart wrap up, and his attitude, which some people describe as "too cocky". A year of learning from the best in biz, Dawkins, should certainly help with that.

Morgan should be able to contribute on special teams immediately, while also competing for a job at strong safety and learning the free safety position to hopefully take over in 2009.
 
Matt Miller, host of this site as well as owner of New Era Scouting, provides his analysis below:

Philadelphia grabs a huge need player here in filling the spot at free safety. Brian Dawkins has had a brilliant career, but he is nearing the end. Philly has always done a great job of replacing talent via the draft. Once Morgan catches on to how hard he must work, he'll be a stud. Good pick.

Grade: A  ::  DaJuan Morgan Scouting Report - New Era Scouting :: Matt Miller's Top Five Prospects Remaining: 1.  LB Shawn Crable, 2.  RB Jamaal Charles, 3.  WR Earl Bennett, 4.  TE Fred Davis, 5.  QB Chad Henne

The Arizona Cardinals, represented by our guest blogger from The Big Red Sheet, are now on the clock.