If nothing else, the organization has gotten better at finding talent at the position, although it would take some effort to do worse than FredEx. Brown (a 2005 second-rounder) and Jackson (taken in Round 2 last year) have shown the most promise, but neither is a No. 1 wide receiver. And neither have to be; the flexibility of the West Coast Offense is accommodating like that.
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
Earlier this offseason Donovan McNabb said he wanted to see how the Eagles upgraded the roster before he would talk about a contract extension. After last fall, when things got so bad that Andy Reid benched McNabb for Kevin Kolb, it looked as if neither head coach nor starting quarterback would be in Philly another year, much less long term.
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.
The Eagles underachieved for most of the 2008 season (the nadir had to be either tying the lowly Bengals are getting thumped by the Ravens -- take your pick) only to get hot during the last month of the season.
Philadelphia would eventually lose to Arizona in the NFC Championship game. And while nobody saw that coming as recently as Thanksgiving, the team did have high expectations heading into the season. Assuming Donovan McNabb is indeed in the organization's long-range plans, what do the Eagles need to do in the coming months to make a Super Bowl run?
About a month into the 2008 season, Jerry Jones sent the Cowboys' first- and third-round draft picks to Detroit for wide receiver Roy Williams. In 10 games with Dallas, Williams caught 19 passes for 198 yards, including a lone touchdown.
For the first time, well, ever, the Lions looked like they actually made out in a personnel-related move that involved a wide receiver. But NFL Network draft sage Mike Mayock thinks the Cowboys were wise to deal for Williams, at least relative to what they might've been able to get via the draft.
At one point during the NFL Network's 55 hours of Super Bowl week coverage, Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson made his way on set. The conversation, inevitably, focused on Mr. Ocho Cinco's ploy to change his name, as well as his sometimes rocky relationship with head coach Marvin Lewis.
But Johnson was also asked about teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh -- who is scheduled to be a free agent next month -- and whether his future is in Cincy. Chad adamantly assured co-host Deion Sanders that Housh would indeed be back because (and I'm paraphrasing here), "he loves playing for the Bengals and he loves playing with me."
Well, that didn't take long -- after contemplating that the Eagles might be en route to storming back on the Arizona Cardinals ... they did just that. On a second-and-10, Donovan McNabb went deep to rookie DeSean Jackson, who had a half step on Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. That half-step was just enough for McNabb to squeeze the ball in and, after tipping the ball to himself, Jackson juggled it a few times and waltzed into the end zone on a 62-yard touchdown pass, putting the Eagles ahead for the first time all game, 25-24.
There was little reason to think -- at least as soon as 15 real time minutes ago -- that the Philadelphia Eagles had any chance of beating the Arizona Cardinals and advancing to the Super Bowl. Adrian Wilson was sacking Donovan McNabb frequently, Antrel Rolle and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie were smothering the Guls' receivers (whom are average at best anyway, DeSean Jackson's youth aside).
Then, all of a sudden, McNabb hit Kevin Curtis on a laser-rocket-arm 50 yard completion on third and 19 that set up the Eagles up in the Arizona red zone, a rare occurance today indeed. Four plays later, D-Nasty found Brent Celek in the back of the end zone and the Eagles were suddenly within nine points.
The Eagles were driving, and a touchdown would have had them leading this game, but nobody can doubt the fact that they their head honcho looks rather pitiful.
Donovan McNabb, who is making his fifth NFC Championship game visit, has thrown a "should have been" interception that was saved by a hustle play from DeSean Jackson. After that pass, McNabb was bailed out by Hank Baskett (Kendra cheers!) on a pass that, if put in his chest, might have gone for a score.
It was a defensive struggle Sunday at Giants Stadium. In the end, it was the Philadelphia Eagles making more plays on both sides of the ball. They beat the NFC's top seed, the New York Giants, 23-11 to advance to their fifth NFC Championship game under head coach Andy Reid.
The Eagles led for most of the second half, but didn't put the game away until the fourth quarter. It was then that the Giants' chances were destroyed by their inability to either convert short-yardage situations or trust their struggling quarterback to make plays.
Eli Manning is going to be ripped in the New York press for his performance in this game. He should be. But he didn't have the ball in his hands on either of the game's biggest plays.
As I said in the last Zebra Report, I'm a guy who believes deeply in accountability, plus, it seems as though many fans were pleasantly surprised at the fact that Mantz posted our preseason NFL predictions. First and foremost, I just wanted to thank Drew Brees. I'm not linking everything, but I told everyone who would listen that he would be a monster this year.
With this in mind, I delved back into my preseason posts to see how I did. I planned on posting all the good and bad things, but the list would be way too long -- and frankly, not very entertaining. I'll just go through and pick out the five most glaring calls on each side, especially if they drew the ire of commenters at the time.
I'll start by first calling myself out for the poor advice, because no one likes arrogance.
The Eagles have a long history of whiffing on wide receivers drafted in the first (or second or third) round. Quarterback Donovan McNabb arrived in Philly in 1999, and since then the front office has welcomed Todd Pinkston, Freddie Mitchell, Billy McMullen, Reggie Brown, DeSean Jackson, and last month, Jeremy Maclin. 
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 
About a month into the 2008 season, 
At one point during the NFL Network's 55 hours of Super Bowl week coverage, Bengals wide receiver 
Well, that didn't take long -- after contemplating that the Eagles might be en route to storming back on the Arizona Cardinals ... they did just that. 
There was little reason to think -- at least as soon as 15 real time minutes ago -- that the Philadelphia Eagles had any chance of beating the Arizona Cardinals and advancing to the Super Bowl. 
It was a defensive struggle Sunday at Giants Stadium. In the end, it was the Philadelphia Eagles making more plays on both sides of the ball. They beat the NFC's top seed, the New York Giants, 23-11 to advance to their fifth NFC Championship game under head coach Andy Reid.
As I said in 
