Ellis and Hobbs

More wheeling and dealing at the NFL Draft, where my Eagles have moved a couple of fifth round picks to the Patriots for starting cornerback and Sheldon Brown Go Away Jersey Ellis Hobbs. Hobbs has been starting for the Pats for years now, and while he hasn't looked anything like a #1 corner despite making good money, he's probably a better option than Publicly Pouting Sheldon, and if nothing else, the team has an absurd number of return options in special teams, with DeSean Jackson and Quentin Demps coming back from last year's team to compete against first round pick Jeremy Macklin and Hobbs.

If you want to think negative about this, there's the fact that Hobbs has trouble with bigger receivers, which hasn't been a strength of the team in recent years. However, it's also something of a misnomer that, at least in the division, this is the biggest worry you'd have. Terrible Owens is in Buffalo, Plaxico Burress is unemployed, and the Redskins go at you with smurfs. The trouble comes outside of the division, where you can easily see Hobbs and Samuel struggling against a Marques Colston, an Antonio Bryant, or, um, that Fitzgerald fellow in Arizona. Not that I'm not still seeing that in my nightmares.

Finally, there's this... I get that this is a good and deep draft, and that cheap rookie talent makes the world go around, especially if the economy starts making NFL teams worry about making payroll. (Unlikely.) But there's something to be said for taking a guy that you know can play in the league over some folks that you are choosing that weren't good enough to be named in the first 100 selections. Just sayin'.