Class of 2005: From losers to winners

The Eagles lost to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC divisional playoffs the night earlier, a sour ending to a season when the Eagles won their final five regular-season games and the NFC East title and topped the New York Giants in the first round of the playoffs.

Head coach Andy Reid provided the usual end-of-season talk about how he's proud of the players and it was a good season. But then he added a different spin to the Eagles' leap from 6-10 in 2005 to 10-6 in 2006.

"You wanted to get things changed around this year, or you're dealing with two [draft] classes of players that had not had success," Reid said in January. "That becomes very difficult to change around. The guys that were here last year, that's all that they knew in the NFL."

Those "guys" Reid was referring to were the Eagles' 2005 draft class, one that came following a Super Bowl appearance and finished its first season with a losing record.

The Eagles have five listed starters from the Class of 2005: defensive tackle Mike Patterson, receiver Reggie Brown, safety Sean Considine, guard Todd Herremans, and defensive end Trent Cole. The roster also includes three reserves from that class: linebacker Matt McCoy (a former starter), running back Ryan Moats, and guard Scott Young.

"It makes you feel good to know the guys you came in with, the guys you know, the guys who are your closest friends on the team in general and the guys you were together with as a rookie are having a lot of success and are guys who are going to be here for a long time," Considine said. "You know everybody but you still stick closest with the guys you came in with."

The Eagles build through the draft, but even by their standards this class is abnormal.
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