"The Good Shepherd" is a movie now playing on HBO. It is a fictional story about a young man who goes to work for the Office of Strategic Services (the CIA's predecessor) and begins a career as an intelligence official. The lead character is charged with gathering intelligence, at first on the Germans and later the Russians. His specialty is counter-intelligence, especially the spreading of false information. What the heck does this have to do with the Eagles?

Plenty if you understand the pre-draft process.

Tom Heckert is our "good shepherd." He gathers as much information as he can. Most of the information from May to March is on prospects. Starting at the Scouting Combine Heckert begins to study other NFL teams. His goal is to figure out which team likes which players and how much.

This may not sound important, but it can be critical. On draft day teams sit anxiously waiting for their pick to come up. They have to pray that their key target is still on the board. If a team really covets a certain player, they have to understand how the board will break before their pick.

Some experts focus on teams and their needs. That is all well and good, but it misses the mark. Most teams draft specific players, not just positions. Teams figure out which players they really like prior to the draft and target them, whether in the top 20 or in the fourth round.

The team that has a good idea of the players that other teams like will be much better off.  They can sit tight or maneuver appropriately to get the players they want. In 2006, the Eagles wanted defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley. That seemed like a pipe dream when the draft began. There was no way that a top defensive tackle would fall to No. 14. The Eagles reportedly talked about moving up for Bunkley, but Heckert felt it was best to wait. Things got crazy when Buffalo, who could have used a defensive tackle, took safety Donte Whitner with the No. 8 pick. Suddenly Bunkley became a possibility. The Eagles didn't flinch. Heckert waited for our pick and Bunkley was on the board. Certainly there was some luck involved, but Heckert also had a good feel for what was going to happen.  His research and knowledge proved to be crucial in that situation.

In addition to gathering information, I earlier mentioned spreading false information.  This also can be key. All teams try to keep track of what teams want which players. In order to keep them guessing, you need to fake interest in some kids and act uninterested in some players you actually covet.

I can't give you much in the way of specific examples of this practice. Teams never disclose the names of players they didn't want. There would be nothing to gain from that. Everyone can only speculate.

As for keeping quiet …that we can talk about. Let's again go back to 2006. The Jets were on the board with the 71st overall pick. They were set to pick linebacker Chris Gocong. He was a perfect fit for their 3-4 defense. The Jets got a call from the Eagles. We don't know who the Eagles said they were interested, but it certainly wasn't Gocong.  The Eagles had the 76th selection. The Jets could slide back a few picks, add a late pick and still get their guy. The teams in the 72-75 range were all 4-3 teams. The Jets felt those teams would be looking elsewhere. They made a deal with the Eagles, who promptly snatched up Gocong.  How much did the Jets like him? They had flown him to New York, met with him and even had him watch game film with Eric Mangini. That was no smokescreen. That was a player they wanted. The Jets got greedy.

Heckert kept the Eagles interest in Gocong pretty quiet. There were not a lot of reports linking him to the Eagles. This caused the Jets to feel safe in moving back. Too bad for them. Gocong would have been an ideal fit in their defense. The worst part for the Jets is that all they got out of the deal was a seventh-round pick. That is very poor risk/reward.  Five spots after the Eagles grabbed Gocong, the Jets took linebacker Anthony Schlegel.  He played in four games, made one tackle and was cut prior to the 2007 season. Ouch.

So how do teams keep track of team/player interest? I'm sure that scouts are told to take notes on other teams' personnel at Pro Days. Let's imagine that a school has a star quarterback. The Eagles are set with Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb and A.J. Feeley. We would send only a scout to that workout. He might note that the Panthers, Ravens, Bears, and Rams all had coaches and scouts there. The scout will pass along his report to Heckert. The Eagles have scouts going to workouts all over the country on a daily basis.  You can gather a lot of information just by seeing who is at these workouts. Sometimes the player can help you out. Let's say that offensive line coach Juan Castillo goes to check out a small-school offensive tackle. Castillo will talk to the kid about all kinds of things. The player, in passing, might let out that the Giants line coach stopped by to visit him last week. Even better is when the kid tells you he's going to New York or Dallas or Washington to visit with the team.

The trickiest source of information is agents. Those guys are trying to sell their prospects and will stretch the truth to fit their needs. Tom Heckert might call some agent to discuss his client coming to Philly for a visit. The agent might have a good enough client that he doesn't need to sell him and will give good information. The agent of a lesser player might let it slip that the player has to fit the Eagles into his schedule of other visits. A comment like this would get Heckert's attention. The question then is if that is true.

As you can tell, this is a complicated process. It takes a lot of time and work. You have to gather and sort lots of information. You then have to work out what is real and what isn't.  Finally, you have to put it into use on draft weekend. All that work pays off when you are able to land players like Bunkley and Gocong.

If Tom Heckert ever tires of the NFL, maybe the CIA will want to talk to him. Compared to talking to agents, the fear of being thrown out of a plane really isn't that bad. 

LOOKING FOR INFO ON A CERTAIN PROSPECT

The Eagles have had a lot of success with small-school prospects, but it's hard to find information on them prior to the draft. Well, over at ScoutsNotebook.com we put up profiles and information on as many players as we can. If there is a player you aren't familiar with, we might have a write-up on him. You can also ask about any players that you have particular interest in.