Andy Reid was right: Anything can happen. Anything did happen on day one of the NFL draft for the Eagles, who made three trades, drafted two players, acquired a potentially-valuable reserve running back ... and who will barely pause before loading up with nine more draft picks on Sunday.

It was a strange and wonderful and, in the end, extremely productive Day One in the draft for the Eagles. For the second consecutive season they traded out of the first round, passing on the 19th overall pick and instead trading with Carolina and moving to No. 12 (43rd overall) in the second round. Andy Reid fielded the call while the Eagles were on the clock and accepted a payment of the second-round pick, a fourth-round selection and Carolina's first-round draft pick next year. The booty, heightened by the exclamation point of the No. 1 draft pick in 2009, was just too rich for the Eagles to bypass.

But that was just the start of a wild series of moves before the Eagles even picked a player.

Reid called his old buddy Bill Parcells in Miami and dealt a fourth-round draft pick to Miami for running back Lorenzo Booker (more on him later) and then went right back to the phones. The Eagles traded out of 43, moved back to 47, picked up another fourth-round draft pick in the process, and then waited until 47 rolled around.

At 47, the Eagles took defensive tackle Trevor Laws, a relentless defensive tackle who could be a great fit as a rotational player with starters Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley. The Eagles wanted a better presence with their inside pass rush, and they wanted to give Patterson and Bunkley more of a chance to catch their breath during the course of the game, and Laws seems to fit that need.

He had a tremendous career at Notre Dame and gives the Eagles more push, more power and some energy at defensive tackle. I have to say, I love this defensive line now. Maybe the Eagles can add a second-day defensive end whom they can develop, but there is some depth here and there is some front-line talent here and it is so promising.

Two picks later, the Eagles made the splash that adds more immediate impact. Cal's DeSean Jackson, projected as a top-15 draft pick a couple of months ago, lasted on the board forever until the Eagles made the pick at 49. It is hard not to be excited about Jackson. He was a game-breaking return man and wide receiver at Cal, and Reid called him a "pretty special" player in that respect. And, certainly, Jackson has a chance to make a significant difference on special teams, which, combined with some of the signings in the free agency period, should allow the special teams to make a vast improvement over last season.

Had you been told, prior to the draft, that the Eagles would have taken Jackson in the first round and a rock-solid defensive tackle in the second round, you would have been pretty happy, I think. Well, the Eagles drafted Jackson and Laws, brought in more speed and quickness and versatility with Booker and added a first-round draft pick in 2009.

Wow!

It was an unconventional way to go about things, but, hey, Reid is perhaps the most unpredictable head coach in the league during draft weekend. I just loved how things worked out, so let's go through some bullet points on how these players might fit in, some of the things that didn't happen and what might happen on Sunday.

•  I'm really high on Booker. He comes into a crowded situation, and he isn't built to be a full-time halfback, but he has extreme quickness and speed and can, as Reid suggested, team with Brian Westbrook and create some nasty matchup problems for defenses. I know the Eagles loved Booker in the draft last year. I remember talking to scouts about him. Nabbing him for a fourth-round pick is a low-risk, high-reward deal.

"He's somebody we really liked in the draft last year and we couldn't pull it off where we were able to get him last year, but he's somebody we've had our eyes on," said Reid. "He does some of the same things that Brian Westbrook does. You can flex him out and throw him the football. I think that the combination of he and Brian on the field will really be a nice combination for our offense."

• Laws comes in at a position that needed some competition. I still think Montae Reagor will be better than he was last year. I think LaJuan Ramsey understands the urgency of his situation. But let's be real: The Eagles had a lack of production behind Patterson and Bunkley last year. They didn't have any confidence in Reagor or Ramsey. Patterson and Bunkley played far too many snaps during the 2007 season. Laws doesn't come in as a starter, but he comes in as somebody who is expected to get on the field and contribute. Can he rush the passer inside? We'll see. My sense is that both Laws and Victor Abiamiri will get long looks in the nickel inside during the preseason games.
• Jackson was just a shot-in-the-arm pick. How could the Eagles pass on that talent? For whatever reason, the slight Jackson -- he weighs around 170 pounds -- went from a projected first-round pick to a mid-second-round selection. The Eagles are glad he was there at 49. Jackson immediately vaults to the top of my unofficial depth chart -- the Eagles won't have an official depth chart until August -- and he'll learn the offense and will compete as a wide receiver. The Eagles are going to have to move Jackson around a bit to keep big cornerbacks from jamming him at the line of scrimmage, but there is no doubt he is a 4.3-40 player who adds needed juice to the offense.
• What didn't happen was the trade of cornerback Lito Sheppard. It was the talk of the town, and more a matter of when will he get traded? rather than will he get traded? Sheppard is still here. Reid didn't rule out something happening on day two of the draft or in the weeks to come, but Sheppard is here and the secondary is deep and we have to see how it all pans out. As Reid said, the Eagles are not going to "give Sheppard away," but what can teams trade to the Eagles that makes sense? More draft picks for this year? Hardly. A No. 1 for next year?
• The Eagles did not acquire a veteran wide receiver, as we all kind of knew going into the day. Still, I know a lot of fans held out hope. But don't do that. It isn't going to happen. Not now, anyway. Who knows what happens in the summer? I am not expecting it at all.
• Bottom line, the Eagles added great quickness and a lot of speed to the offense. They made their defensive tackle rotation so much better. They set themselves up for a huge day on Sunday -- they have one third, three fourths, four sixths and a seventh-round pick -- with nine selections and where can they look? The truth is, everywhere. The Eagles believe that the strength of this draft is in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. Don't be surprised to see them move all around on day two. Tune in early on PhiladelphiaEagles.com.

It was a special day, really. That the Eagles were able to move out of the first round, pick up extra draft picks, including the coveted No. 1 next year, and still add impact for 2008 is really remarkable. The Eagles would have been happy to stay at 19 and take Pittsburgh offensive lineman Jeff Otah. They liked him. They liked him a lot. They liked a couple of other guys, too, and tried to move up.

But in the end, they loved the deal with Carolina. They could not turn down the offer. And it set things up for a remarkable day. How the players perform, well, that remains to be seen. Assigning grades and making projections is fool's gold, but it's fun. The Eagles deserve an "A" for effort and for creativity and, yes, for making the most of their assets in the draft.

Day two comes quickly, though. There is much more to come. As Reid said earlier on Saturday, anything can happen. It did on Day One, for sure. The Eagles were left standing with a package they couldn't even imagine when the draft started. Reid didn't know how it would all work before the draft, but he spearheaded an effort to remain as flexible as possible. It paid off. The Eagles worked the room, stayed patient, and had themselves quite a day, certainly one to remember.