Morning Report: Eagles wide receiver watch

With Chris Henry suddenly available, cries are rising for the Eagles to sign the talented wide receiver cut yesterday by the Cincinnati Bengals.

It won't happen. Guys with his arrest record don't land in BirdLand.

And a wide receiver won't be found high in the draft, either. The Eagles will almost certainly spend the early rounds of the April 26-27 draft boosting their defense. It wouldn't be surprising if the Birds took both a cornerback and a safety in the early going.

Tom Hepler, former editor of Ourlad's Guide to the NFL Draft, told Morning Report why the Eagles need defensive help.

"Dead last creating turnovers, they failed to score on defense at all," Hepler said in an e-mail. "Their defense often left the offense with a long field. Defense is likely to get most of the early draft attention with an offensive fine-tuning later, unless some outstanding offensive talent shows when the Eagles are on the clock."

One man's opinion. The reason the No. 1 seeds did so well in the NCAA tournament this season is the NBA's two-year-old ban on drafting high school players.

Monster programs like North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA and Memphis already have 12 great players. Now they've added a freshman superstar who might otherwise be a pro.

History lesson. Helped by the Phillies, the Nationals became the first Washington franchise to start a season 3-0 since 1951.

A bad franchise for most of its history, Washington that season was just as obscure as ever.

Led by manager Bucky Harris, the Senators had three identifiable players: Marcus Hook native Mickey Vernon (a quality player with 2,495 lifetime hits, he allegedly was President Eisenhower's favorite player), Eddie Yost and Pete Runnels. One of the reserves was named Clyde Klutz. (I am not making this up.)

Which tells you why the district's fans coined the phrase, "Washington: first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League."

Phillies alumni report. Lefthander Randy Wolf made his debut for the Padres and started for the first time since July 3 while with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He gave up four hits and one earned run in six innings against the Houston Astros, without a decision.

Just wondering. Did the Phillies' postgame show feature Jesus Colome as player of the game?