Get a clue Bob Ford
I usually enjoy Inquirer columnist Bob Ford’s musings about everything Philadelphia sports. Until today. Bob, do us all a favor and refrain from writing about the Philadelphia Eagles, because obviously you have no freaking clue. From Ford’s column in Tuesday’s Inquirer titled: Eagles, if not fans, happy with what they have.
A snippet:
Jevon Kearse, backed up by Darren Howard and Jerome McDougle, are the left defensive ends on the current depth chart. If you’re counting, that’s three question marks.
Brodrick Bunkley is the starting right defensive tackle.
Chris Cocong is the strong-side linebacker.
Sean Considine is the strong safety.
Jeremy Bloom is the first-team punt returner.
Aside from replacing Donté Stallworth with Kevin Curtis at one of the wide receiver slots, and returning McNabb to the starting quarterback position in place of Garcia, the offensive starters are the same.
No worries. No need to trade up in order to join the feeding frenzy for defensive backs that saw five of them taken between the 18th and 24th picks. No need to go for defensive end Anthony Spencer of Purdue, which is what the Cowboys did with the 26th pick they received from the Eagles.
No reason to grab wide receiver Craig Davis of LSU, Anthony Meacham of Tennessee, or Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio State, all of whom went in the late first round. Forget about tight end Greg Olson of Miami or Zach Miller of Arizona State. Even after they traded down, safety Eric Weddle of Utah and cornerback Chris Houston of Arkansas were still around. But Reid said, “We have pretty good people [in the defensive backfield]. We’re OK there.”
Let’s take this one item at a time here.
Jevon Kearse, backed up by Darren Howard and Jerome McDougle, are the left defensive ends on the current depth chart. If you’re counting, that’s three question marks.
Bob, do you know who Victor Abiamiri is? Yes, of course he’s the highly touted LEFT defensive end the Eagles selected in the second round. As for Anthony Spencer, he’s a nice prospect. A nice undersized DE that the Cowboys are most likely going to utilize as a standup rusher in their 3-4 scheme. Kind of like a guy by the name of Chris Cocong (Ford’s spelling, not mine).
Brodrick Bunkley is the starting right defensive tackle.
Yes, that’s right. And here’s a little rule you should know: When a team uses its first round pick two years in a row on a defensive tackle, it’s logical to see if they pan out before continuously drafting the same position year after year. I guess the Birds should have drafted a running back in 2003 after Brian Westbrook barely saw the field his rookie campaign. Ditto Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard. Hey, Shawn Andrews broke his leg his rookie year. BETTER DRAFT A REPLACEMENT! It seemed to work well for the Lions at the wide receiver position though, right Bob?
Chris Cocong is the strong-side linebacker.
First off, his name is Chris GOCONG, with a G. How can I respect an opinion when you can’t spell a name correctly? Second, did you watch the draft Bob? Who was the highest rated strong side linebacker available when the Eagles were slated to pick at the 26th spot? Well according to Stats, Inc. it was a man by the name of Stewart Bradley. Good thing the Eagles snagged him with the 87th pick of the 3RD ROUND.
Great point though Bob, great point. I’ll let you proceed now.
Sean Considine is the strong safety.
Kudos Bob, we may finally agree, however, as you mentioned later in the article, you seem to be partial to Eric Weddle. If you didn’t know, Weddle, at 5′11″ 203 pounds is more suited to play the free safety position in the NFL. Sean Considine’s measurables? 6′0″ 212 pounds. Just what we need, a smaller guy who can’t stop the run. Straight from Scouts Inc. scouting report on Eric Weddle:
Lacks ideal “NFL measurables”. He has decent height and below-average bulk. Speed is adequate but not good. He does not show ideal quick-twitch athleticism. Will have some many limitations in coverage at the next level. Does not show the change-of-direction skills or burst to hold up one-on-one versus slot receivers. Lacks the size and brute strength to consistently match up as an in-the-box strong safety type.
The next best safety prospect behind Weddle? A true strong safety? That’s right, C.J. Gaddis, the Birds’ 5th round pick, at 159th overall. Weddle by the way was the 37th pick overall.
Jeremy Bloom is the first-team punt returner.
Great. The least of our worries. See my Bunkley point. You don’t draft a return specialist in the first round. Get a clue.
Aside from replacing Donté Stallworth with Kevin Curtis at one of the wide receiver slots, and returning McNabb to the starting quarterback position in place of Garcia, the offensive starters are the same.
You mean the 2nd best team in terms of total offense in 2006? The third best passing offense behind Indianapolis and New Orleans? Wait, didn’t the Eagles play without their franchise quarterback for 6 games? The offense that averaged more points without Stallworth in the lineup than it did with him? That’s what we need more offense!!!
Your offensive suggestions Bob?
No reason to grab wide receiver Craig Davis of LSU, Anthony Meacham of Tennessee, or Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio State, all of whom went in the late first round. Forget about tight end Greg Olson of Miami or Zach Miller of Arizona State.
First off, his name his ROBERT MEACHEM, not Anthony MEACHAM. Greg Olson? I know a Greg OLSEN. He played tight end at Miami. I wouldn’t have minded him at the 26th pick by the way, but you’re crazy if you think he’d start over L.J. Smith. Remember Smith’s rookie numbers? 321 yards, 1 TD. A god damned windfall.
Craig Davis of LSU, rated as a 4th round pick, picked 30th overall. That would have gone over well. Anthony Gonzalez was a given a 2nd round grade. Zach Miller? 2nd round grade.
So this is where we stand. I work 10 hours today and pick apart a professional columnist’s feature article in under one hour. No wonder newspaper circulation is down all over the country. First off, spell the god damned names right. All week I’ve been reading about Brandon Merriweather from Marc Narducci and Mark Eckel. His name is spelled Meriweather for Christ’s sake. By the way how many times did I use the Lord’s name in vain in this article? Sorry big fella.
My point is this, no one really knows how anyone will really pan out from the 2007 draft, but at this juncture, the least a columnist can do is know what the relevant intelligence is.
Stop the sensationalism, a little research will do a column good.
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Posted on May 1, 2007 by Dave | Filed Under Philadelphia
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unfortunately, media people have a huge amount of pressure to dumb things down, spice things up and sensationalize.
thanks for pointing out this bullshit. these ancient columnists can get away with writing anything since they have no threat of losing their jobs. that business needs a lot of new blood, and fast.
Know what boggles the mind the most Mark? The distaste these guys spew towards the internet/blog trend that has basically taken over the country. You know – maybe embracing the trend would keep readers interested. Check out any of the columnists blogs on Philly.com – they get updated every 3 months.
in a way, the contempt these guys show for the blogs makes a lot of sense. if ever an editor with half a brain gets in charge, the bloggers are the kind of reporters they’ll turn to to spice up their pages. the old boy network that comes up with these columns exists in such a fact vacuum, and they come up with the kind of unresearched nonsense you see here. on a semi-related note, it makes me endlessly happy when guys like ford get scooped on stories by deadspin and the like. then they cry about out it. and proceed to produce more drivel.
Well said