NFL Draft Thoughts
getting excited about the draft coming up this weekend. i think eagles' first pick is coming into focus, and it seems to me that really we're only talking about two players -- winston justice, the likely pick, and chad jackson, the people's choice.
i don't know much about either player really, as i never really noticed justice one way or the other the two times i saw USC play this season and i didn't watch a single florida game. however, i do have two data points that i find interesting but are probably irrelevant.
1) there is a picture of winston justice flexing on the front page of espn.com. he's a pretty big guy, but it seems to me that his neck (what you can see of it anyway) and his wrists are kind of skinny. i don't have any scientific evidence to back it up, but in my experience skinny wrists and necks = injury prone. can't make a draft decision based on that, but i'm just saying.
2) saw parts of some sort of college football challenge yesterday. the biggest thing that jumped out at me after watching is that i still think vince young is going to be a freaking *star* -- and not a michael vick hype-machine kind of star, i mean a real live michael jordan kind of star. the second thing that jumped out at me was this chad jackson. he looks pretty damn smooth and confident out there. the way he calmly snatches the ball with his hands is impressive.
btw - here is an article about reggie brown in usatoday. also, hockey playoffs are going on -- i thought umberger was going to die after watching that hit, but it seems like he wants to play. phillies stink. still gillick's grace period for me, but boy do they stink.
i don't know much about either player really, as i never really noticed justice one way or the other the two times i saw USC play this season and i didn't watch a single florida game. however, i do have two data points that i find interesting but are probably irrelevant.
1) there is a picture of winston justice flexing on the front page of espn.com. he's a pretty big guy, but it seems to me that his neck (what you can see of it anyway) and his wrists are kind of skinny. i don't have any scientific evidence to back it up, but in my experience skinny wrists and necks = injury prone. can't make a draft decision based on that, but i'm just saying.
2) saw parts of some sort of college football challenge yesterday. the biggest thing that jumped out at me after watching is that i still think vince young is going to be a freaking *star* -- and not a michael vick hype-machine kind of star, i mean a real live michael jordan kind of star. the second thing that jumped out at me was this chad jackson. he looks pretty damn smooth and confident out there. the way he calmly snatches the ball with his hands is impressive.
btw - here is an article about reggie brown in usatoday. also, hockey playoffs are going on -- i thought umberger was going to die after watching that hit, but it seems like he wants to play. phillies stink. still gillick's grace period for me, but boy do they stink.
posted by The Mean Guy at 10:09 AM
10 Comments:
Welcome back, Peter.
I know less about college players than anyone. Just can't see them picking another WR in round 1. Should the Eagles be moving up in drafts that are deep (i.e. this year) or content to sit and pick the best available?
Also, hockey's inability to broadcast playoff games to the non-Comcraptic paying public has now pushed the sport's relevancy for me down to curling and bowling. Yawn.
thanks, phil.
just to clarify, i don't think the birds will draft jackson, which is why i called him the people's choice. i think the birds will draft justice and will trade up to ensure they get him.
re: sitting back and taking the best player available. i think i read somewhere that the birds have a list of around 40 guys that they are "targeting". not sure what that means. i wonder if they rank all the available players 1-n and draft accordingly, or whether this shortlist of theirs indicates that they want to come out of the draft with specific players and move up and down to ensure they get them.
I was thinking more along the lines of the standard point chart that everyone uses. In deep drafts, it would make economic sense to move up (better bang for your buck) and/or trade picks to subsequent years.
Pete,
We're 18 games into the season. The Phillies will surprise you. Relax, enjoy the NFL draft, and let things play out for a little while. I'm seeing some good signs from the baseball team....
Ben
I was thinking more along the lines of the standard point chart that everyone uses. In deep drafts, it would make economic sense to move up (better bang for your buck) and/or trade picks to subsequent years.
i think they do probably use one of the point charts to evaluate offers to move up or down, but it seems like they have specific players targeted coming into the draft and move up and down based on those players' availability rather than just drafting the next guy on a list of hundreds.
We're 18 games into the season. The Phillies will surprise you. Relax, enjoy the NFL draft, and let things play out for a little while. I'm seeing some good signs from the baseball team....
i hope they don't stink all season, but right now they stink. manuel moving utley up in the order was a very good move but probably one that should have been made coming into the season.
what are your thoughts about all those left handed bats? too bad gillick wasn't able to move abreau for pitching. it would have solved two problems.
The Phillies have some problems, including too many lefties who aren't particularly effective against left-handers (Utley & Howard), and too many guys who strike out, and too many guys who try to hit too many home runs, but Abreu really isn't part of that problem and is having a terrific year, including in clutch situations (which is a surprise).
I wish Gillick could have moved Abreu for a front-line pitcher, but I wouldn't have given him away either. Lack of pitching will ultimately define the short end of the stick, but not until September.
Leiber stinks right now. Remove his 0-4 and I can live with what the other pitchers are doing, assuming Madson's last outing was a fluke (it wasn't because he's only started a handful of big league games, but he'll also have effective outings and should become more consistent as the season progresses. Myers is getting set to dominate. His stuff is unhittable when he throws strikes, which he used to be able to do and will do again more consistently in the near term.
I like Utley's batting 2nd, but think it's only a compromise move. How about this line-up:
Abreu
Rollins
Utley
Burrell
Howard
Rowand
Bell/Nunez (platoon)
Leiberthal/Fasano
Abreu really works the count and knows how to get on base. He can also steal a base and wouldn't clog anything up in front of Rollins and Utley. I realize he also can drive in a lot of runs, but I have no reason to think that Howard wouldn't pick up the loose change if he were batting higher in the order.
I have some of the same concerns that you do, but the Phillies won't "stink" before it's all said and done.
The Flyers, however, stink.
Ben
OK, Flyers played horrendously. Don't think coming home is going to help. Flyers out in 4.
I am seriously at a point where I might stop watching hockey. After hearing about the directive from the NHL commish to the refs to call everything during the playoffs, the way you can't even check a guy anymore, they're giving out game misconducts for shoving, the NHL, and broadcasters can't get their heads out of their asses and give us a definitive broadcast structure (HDTV, good announcers, etc..)and of course Bobby Clarke is the biggest dick out there. I just can't take it anymore.
Regarding the draft. I don't think the Eagles will trade up for anyone.
Regarding the Phillies, I still don't care. They suck, and like the flyers, as long as the upper ownership/mgmt stays the same, they're going to continue in the sucking dept. Sorry Ben.
- Joe
Abreu really works the count and knows how to get on base. He can also steal a base and wouldn't clog anything up in front of Rollins and Utley. I realize he also can drive in a lot of runs, but I have no reason to think that Howard wouldn't pick up the loose change if he were batting higher in the order
i'd love to see it. that idea has been floated for a few years, but phillies don't have enough sack to take the alfonso soriano approach and make him hit leadoff.
someone with abreau's ability should not be striking out as much as he does. he should hit leadoff and focus on hitting .350 with 18 homers instead of .290 with 28 homers.
I'm going to the draft! I've got my eagles gear ready, no matter how much crap i'll take for wearing it.
Go Birds!
By the way, what happened to Ernie Simms? I thought he was a probable first round pick...
-ko'c
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