Scoreless Tie


Monday, April 05, 2010

Obligatory Donovan McNabb musings

Okay, so No. 5 is going to be a Redskin. I still think that McNabb is one of the 10 best QB's in the NFL. I'm not sure if Football Outsiders agrees with that, though. Certainly McNabb is an upgrade over Jason Campbell. The question is, can Kevin Kolb perform as well as Donovan McNabb?

One knock on the Redskins was that they had the worst QB in the division. McNabb, Romo and even Eli are no doubt better than Campbell. (Even if Eli didn't deserve the Super Bowl MVP award). Arguably, the Eagles now have the least quality at starting QB. I'm not sure this moves the Skins out of the cellar, but it keeps that Cowboys as the clear front runners in the NFC East. I have to wonder if the Eagles can do better than 2-4 in the division in 2010. They might go 1-5. This could make it tough to make the playoffs, let alone win the division.

Then there is the wisdom of trading within the division. In 2007, the Eagles traded their No. 1 pick to the Cowboys. In 2009, the Eagles lost 3 games to the Cowboys. While I trot out the maxim, "Correlation does not indicated causation" at the drop of a hat, I have to wonder if the 2007 trade didn't have more of a financial than a football influence. I also have to wonder that if the Eagles had picked a player with that pick if they wouldn't have possibly had just enough to win one of those 3 games in 2009.

Fast forward to December of 2011. Will Mike Shanahan be able to cobble together enough of an offensive line to give Donovan McNabb a chance to put together a superlative season? Will we see Kevin Kolb getting hurried and sacked, Leonard Weaver unable to pick up a 3rd and 1, the Redskins going on to win the NFC East while the Eagles sit home? There is risk in football. I hope this move makes Joe Banner and Andy Reid look likes gutsy geniuses. I fear it will make them look like penny-pinching accountants and not football people.




Saturday, April 03, 2010

Liberty's Dan Persa is QB1 at NW

"Dan Persa is all but assured of becoming Northwestern's new starting quarterback" according to Teddy Greenstein on Chicago Breaking Sports. Of course, 'Iron Cat' succeeding Kafka at quarterback is a headline to which only Gregg Easterbrook or Dennis Miller could do justice. The espn blog entry is a little less existential, saying that Persa "looked sharp for the most part."