One of the things I’ve started to do over the past few days now that free agency is slowing down is to read the comments on local stories about some of these signings. If you are reading an article from a particular source, sometimes you can gain some valuable insight into a player’s perceived worth from people who have watched him play a lot more than we have.
For example, check out some of the comments from the Cleveland.com story about Sean Jones signing with the Eagles…
MorePositive:
Mistake? Who can possibly think this a mistake. Good riddance. I was sick of the guy consistently hanging our corners out to dry with his blown coverages. He’s a run stopper, and good for picking garbage interceptions. Pass coverage? Negative. He’s very upgradable.
goldflash22:I don’t get why people are saying we are going to miss him so bad?? The guy was injured half of his time here and also was starting to catch that “Earl Little” disease, thinking he was a Pro Bowler when he had just a little success.
Criticizing a guy for blown coverages is one thing, but how can a guy be considered “injured half the time” when he’s only missed four games over the past four years? Even if he went through a lot of minor injuries, his track record suggests he may not be as injury-prone as some of these people might be hinting.
ceegee8017:
Congrats Sean, u get to play for a real organization and a winner. good luck.
You know your organization is in bad shape when you congratulate a guy for leaving Cleveland to play for a “winner” that has never won the Super Bowl.
Still, what can we take from all this…the fact that a majority of Browns fans are apathetic about losing Sean Jones yet the Philly media (including myself) is playing this up as a great move? Well there’s always the possibility that the Browns fans may be a bit biased against Jones since he is no longer with their team (Philly fans do this a lot). At the same time, a majority of Eagles fans have not seen Jones play every week for the past four years so we may be excited about Jones’ age and big numbers but we don’t have a detailed scouting report on the player.For all we know Jones could be the second coming of Dawkins, or a younger version of Blaine Bishop.
The Eagles front office, however, clearly sees enough in Jones to give him a shot.
Sometime all a guy needs is a fresh start, and when your team has absolutely no pass rush life tends to be difficult for your secondary. Jones could realistically florish in an enviornment where the opposing QB is pressured early and often.
Bottomline: while opposing fans may have their biases, looking at what they have to say about a departing player could definitely give us a more realistic idea of what to expect instead of relying on a media that is typically just preaching the optimistic message of the Eagles front office.
This works both ways, as well.
When Greg Lewis was traded to New England Boston Globe sportswriter Mike Reiss attempted to analyze Lewis. A short snippit:
It will be interesting to see if Lewis, who spent the first six years of his career with the Eagles, can add that same type of versatility. One area where he figures to contribute more than Gaffney is special teams. Lewis, who totaled 19 receptions for 247 yards and a touchdown last season, also is faster than Gaffney, so in theory, the idea would be that his speed could open opportunities for Randy Moss on the opposite side of the field, and for Wes Welker underneath.
The special teams point is valid, but Reiss is throwing around the idea that Lewis could be a #3 option to spread the field and create openings for Moss and Welker. I’m throwing around the idea that Mike Reiss was drunk/stoned/blowing Bill Belichick as he wrote this (nothing personal Mike, but have you ever watched G-Lew play?!? Evidently not.)
Greg Lewis, as we all know by now, is garbage as a receiver. He has decent speed and hands, but his lack of size hurts him about as much as his lack of consistency. You wouldn’t know that from reading the comments on Reiss’ article though:
Nikos:
Nice analysis Mike. I see no downside with this move…Lewis has good hands and great speed. He’s a backup WR for the most part w/special teams skills. Good athlete who makes big plays, He can go over the middle, despite his size, and runs inside and outside.
Eagles fans watched Greg Lewis for what feels like 20 years…20 long, excruciatingly-painful years. Would you say he is a good athlete who makes big plays? Ummm….let me think about that….FUCK NO!
George:
im a die-hard eagles fan, and frankly, lewis just isnt that good. i guess hes ok b/c you can throw him on special teams, but he really just isnt a good wide receiver. And hes not that fast just to let you know. He’ll be the guy that you feel bad for.
Sonny Corolione:
George, can’t say that his numbers are outstanding but as a third option that’s a pretty nice package. He’ll definitely get his share of balls thrown at him. Simply looking at the numbers and what we gave up it’s a great deal. A vet, under $1 mil, and he’s fast & tall.
Fast and tall? Do these people WATCH football?!? And what numbers was this guy looking at? Maybe all 19 of those catches Greg had last season…or the whopping 13 he had the year before?!?
Wait, am I being too logical for you? That’s fine, just go back to your imaginary dream land where Belichick is God, Brady is Jesus, and Welker is your fuck buddy. Don’t mind me.
Denehy1:
Hey Richie, Exactly… as you said that SCRUB Lewis did that below average 48 rec, 561 yd season IN FREAKIN 2005 that was FOUR YEARS AGO, HELLO, ANYBODY HOME McFLY? Greg Lewis SUCKS.
Ritchie:
Denehy1,
You completely missed the point of my post.
By the way, since you know so much, how many Superbowl rings do you have? None? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Bill Belichick knows what he is doing.
And THERE IT IS! The perceived arrogance a vast majority of Pats fans possess. I call it, “We have more Super Bowls than you” syndrome. Hey Ritchie, just cause your team cheated to win it all a few times doesn’t mean you know jack shit about football!
I will admit this: there were several Pats fans on their who realized this deal would not have the same impact as trading a 4th rounder for Randy Moss did, but the ample amount of idealist stupidity leads me to make one assumption…
When a team acquires a new player, it is human nature to assume that whatever kept him from playing to his full potential with his last team will be rectified by a location change.
Sometimes this proves to be true (see: Moss, Randy) and other times it just doesn’t quite work out as you would have hoped (see: Owens, Terrell). But at the end of the day no matter how many times we’ve been burned, a majority of us will still have our hopes up that the next player the Eagles sign will lead us to the promised land.
And that’s just fine with me, as long as you get your facts straight.
