Here are some comments from Gosselin's column today that will make you very jealous of how good football teams operate. This regards the most recent NFL draft......
Philadelphia finished the season with a league-high 10 rookies on the roster. Four of them were in the starting lineup when the Eagles stormed down the stretch with a four-game winning streak to capture second place in the NFC East.
On the season, Philadelphia’s rookie class started a combined 46 games. Only two NFL teams claimed more.
Center Jason Kelce and guard Danny Watkins were season-long starters in a Philadelphia offense that finished fifth in the NFL in rushing, ninth in passing and fourth overall. Watkins was a first-round pick and Kelce a sixth.
Brian Rolle also started at linebacker the final 13 games of the season for the NFL’s eighth-ranked defense and Jaiquawn Jarrett finished up as the starting free safety. Jarrett was a second-round pick and Rolle a sixth.
Fourth-rounder Casey Matthews also started games at linebacker, and fifth-rounder Dion Lewis returned kickoffs and served as the primary backup to Pro Bowl halfback LeSean McCoy.
In addition, the Eagles broke in two rookie specialists in 2011, fourth-round placekicker Alex Henery and undrafted punter Chas Henry. Henry converted 24 of 27 field goals on his way to a team runnerup 118 points and Henry compiled a net average of 37 yards with only nine touchbacks.
So the Eagles have something to show for their failure in 2011 -- a young, promising future.
Comment: The Eagles kept 10 of their 11 draft picks and the 11, seventh-round fullback Stanley Havili of Southern Cal, spent the season on the practice squad. Three other undrafted rookies finished the season on the roster.
April grade: C
January grade: A
The draft is there for a reason. Out with the old, over-paid, under-productive, and in with the hungry youth plucked from the college ranks. Only JJ doesn't know who to pluck. Some teams replenish while the Cowboys flounder. When I read articles like this I don't know whether to be angry or just resigned to our fate.
S
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1 comment:
This brings me to my biggest question on players and player development.
1. Is the scouting deptartment that always fails for the Cowboys or
2. Is the system of player development.
I tend to lean toward developement.
J.
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