– The whole Michael Vick debut last night was much ado about not very much, wasn’t it? He played early as promised, but he threw a total of four passes, barely ran, and otherwise only served as an unconvincing decoy. It was less than I expected to see by a fair bit, but nothing he did was concerning, either. It really shouldn’t be surprising that he was such an afterthought – he can’t play until week seven, so the Eagles have little incentive to spend a lot of time now working on him. All in all, the coverage of the lead up to this game was all smoke and no fire. There was another conclusion to come out of this game as well – the third preseason game is supposed to be the one where the top players are at their best and play the most, but this was a dull, lousy game that was not at all worth watching. If this isn’t an argument for why we don’t need fur preseason games then I don’t know what is.
– Byron Leftwich seems to have a pretty firm grasp on the starting gig in Tampa Bay after last night’s game. He wasn’t brilliant, but he was far better than the other options. Josh Freeman is the supposed QB of the future, but his performance against less than the other team’s best indicates that he is a ways away from being ready. This could be a good position for Leftwich, and I for one think that he deserves it.
– Ohio State just got a lot more interesting in week two. I was truly surprised to hear today that USC is going with a true freshman, Matt Barkley, to start the season at QB. I know that Aaron Corp missed some practice, and that Barkley is a highly touted QB – the most highly touted in his class – but USC has never used a true freshman before, and I’m not sure that it makes sense here when they have two guys with more time with the team, including one who has started eight game before in MitchMustain . Barkley will be fine in week one, but travelling to Columbus is tough for any player, never mind a rookie quarterback – no matter how good he is. If I had bought USC futures I would be looking to get out of them any way I could now. I’m not suggesting that this is the end of the world, or that USC is doomed – it just takes time for even the best freshmen to get comfortable, and USC has a schedule that will make it hard to find that time.
Love your picks, however I have to say that your insight on some things is glaringly lacking. Corp had a cracked fibula. All you have to do is tune into espn to know that. All I know is cracked fibula=less movement and that is what Corp had the advantage in. “Cracked fibula=you’re screwed Corp even though we know you will try to tough it out” regards P. Carroll.
As much as I could care less about each program prob. shouldn’t sleep on trojans against buckeyes unless Prior goes nuts. (Won’t touch either way). Quick one before I go LSU over 8 1/2 wins all tough home at night, enough said.
Regards,
TJ