Asante, Donovan, and DRC

Jim Wyatt reports from Tennessee that the Titans are lukewarm on Asante and a deal isn’t likely to get done with them.  Wyatt is a good writer and reliable reporter.  The Titans must be telling him this directly.

That said, his report has to be taken with a grain of salt.  The Titans gain nothing from telling him a deal is close.  If it falls apart, they look bad.  Just look at the circus with Miami and Doug Flynn or Cleveland and RG3.  I’m sure Wyatt is reporting what the Titans are telling him.  I’m just not sure they are telling the whole truth.   We’ll see how this plays out.

Mike O’Hara of FOXSportsDetroit.com says that the Lions remain a possible trade partner for the Eagles.  The Lions desperately need a good CB.  The hold up there is money.  They are tight against the Cap and making room for Asante would not be easy, even with him willing to restructure his deal.

Asante is a good player.  NFL teams need good CBs.  I expect something will get done between now and the draft.  Expect a lot of Asante updates between now and then.

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Donovan McNabb went on ESPN and ripped Team Shanny.  Very mixed feelings on this.  First up, Donovan is right to rip Team Shanny.  Mike and his faithful sidekick (AKA son) Kyle have done little to make Skins fans miss coach Jim Zorn and QB Jason Campbell.  We can hear all kinds of great tales about what Mike did with Steve Young and John Elway, but that’s ancient history.  Think anyone cares what I was doing in 1994 or 1998?  (hint – it involved donuts, beer, and football)

Mike is living a bit too much off the past for my taste.  The guy still has a terrific offensive mind, but he hasn’t churned out dynamic offenses in recent years the way that you would think.  The Broncos were 2nd in yards in 2008, but Shanny hasn’t been Top 10 in points scored since 2005.  Mike Labinjo still had a future at that point.  (God, I loved Labinjo.  I just knew he was going to be a good player.  Alas…)

I think the NFL world sees that Mike is fading a bit.  I think he knows that and it is why he traded up for RG3.  Shanny needs stars.  My biggest issue with Shanny is that he’s addressing a situation now in Year 3 that he should have done to start with.  Shanny thought he could deal for Donovan, force him into a new offense, and get good results.  Shanny should have focused on getting a young QB that he could mold the way he wanted.

That said, Donovan is lobbing some serious bricks at Team Shanny and doing this while living in a house made of the thinnest glass in history.  Donovan says this about the problems in DC:

“You’re only as good as the guys around you, and also you have to be in a system that’s catered to your ability.”

Donovan, Donovan, Donovan.  The Shanny system is about play fakes and throwing the ball vertically.  The best thing you do these days is throw downfield.  You have never been good at play fakes with any consistency, but that’s on you.

Really what Donovan is upset about is how Team Shanny treated him.  Donovan was an entitled player in Philly.  He was the face of the franchise and he got along great with the staff.  Nobody questioned him.

That was the polar opposite of the Skins.  Mike and Kyle didn’t like the physical shape he was in.  They didn’t like the fact Donovan was slow to pick up the playbook.  They didn’t like the way he executed the offense.  And they let Donovan know about it, over and over.  This was a match made in hell…like tartar sauce and brownies.

Donovan could have met Team Shanny halfway and shown that he was willing to change, but he stood his ground and the situation blew up.  At that time, I was on Donovan’s side as much as I could be.

Unfortunately Donovan had similar issues in Minnesota.  Leslie Frazier and Darrell Bevell didn’t try to bully McNabb, but they did want him to get off the high horse and deal with reality.  Instead, Donovan asked for a booster seat.  That led to him being cut.

I loved Donovan when he was at Syracuse.  So much fun to watch.  I loved him as an Eagle.  The last 2 years have flat out sucked.  Donovan has made a fool of himself and he’s undone the goodwill he spent more than a decade building up.  Ranting against Team Shanny on ESPN only makes him look bad.  I appreciate the fact he was willing to speak out, but I need him to admit his own mistakes so that I can buy into him being an analyst.  Right now he comes across more like a jilted lover.  Sad to see.

And I do think RG3 has the mind and skill set to thrive in the Shanahan system.  He will come in there with no sense of entitlement and ready to work.  Donovan asked Team Shanny to use screen passes because that’s what worked in Philly.  I can’t see RG3 telling them to mix in some stuff he likes because “we burned Kansas for a TD with this play”.

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The last post had some discussion of DRC.  What kind of a player his he and what is his future?  DRC was great in 2009.  He stunk up the joint in 2010.  DRC was all over the place in 2011.  He played well down the stretch.  The light seemed to come on for him.  And really, that’s all that needs to happen.  He has the physical tools to be an elite CB.

This isn’t a case of Dimitri Patterson having a couple of good games and then getting exposed.  DRC has special talent.  He is one of the fastest, most athletic players in the league.  The one issue with him is mental toughness.  DRC has to play up to his ability no matter what is going on around him.  He didn’t in 2010.  He didn’t early in 2011.

I fully expect DRC to be a good player in 2012.  I don’t know that he’ll jump all the way back to being a Pro Bowl CB, but it is certainly possible.  I think starting at LCB and knowing his role will be a huge boost to his confidence.  Also, being here for Year 2 will make him feel more at home.

The Eagles will try to extend his deal sometime this year.  They could gamble and do it this summer.  They could do it during the season.  If DRC has a good year, his price will only go up. If nothing can be worked out, the team could always franchise him next offseason.  Hopefully it won’t come to that.

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Sheil Kapadia put up a good post on Asante and looking inside the numbers.  Excellent stuff, as always.