Adios McCoy

Eagles LB Matt McCoy was cut yesterday. What was surprising was not that he was ultimately let go – he lost his starting job last year after the Colts debacle – but the timing of it. In the middle of the season with no warning. Clearly Reid wanted to send a message to the team about the ongoing rash of penalties (including many dumb ones such as McCoy’s 15 yard personal foul on Sunday when he went out of his way to hit the Vikings punter). If only Reid had similarly acted last year and cut Jerome McDougle after his retarded personal foul against the Buccaneers that contributed to that loss. To be fair to McCoy, the guy was always out there trying to hit somebody, but there is an important difference between being physically aggressive and undisciplined. He often played right up to that line. On Sunday, he crossed it.

 

I’m also presuming that the move means the Eagles coaches are more and more comfortable with rookie Stewart Bradley backing up most of the LBs, and that if an injury occurred among the starters that some shifting would occur and Bradley would fit in to whatever role was needed.

 

The conclusion of McCoy’s time with the team finally ends what is most likely the worst draft pick of Andy Reid’s tenure, which is saying something in light of the Freddie Mitchell and Jerome McDougle selections. What made the Matt McCoy pick so terrible is that it was such a reach in the second round, #63 overall.

 

McCoy was 2^nd team all conference at San Diego St. But what really added to the misery of Eagles’ fans was that McCoy was clearly not even the best LB on his own college team. Aztec teammate Kirk Morrison was a two-time All-american during the same time as McCoy, the only other two-time AA SDSU beside Marshall Faulk. Incredibly, the Eagles had the opportunity to take either LB at #63 and though any moron could tell just by collegiate accomplishments which was the better defender, the Eagles took McCoy. Since joining the Raiders after being drafted in the 3^rd round (one behind McCoy), Morrison (6’2” 240 lbs.) has been one of the league’s leading tacklers (116 tackles in 2005 and 127 tackles in 2006).

 

Sadly, McCoy joins a long list of failed Eagles LB acquired during the Reid regime. The list is long and undistinguished: Barry Gardener, Quinton Caver, Mark Simoneaux, Keith Adams, Greg Richmond, Tyreo Harrison, Torrance Daniels, Nate Wayne, Dhani Jones, etc. What did they all have in common? They were either dumb (Caver) or physically overmatched (Gardner, Simoneaux, Wayne, McCoy).

 

What is it about the Eagles’ personnel department that makes them absolutely incapable of evaluating linebacker talent? Their track record of failure does not bode well for Chris Gocong nor Omar Gaither in the long run.

 

Perhaps most laughable is the ridiculous statements put out by Reid and Heckert trying to put lipstick on this pig.  "Matt did a nice job when he was here. We just thought we would make the switch. I'm sure Matt is going to hook on with somebody else and do a great job for them," said Reid. “I’d be shocked if he wasn’t a star in this league,” said Heckert (though I can’t confirm this quote and its timing. This may have been uttered at the time of the draft). We’ll see. It’s better than even money that McCoy doesn’t play another down of professional football.