HOTW: Baldy

Yes, chiming in with a Hater of the Week award, even when it seems everyone's a hater this year. One must really distinguish oneself in these times, and Brian Baldinger has done so with this gem:

"The quarterback can't play. He's a bust. Darren McFadden is a bust. He won't stay healthy in this league. He's had only one good game. They have drafted poorly. They are easily scouted. The defense plays schemes that don't make sense. They play the ends out wide, and play the safeties too deep. Al Davis always believes that you have a deep safety, but Atlanta exploited that with Michael Turner. And to just see how bad Russell is, you have to look at what Matt Ryan did in that game. Russell just doesn't know what he is doing."

While John will protest, I can almost let the Russell comments go. JaMarcus is the quarterback, was the #1 pick, is in his second year, and hasn't looked good lately. But declaring McFadden a bust? That's just crazy. It is something a blowhard throws out there off the top of his head when he's hosting an online chat session.

Turf toe is a bad injury to have in the NFL. It's one of those that tends to ruin an entire season, but allows the player to limp (literally) through most of the games. I'm no doctor, but it doesn't seem to be a chronic injury or something from which you can't fully recover. To declare McFadden a bust after he's had the bad luck to have two turf toe injuries is dumb.

The "easily scouted," "schemes that don't make sense," "ends out wide," and "safeties too deep" comments are intriguing. Would be nice to see it broken down intelligently with Sterling Sharpe, though.