I suppose I'll go with Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel. It's a short list. They haven't been perfect, but they've still made some fine plays.
From: Ford, Bob
To: Gonzalez, John; Sheridan, Phil
Subject: The good, bad and disaster list
I think McNabb has been fine, not the main problem by any means, and I say that knowing half the fans in this town hate him wicked. He's one of only 10 quarterbacks in the league with a passer rating over 90 this season and, despite the interception last week, has thrown only five picks in 324 attempts. But what he hasn't done is pick up the team on his back and carry it. Sometimes quarterbacks can do that with outstanding individual seasons. Kurt Warner in Arizona is doing that this season for the Cardinals, who would be in the toilet without him.
I don't really have a best-player list. I did compile a disaster list of players who, if they were lost for the season to injury, would hurt the team most by their absence, in order of disaster. See how it compares to yours: McNabb, Westbrook, Juqua Parker, Tra Thomas, Jackson, Jon Runyan, Darren Howard, Quintin Mikell, Todd Herremans, Trent Cole.
From: Sheridan, Phil
To: Gonzalez, John; Ford, Bob
Subject: The good, bad and disaster list
I agree on McNabb, again risking scorn and toxic e-mails from the masses. People don't want to hear this, but the offense this team runs relies heavily on timing and continuity to be at its most effective (would that it also relied on a strong running game, but that's a different issue).
Given the changing availability of his main weapons and the burdens of executing a deliberately one-dimensional game plan every week, McNabb has been pretty darn good. The Eagles need him to be great, though. The trap is that the harder Andy Reid's quirks make it on the quarterback, the more Reid needs the QB to overcome the quirks.
I'd replace Howard on Ford's disaster list with Mike Patterson. Howard has been fine in his role, but Patterson is a cornerstone. And I'd add Samuel way high on the list, ahead of everyone except the QB, Westbrook and maybe the left OT.
Sav Rocca's having a decent year, by the way. You know things are a little wobbly when you have to tout the punter as one of the positives.
From: Ford, Bob
To: Gonzalez, John; Sheridan, Phil
Subject: The good, bad and disaster list
No argument about slipping in Patterson somewhere, although Howard has six sacks. But I've been underwhelmed by Samuel and didn't include him because I didn't think going back to Brown and Lito Sheppard would be as big a dropoff as, say, having to substitute one of the yutz O-line backups for Runyan, Thomas or Herremans.
From: Gonzalez, John
To: Ford, Bob; Sheridan, Phil
Subject: The good, bad and disaster list
My disaster list begins and ends with "Talkin'."
