Ayt wrote:No offense to you guys, but **** reporters. It is pointless to make any conclusions based on what they say. People should put a single grain of salt into what they say and instead they put an entire handful. Which reporter last year thought Zombo had no chance to make the roster while also thinking Obiozor was the best OLB prospect outside of Matthews?
There are other examples obviously, but when it comes to subjective judgments I basically give these guys no credence. I certainly appreciate the coverage, but I tend to completely ignore what they say beyond injuries and who is taking snaps with the 1st or 2nd team. Beyond that they don't provide much of anything, unless it is a story that has quotes from people that actually matter.
What are you talking about? All McGinn and Silverstein reported about Wilson was that he wasn't standing out at all in practice and that in charting the one on ones vs the DL/OL, they listed who have won and lost. Wilson he said has struggled badly in them. Unless you watched these practices and one on ones, what do you have to base that McGinn and Silverstein have been wrong about how Wilson has performed? Just a wild guess? Plus, both were very quick early on to say the opposite about how Cobb looked in camp. Should we have just dismissed the good things they said about Cobb because they supposedly know little about football?
As for guys like McGinn and Silverstein having no idea what they are talking about, i can recall numerous times over the years where they mentioned certain lesser know guys and rookies who looked good early in camp, and then those guys went on to become players, Shields being a prime example last year before he showed himself in games. They've also been right numerous times about when they thought some some draft picks looked bad in camp and those guys ended up becoming nothing. I still remember being nervous when McGinn reported early on that Jamal Reynolds couldn't beat barley any of the lineman in one on one battles.
McGinn is one of the most respected football beat writers out there and rightfully so. I respect Silverstein a lot also. Few football teams get better coverage than what Packer fans get from McGinn and Silverstein. Just because they don't quickly spot every single young kid who becomes something doesn't mean they aren't good at their jobs. Hell, professional GM's around the league with a bevy of scouts sit and watch film on players until their eyes bleed and still they make tons of mistakes. Release guys like Tramon Williams and many others who later become good to top notch players with other teams. So if you're expecting beat writers to spot each gem early in camp and almost never be wrong, you have some seriously unrealistic expectations. McGinn has also generally been very good about predicting before a year starts about how the team will do.
Plus, i don't ever see you throwing out these type of rants about how clueless McGinn and/or Silverstein are when they talk up players you like in camp. They say Wilson has struggled in camp and now they are idiots. Sorry Ayt, but while i respect you as a poster, not only will i generally take McGinn's and/or Silverstein's observations over yours, i'll definitely take their observations of what they are actually seeing in camp over someone who isn't even there watching. Neither guy has any reason to not just report what they see and if they say that Wilson has struggled badly in the one on ones with offensive lineman, i'm confident that it was obvious enough that they are right. Of course though, that doesn't mean once the games start, Wilson won't be productive.
