Peter King makes an odd choice

You know, sometimes we all have to wonder about the qualifications of some of these TV/Radio/Internet NFL pundits, myself included. Yesterday I received my weekly Sports Illustrated and like I usually do I open it to the NFL articles first. Yesterday I went right to the “Inside the NFL” section first because I was short on time. This section is done by Peter King and this week it included his All-Pro team. Obviously, because I’m writing this, it raised a little ire in my soul.

All in all, his All-Pro team is not too bad, some players here and there could have been flip-flopped, but one position stood out like a sore thumb. That position is cornerback. Maybe this was some kind of joke, I don’t know, but one of King’s choices for All-Pro cornerback was the Oakland Raiders  Nnamdi Asomugha. OK, no problem, I have never heard of him really, but I’ll look him up. Not saying Charles Woodson should have been his choice, but being a Packers’ fan and considering the great year Woodson had, I thought I would compare Asomugha’s 2008 stats to Woodson, who we all know ended up second in the NFL with seven interceptions.

Here are the numbers:

Tackles:  Woodson 62, Asomugha 40.

Sacks:  Woodson 3, Asomugha 0.

Interceptions:  Woodson 7, Asomugha 1.

Passes defended:  Woodson 17, Asomugha 9.

Mr. King’s comment about Asomugha is this:  “Became the league’s best CB this year”.

I have to wonder if King watched any other cornerbacks this year. He probably saw one Raiders game and Asomugha dazzled him so ergo, he gets the vote. That is the problem with most of these guys, they don’t see very many actual games. Only the big games or prime-time games, so their opinions are based on a half-dozen glances at a player or team, or less. They don’t have the luxury of watching every game like I do with NFL Ticket because most of the time they are working at the time. So I can understand a little, but to pick a guy like Asomugha over Woodson or probably a dozen other corners is absolutely ludicrous. I’ve lost a little respect for Mr. King.

And let me make this clear, this rant is not just about Woodson, hell, Tramon Williams probably had as good of numbers as  Asomugha, in fact the other 31 teams all probably had a guy with better numbers than Asomugha. This is just about a guy getting paid a handsome sum to report on the NFL and obviously doesn’t do his homework or is being paid-off. I do think guys like King and Chris Mortensen of ESPN and Adam Schefter of NFL Network are always trying to one-up each other, at this point, and maybe because it is the NFL Network, Schefter has clearly become the top of the class. Schefter is usually the first to report and is always right. I would love to see his All-Pro team.

I don’t claim to be an expert by any means, but I know I see more games than most of these guys other than Shefter. So I think I know a little bit about the NFL, certainly not an expert but I certainly wouldn’t pick a guy like Asomugha to my All-Pro team, that is for sure. Most fans, when you think about it, see more different teams play than the network guys. A guy or gal who watches all the Packers games sees 10 different teams outside the usual six division games. My guess is a top-level network guy sees maybe half that many teams as they always following the top teams or games that are on their prime-time schedule. How many times have you heard an announcer group say “this is the fourth time we saw them this year and blah, blah, blah”, they focus on the big names and big teams only.

So the bottom line is don’t let these guys who don’t cover your team cause you any angst. They don’t know jack (I used to love that PC game). The opinions you get from the local guys from the Gazette and JS Online are much more realistic. Myself, I’m not a reporter, I’m not getting paid from anybody, I’m just a fan who loves to rant about my favorite team, and judging from your responses, you are too. If you look back at our rants over the past season, many of the things we thought needed to happen have now happened, whether it be during the season or since the season ended.

Who do you think is the most trusted or most despised columnist or reporter? P. King is moving up my despised list, obviously Schefter is on top of my trusted list. I also like Mortensen. Jay Glazer is also very good. Who do you trust?

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 8th, 2009 at 8:12 pm and is filed under Al Davis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • AATP

    When it comes to reporters or just the guys that call the game I really enjoy listening to Jaws (Ron Jaworski). I realize he’s not a reporter, but he always seems to have the right call and has such an educational look on the game and then passes that on to his viewers. Too bad he’s paired with the likes of a “reporter” and a mediator.

  • Cody

    Al, I agree with you that the these people need to do research, but I for one am not against Asomugha as the pick. He is a shut down corner and lets nothing get bye him. Yes, I love Woodson, and would probably pick Woodson over Aso, but the stat that I love the most is that opposing qbs only threw the ball in the direction of Aso 27 times, for only 8 completions. They only throw it at him 27 times because he is that good. It is also worth mentioning that his Only pick came while defending Steve Smith, and he held Smith to ONLY 1 reception for 9 yards in that game. This dude is for real, and he is a free agent this year, I for one would love it if TT jumped out and took another great CB from Raiderville like he did a few years ago, it may even work out just as well…
    But Al, I hope you see my point, the glamour stats that Woodson racked up were legit and for real, but the respect that Aso recieved from other qbs is what put him on the all pro team.

  • Pete H

    Asomugha is an absolute stud. He doesn’t have stats because they just won’t throw at him. I’m not saying he is better than Woodson, I don’t think he is, but you also have to consider that he has NO help from anyone else on that team, offense or defense. Stats for corners can lie a little. Think about Harris. He doesn’t put up gawdy numbers either, but he also always has the #1 guy on the opposition and he usually gives up around 700 receiving yards a season, hence, the guy has only made one pro bowl.

  • Lew

    Al, Peter King is right- the best pure cover corner in the league right now is Asomugha. It’s a corner- you can’t look at stats. Don’t get me wrong, you can make a case for Chuck who had a fabulous year but you need to order NFL ticket if you have never heard of him!!

  • Pack4life

    Nnamdi would be better than taking a rookie CB#9 over all. We have a good secondary now but to really move forward the Pack needs a great secondary. Free Agency TT also this is a deep draft please no moving down.

  • Michael Legat

    Sad but true, Al. Asomugha’s numbers are so low because offenses won’t go near him. He is that good. Not to say I’m not very, very, very happy with Charles Woodson.

  • Matt Hayton

    Sorry, Al. King is right. Asomugha is a beast! In both Denver games this year, Cutler only threw to his receiver a total of 3x (once the first game and 2 the second)…it was big deal on Sportscenter, at the time. The guy is ridiculously good. Woodson is a stud in his own right, but Asomugha is the leagues’ top corner, hands down. But no one knows about him because he plays in Oakland.

    If he played for the Eagles, Patriots, Giants, Bears, etc., this guy would be a household name. 3 years ago the guy had 8 picks and then the last 2 years NO ONE has thrown at him. Here’s an article, which speaks to this: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2008/10/15/nnamdi-asomugha-not-getting-tested-michael-huff-may-lose-starti/

    Here’s an excerpt from that article-
    From Raiders beat writer Jerry McDonald:
    Asomugha recounted one pass thrown at him in each game, with the exception of the Chiefs game, when there was two. Every week he talks himself into believing it will be the game where teams will come after him, and every week he’s wrong. He writes all of it down in a spiral bound notebook he showed to reporters Wednesday. “Don’t get lazy because they’re not throwing at you,” Asomugha wrote in his book, followed by reminders of what can happen if he happens to let his guard down for even a single play.
    McDonald also writes that Asomugha only saw 35 passes come his way during the 2007 season. My amateur math skills tell me 35 passes, divided by 16 games, is 2.1 passes per game. That seems like a ridiculously low number. If he keeps seeing one pass per game, he’s not even going to sniff that number in 2008. That’s the sign of a great cornerback, when you’re so good teams don’t even bother looking your way.

  • TRIP

    You Don’t Know Jack was a great game! Ahh, I miss it.

    I peeped that article too, and I agree Al. (Don’t be too shocked) lol

  • Roy Jamison

    Winston Moss’ interviews harken back to the days that Sherm Lewis had the token interviews in Dallas etc. If the reports are correct about his interview in St. Louis, you wonder how he is even a candidate. There have to be other minority candidates who are much more qualified but not even getting a chance. Even a guy in the college ranks like Turner Gill would be a better choice. This leads me to believe Moss has learned ZERO from MM. Or, neither one of them knows anything about defense.

  • Maxaz1

    Great replies by Matt Hayton, Cody & Michael Legat. Al you need to start looking at other players. Stats are not always the way analyze players. Just because they are not packers doesn’t mean there not good. Also your current poll should have “none of the above” on it. Nolan will be a disaster. We need leaders.

  • Roy Jamison

    Maxaz1, I hope I am wrong but Nolan probably will get this job because that’s the way the current regime works. Instead of looking at a “Big Picture” idea of what the Packers’ defense should be,TT and MM both agreed on the Jim Bates scheme, ran it with Jim Bates subordinates, stocked it with inadequate players to execute it, and in the end blamed the failure on the coaches. Again, I say, as MM, the church lady, would say, “Isn’t that CONVENIENT!”

  • Roy Jamison

    Has MM got around to axing himself yet?

  • http://www.packernet.com admin

    I guess I’m wrong on this one, must not have watched the lowly Raiders enough. Still, the numbers say he doesn’t make big plays, even if teams avoid him. Not to mention the Raiders defense was horrible and gave up 160 yards per game on the ground, 2nd worst in the league, so there wasn’t much reason to pass against them. It would be interesting to see him on a team that is contending and has a good corner opposite him. Is he a free agent soon? He can replace Al Harris.

  • Scott S

    I remember watching Inside The NFL when the big news was the Patriot’s cheating scandal. Dan Marino stated that knowing the defensive signals would be a huge advantage to a quarterback. In a later segment Peter King declared the advantage would be minimal. That told me Peter King was spouting what he felt, not what he knew and therefore his “expert” opinion meant squat. I’ll take Marino’s word over Peter King’s in that instance and in my opinion Peter King is discredited and I’m not inclined to believe anything he has to say. I feel the same way about Tony Kornheiser and only listen to him on MNF because the radio announcers are never in sync with the TV. What qualifies these jokers to be called “experts” is beyond my meager imagination.

  • Cody

    Al, he is a free agent now, and I would love it if TT went after him.

  • http://www.packernet.com admin

    After being enlightened, me too.

  • Pete H

    He would be awfully expensive with minimal now impact for the money.

  • Kat

    Hey, shutting down one side of the Defensive back field is priceless. And will be damn expensive too. Are u kidding? That is so worth the money. It sure makes all the other guys jobs a ton easier. That whole side nobody needs to aid the player? Wow, one can only dream of signing such a player. REmember Mike Haynes? Played for the Raiders, i forget who he played for before them. Anyway, he was worth his weight in gold. I suppose you, PETE, wounld’nt of paid that guy either? Sometimes to be the best you must hire the best and the rest comes quickly.