Interesting little quote from Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome in the Baltimore Sun yesterday, who thinks that 2nd year players will be hurt the most by a lockout. Unfortunately, his comments make a ton of sense:
"I think the group that could get hurt the most by the work stoppage is last year's draft class on all 32 teams," Newsome said."Because this is where they get the opportunity to start from March to go all the way to Game 1, to work with coaches, to work with strength coaches and get themselves better and become better football players."
Anyone with 2 eyes and a brain that attended training camp last offseason saw how good LeSean McCoy was going to be in 2010. He already had the talent, but with an entire offseason to work on getting his game to an NFL level, he excelled.
This quote from Newsome should be of particular concern to Eagles fans, since the Eagles have an absurd number of 2nd year players on their roster, many of whom showed flashes of NFL ability during their rookie seasons. A quick list of the Eagles' (15) 2nd year players:
Brandon Graham, Nate Allen, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, Trevard Lindley, Keenan Clayton, Clay Harbor, Mike Kafka, Ricky Sapp, Riley Cooper, Jamar Chaney, Kurt Coleman, Jeff Owens, Austin Howard, Jorrick Calvin, and Jamar Wall.
Many Eagles fans are frustrated because the large number of big-name players that are going to be available in free agency are untouchable until a CBA gets worked out. It's equally frustrating knowing that Kevin Kolb will very likely bring good value in return should the Eagles deal him.... but again, that's not happening until a new CBA is in place. You can now add this comment by Newsome to the pile, which in my opinion, might be the most frustrating "lockout annoyance" of the three.