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Prisco defecates on decency, accuracy
Cold, Hard Football Facts for April 1, 2007
The stench that emanates from Pete Prisco's copy never ceases to amaze us. He shits on common sense and accuracy so often that his columns reek like a pigskin Port-a-Potty.
In his most recent piece of football feces to (dis)grace CBS Sportsline.com, he rates LSU QB JaMarcus Russell as the No. 20 player in the upcoming draft.
Twentieth best prospect? You gotta be shitting us.
Like most of Prisco's pieces, he seems to raise a stink exclusively to get attention, kinda like the potty-trained child who starts crapping his pants once a baby sibling comes along.
Russell is a 6-6, 250-pound junior with a cannon arm and a great touch, from a major college football factory that plays in the toughest conference (the SEC) in NCAA football. Against the best competition in college football, he posted a 25-4 mark as a starter, going back to his freshman year. Twentieth he ain't.
Prisco uses one paragraph (and, of course, nothing fact-based or substantial) to make his case:
"I just don't see the pinpoint passing, the great timing of the throws or his feel for the pocket. He's careless with the ball, at times, and he struggled against the better college defenses."
You'll notice it's classic Prisco: Not a single Cold, Hard Football Fact is used to support his argument. There's a good reason why: the Cold, Hard Football Facts roundly refute his argument.
OK. Let's assess this factless stinkbomb.
1. "I don't see the pinpoint passing"
Russell went from 50.7 percent completions as a freshman to 60.5 percent as a soph and then to an excellent 67.8 percent last year as a junior. That ranked him sixth in a nation of 118 Division 1 football teams – pretty accurate, we'd say.
2. "He's careless with the ball"
Hmm. Well, eight interceptions in 342 pass attempts last year (2.3 percent) doesn't really sound careless. In LSU's 13 games last year, Russell went nine games without throwing a single pick. And all the scouting reports we've seen laud him for his ability to avoid fumbles (8 fumbles, 4 lost in 2006).
3. "He struggled against better college defenses"
Russell's lowest passer rating in any individual game last year was 98.66 (24 of 41, 228 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT) against Florida – the same Florida team that humiliated Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith of Ohio State in the national title game (4 of 14, 35 yards, 1 INT). In reality, Russell barely struggled at all. He did throw seven of his eight interceptions in the five games against ranked teams (three against Florida). However, he also had a passer rating of 132.99 in those five games. That number was better than 70 percent of the NCAA quarterbacks managed for the season. He finished the season with a 167.0 passer rating (232 of 342, 3,129 yards, 28 TD, 8 INT), third best in the nation.
By the way, Russell led LSU to an 11-2 record and a No. 3 ranking in the country last season. They suffered a 4-point loss at perennial power Auburn (which ended the season No. 8) and a 23-10 loss at Florida, the same team that destroyed top-ranked Ohio State, 41-14, in the national title game.
Looks like you went 0-for-3, Prisco. And, as always, your column stinks like No. 2.
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