April 21, 2020
Don’t blow it. Wise words of advice that will be thrown around our great city plenty ahead of Thursday night. The good news for Eagles GM Howie Roseman heading into the opening round of the NFL Draft? It’s going to be pretty difficult to screw up — that is, if you’re like me and want a wide receiver.
I’m grateful for so many people taking the time to break down film on the top three wideouts heading into the draft. I love that there are so many people on Twitter and beyond who post film sessions for us. With all that said, I don’t really care who it is anymore, only that they address their biggest need: making life easier for Carson Wentz.
That’s it. That’s the post. Make life easier for your franchise quarterback or start tightening up your résumé.
Drafting an interior linebacker – as great as the other running backs are in this division – is a waste in the first round. Trading out and taking anyone who doesn’t play WR is a waste. Drafting anyone with your first pick that doesn’t catch passes is a waste. Here’s who makes the 27-year-old franchise quarterback's life a little easier, the picks who won’t be a waste:
• Jerry Jeudy
• CeeDee Lamb
• Henry Ruggs III
• Jalen Reagor
• Justin Jefferson
• Brandon Aiyuk
• Denzel Mims
• Tee Higgins
Simple, right? Give me a wide receiver or give me death! Of course, I’m speaking metaphorically, as I’d very much like to live. The plan is to get one of these guys, but there are many different means to that same end. I don’t expect Roseman to trade up to 13 with San Francisco to draft Higgins or Reagor — just like I don’t expect Ruggs to be sitting there at 21 — but if that's what it takes: trade up, stay put, trade back. Whatever works to get the fit they need. Help Wentz for goodness sake!
The Niners are looking to deal 13 and 31, the Packers have interest in moving out of 30, and a couple of teams ahead of Philadelphia – like Denver – are salivating at the chance to draft a top wideout. This won’t be easy, especially in the middle of a weird virtual draft. But Howie’s had months to prepare for Thursday night and can’t let this unique situation be an excuse.
The Eagles have a franchise QB locked in, the best TE tandem in the NFL, and a Super Bowl winning head coach and defensive coordinator who both have control over their respective sides of the roster. No more excuses for not having the talent around Wentz.
This is the most important draft to date for Howie Roseman, yet all he needs to do is follow the blueprint. Take a pass catcher with your first pick. Don’t blow it.
We're back with another coronavirus update from my dad, Dr. Aryeh Shander. I want to keep this as open of a forum as possible. Please DM any questions you have on Twitter (@shandershow).
Dr. Aryeh Shander MD, FCCM, FCCP, FASA
Director of TeamHealth Research Institute; Emeritus Chief Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Hyperbaric Medicine, Englewood Health; Courtesy Clinical Professor, UF College of Medicine; Adjunct Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology, Medicine and Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York; Adjunct Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ
There’s nothing more painful in TV watching than committing time and energy on a show, only to see it crumble into dust. Much like Charlotte – as Dolores – squeezed Hector’s existence into nothingness, we see Johnathan Nolan and Lisa Joy do the same with Westworld. What happened? Here I thought it would be overrun with Aaron Paul and other guest stars, taking away from the main core of actors. Instead it’s been Tessa Thompson’s inability to show any real range that's for some reason been shoved down our throats. What’s truly unfortunate – unlike with the other two female stars – the script is actually written OK for Charlotte’s character, it’s just not believable. None of it is anymore.
This show never asked you to suspend belief in reality with dragons and white walkers. Westworld built its first two seasons on two rather prevalent theories in our society — data collection and free will. But instead of taking the show a step further, advancing characters, we are all stuck in this loop of just waiting for something to happen. The problem remains, when something actually DOES happen, I’m left thinking, “So what?” and pondering if I even care about characters who died. Liam Dempsey? Blah. The character was never important enough to care about to any extent that his death should have moved us. To be fair, they could kill Paul’s character this Sunday and it wouldn’t have that big of an impact. You would mourn the death of Jesse Pinkman – not Caleb.
Westworld decided to move away from one of the most complex characters HBO has ever seen on screen. I am left wondering each episode as to why they would hide Bernard, and even when we see him, it’s barely anything of substance. We watch him – like old hosts at Westworld – wander in his loop trying to track down Dolores. She’s also looped, gone from finding her consciousness and freedom, and instead on a one-track mission to take down (or is it save?) the world? Hmm, I'm not really sure anymore.
In what should be its final season, we are agonizing over watching a TV show fail its loyal audience. The season feels like a reboot. I saw it with Black Mirror’s recent three-episode season. Shows become popular; so in the time off between seasons, they scale it back for newer audiences. In the case of Westworld, it almost certainly became self-aware to the criticism of how tough it was to follow. While I’d love to blame Nolan and Joy for this debacle, I realize there are plenty of viewers out there who couldn’t follow the plots. So thanks to you we have an LCD version of the first two seasons, replacing rich dialogue with watered down action scenes that seem to lead nowhere.
In case you missed it last week, I have a new show. Thanks to Jakib Media and SB Nation Radio (Gow Media) for allowing me to take my show to the next level… Second Level to be exact. My new midday show airs 11-1p Monday-Friday on SB Nation Radio. The best way to listen is to download the app or go to sbnationradio.com. Please subscribe to my twitch channel so you can watch everything for free!
I’m still hosting Monday-Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. on Fox Sports Radio the Gambler, writing the weekly column here, and appearing on FOX29’s Good Day. If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for your time. It’s one of the most valuable pieces of currency we have, and I’m grateful you can allocate some of yours on my work.
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