Eagles will miss Pinkston's skills

Todd Pinkston's injury hurts Philadelphia as much as, if not more than, Terrell Owen's antics, writes KC Joyner.

Updated: August 24, 2005, 4:29 PM ET
By KC Joyner | ESPN.com
The performance of the Eagles' passing game this season will depend just as much on how the team fills Todd Pinkston's role as it will on how it responds to Terrell Owens' antics. Before you say I'm crazy, let me explain why.

One of the statistics I track for receivers is the depth of the passes thrown their way as measured on an NFL passing tree. There are short passes (primarily quick routes under 10 yards), medium passes (usually deep in or deep out routes ranging from 15-18 yards) and deep passes (most of which are go, post and corner patterns and are 20-plus yards or more). Let me show you how this relates to Pinkston and the Eagles by giving you an excerpt from my book, "Scientific Football 2005," written before Pinkston's season-ending injury:


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KC Joyner

NFL Insider
  • NFL and CFB analyst for ESPN Insider
  • Known as "The Football Scientist"
  • Uses proprietary metrics from game tape study

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