Jeremy Maclin finally put his name on the dotted line, and is ready to start practicing tomorrow.
Because he has not been at camp, he is obviously very far behind and will need to do some cramming and be able to catch up very quickly if he wants to see the field for any extended playing time.
It is so important that he be up to date, that I believe the Eagles should assign one coach to watch him and always be available for him throughout the entire practice tomorrow, and for the rest of camp until they feel he is caught up.
David Culley, their wide receivers coach, can't be focusing on one guy. He's got to be all around and also helping guys like Brandon Gibson and Shaheer McBride, so he's out.
My thought would be a guy like Todd Pinkston. He's in there as a coaching intern without a real well-defined role. He helps out when he can, and pulls a guy to the side when he sees something, but other than that he just bounces around and talks to his former teammates.
Assign him to Maclin, so that any time Maclin has a question he knows to go right to Pinkston. Whether it's his pattern, someone else patterson, maybe the timing of the play, how to read the defense or whatever else, Pinkston should be the guy he's always looking for.
With all the jokes and all the names that are slung about regarding Pinkston, he is a smart guy and actually was a good player during his time here in Philadelphia. You know he's a smart guy or Reid would not have him on his coaching staff, even on an intern-styled basis.
The Eagles, more than ever before, are really banking on their first-round pick producing in his first year.
DeSean Jackson did a good thing last year by showing Reid that young receivers can in fact produce immediately, and do not need to be groomed for two or three years as he previously thought. However, a failed rookie season by Maclin because he doesn't know his plays will have Reid re-thinking his position once again.
With that in mind, Maclin's performance becomes a huge factor in how far this team can go. He has the talent, all he needs is a way to learn these plays, and learn them fast.
If Pinkston is on "Maclin Watch," it should expedite the process and have Maclin picking up on things much faster with his own personal coach.
We'll see how the Eagles attack this, as they may just rotate any coach who is available to work with him rather than having one guy assigned to him. In fact, I would not be surprised to see even Marty Mornhenwig and Andy Reid taking some time with him off to the side.
Judging by his press conference, Maclin is a smart kid who shouldn't have too tough of a time picking up on things. It's all just a matter of limited time.
