Friday, December 22, 2000
McNabb says let Smith play
Eagles' second-year QB already an MVP candidate
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith were the Nos.2 and 3 picks in the 1999 draft.
McNabb's Philadelphia Eagles are 10-5 and in the playoffs, and McNabb is a league MVP candidate who has accounted for 75 percent of his team's total yards.
Smith accumulated the NFL's lowest passer rating, 52.8, in 11 starts for the Bengals before losing his job to journeyman Scott Mitchell.
McNabb will be starting Sunday for the Eagles when they play host to the Bengals at Veterans Stadium. Philadelphia needs a victory to have a chance at a home playoff game. Smith will be on the bench for the fifth time in six weeks.
Cincinnati (4-11) will be trying to go 5-5 in its past 10 games under coach Dick LeBeau, but Mitchell will be playing quarterback because he gives the team its best chance to win, LeBeau says.
McNabb doesn't understand why Smith isn't playing.
“I'm very surprised,” McNabb said. “You look at a team like that, where things aren't really falling into place, and you draft a guy first round. You think you would try to develop him into the quarterback that you want. But when you sit the guy down, that's not helping out the gameplan and not really helping out the future.”
The Browns had the first pick in the 1999 draft and, for a while, looked like they would take Smith. They decided on Tim Couch. By the time the Bengals drafted third, if Smith had been gone and McNabb were still available, McNabb would have been taken by Cincinnati.
“I'm happy to be in Philadelphia,” he said. “I don't know what's going on over there in Cincinnati with Akili and the rest of those guys, but I think things are going to turn out the best for Akili.”
Five quarterbacks were drafted in the first round in 1999. Minnesota took Daunte Culpepper, and Chicago selected Cade McNown. Tampa Bay chose Shaun King in the second round.
“I'm a big supporter of everyone who came out in my class,” McNabb said. “Daunte's been playing extremely well with those guys. Tim Couch is recovering now (from a thumb injury). Shaun has been doing well getting his team back in position for the playoff hunt. We all try to stay in contact with one another and make sure everyone's doing well.
“I haven't talked to Akili since the offseason when I
was down to his (golf tournament) in San Diego.”
McNabb has called Smith a couple of times this season. Smith, who hasn't talked to reporters since Nov.12, apparently isn't talking to anyone, including McNabb. The messages have not been returned.
McNabb will start his 16th game Sunday. He has thrown for 3,167 yards and 20 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. He also has run for six touchdowns and leads Philadelphia in rushing with 609 yards.
His rush to glory started last season as a rookie.
“Donovan's a very hard worker. That's very important in the maturation process,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “Even when he wasn't starting last year, he was still getting in at 6:30 in the morning and staying late at night and working the blitz game, studying the blitz game and then working it during practice.”
Smith worked with Bengals offensive coordinator Ken Anderson in the offseason. But his results have been much different.
Smith was benched after the Dallas game in which he was 10-of-25 passing for 68 yards and an interception, his sixth against only three TD passes.
McNabb's critical games came after the Eagles fell to 5-4.
On Nov.5 in Philadelphia, the Eagles rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit against Dallas to win 16-13 in overtime. The next Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Eagles rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to win 26-23, again in overtime.
“That defines you among your teammates as far as leadership and playmaking ability and composure and all those intangible things,” Reid said.
Two weeks later, McNabb rushed for 125 yards — the sixth best single-game for an NFL quarterback — in a 23-20 win at Washington.
But McNabb, who's 6-foot-3, 266 pounds, is looking to pass first.
“I always keep my eyes downfield,” he said.
If his receivers don't get open, McNabb runs. His ability to make something of nothing impresses Bengals president Mike Brown.
“Their guy is their most valuable player. A lot of what they do is very good, and yet I have to say McNabb is able to make plays on his own with regularity,” Brown said.
“... The thing that makes it so special with him is he's a threat running the ball.”
Smith — who has 232 yards rushing and a 5.7-yard average — can run, but not as well as McNabb, Brown says.
“McNabb is genuinely fast by any standard — wide receiver standard, defensive back standard,” said Brown, who insisted the Bengals draft Smith. “He's their leading rusher, which is unusual, and lately he's been throwing the ball better and better.”
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McNabb says let Smith play
