Ben McAdoo Doesn't Think Nate Solder Is A Good Player, Doubts Eagles Can Handle Success
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- If fired NFL coach Ben McAdoo hopes to make a name for himself in the media landscape known as The Land Of The Hot Takes, then the mustachioed fella is off to a blazing start.
McAdoo spoke with the New York Post's Paul Schwartz, and despite his questionable hairstyles and his sub-.500 record as a head coach, McAdoo spoke with authority on a number of topics.
What might stand out as much as any were his comments on the Giants' biggest free-agent addition, left tackle Nate Solder. The Giants made Solder the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL, in large part due to the major issues the Giants have had on the O-line in recent years. But according to McAdoo, Solder isn't very good.
"I don't think [Solder is] a very good player, but I think it will help them in a lot of ways where they needed help in that room in the past and they haven't had anyone to do that," McAdoo stated.
Solder has never been an All-Pro or a Pro Bowler, so it's not as if he's a top-three or top-five player at his position. But to say he's not even a very good player? That's a spicy take.
Not quite as spicy, though, as his commentary about the defending Super Bowl champions. Despite the incredible run to Super Bowl LII, and despite the return of Carson Wentz, McAdoo portends doom for Philadelphia. The weight of success will just be too much.
"I think Philly, how much success has Philly had? I think they're gonna have a hard time handling success," McAdoo said.
Again, it's not completely outrageous. It's almost impossible to win back-to-back Super Bowls; this century, only the 2003 and 2004 Patriots have done it. (The 2013 and 2014 Seahawks came this close. Whoops.)
It is, though, just a little humorous when you consider the source. McAdoo's Giants had trouble handling two separate fourth-quarter leads in a Week 3 loss in Philly last year. And even if you include McAdoo's two seasons as offensive coordinator, he doesn't know what it's like to experience even one postseason victory as either a coordinator or head coach. (He was the tight ends coach for the Super Bowl-champion Packers in 2010, though.)
McAdoo also lent his opinion toward the other team in New York. Specifically, McAdoo said that Jets quarterback Sam Darnold "has a lot of magic in his game," which is a very nice thing to say! Alas, the platitudes didn't last long, because McAdoo believes Darnold throws the ball funny. Ergo, McAdoo wouldn't have drafted him.
"I'd just have a hard time drafting a guy in the first round where you don't necessarily like the way he throws," McAdoo told Schwartz. "He can overcome it, guys have, but that's something that's a challenge for me. I'm gonna be looking at that, trying to fix it, because it's a fundamental flaw, and I believe in the fundamentals. The quarterback, his No. 1 job is to pass the football. If I don't like the way he throws the ball, I have a hard time picking him, right?''
Often, fired coaches -- especially young ones -- choose to be wallflowers rather than outspoken bloviators, in the hopes of getting their next head coaching gig within a few years. McAdoo is clearly planning on taking a different tact. The man is choosing to be spicy.
