Yes, I'm here again with yet another pet peeve. Today's topic: poorly timed journalism. My example - the speculation over who will return kicks. First, some background:
On April 23, Bill Polian stated in the Day 2 post-draft press conference, that were the season to start that day,
I'm not sure there's a returner left [in the draft] that would be more dynamic than what we have on the squad right now.... There are some return guys down there but none that I could turn to the coach and say, 'this guy's got the job.'... If we played next week, [the returners would] probably be Giguere and Powers, if we had to play next week.... We're not focused on the return game.... When you go to the Super Bowl, you're not hurting in that area.
And on April 24, prior to Round 7, he stated that kick returner wasn't a position he was "losing sleep over."
Let's consider the circumstances. It was the night before and morning of Day 3 of the draft. The draft was still very much in progress. There were more players to draft. The Colts wanted their man. The Colts probably did not want to tip their hand. Get the picture? While it is possible that Polian believes Powers and Giguere CAN return punts and kicks, it is more likely that he was putting up a smoke screen to divert attention from their interest in Fisher. And technically, he wasn't lying - he did say if the season were to start the next day, we would see those guys looking into the sky for the ball.
Sure we would... if the draft had been aborted and they were forced to take the field the next day. But this isn't The Wizard of Oz, nor is it the Twilight Zone. As my best friend will tell you, "See what happens is.... time passes." Time moved on and circumstances changed. The Colts drafted Ray Fisher and signed Brandon James to a rookie free agent contract; these young men are expected to compete for return duties.
AS OF APRIL 25, THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A COMPLETE NON-STORY.
(insert lengthy pause here for maximum dramatic effect)
Then on May 2, the staff at ProFootballWeekly.com wrote that, "if the season were to open tomorrow, our Colts sources tell us shifty Sam Giguere and second-year CB Jerraud Powers would probably be the starting kickoff and punt returners."
Excuse me while I whip myself up into a frenzy. First of all, I have to believe that PFW's "sources" are none other than Bill Polian himself, AS OF April 24, as in BEFORE the end of the draft, as in BEFORE the Colts acquired Ray Fisher and Brandon James. On May 2, the world was COMPLETEY DIFFERENT, and the writers should have been aware of this. Instead, they publish this little diddy as if they have new insider information. I will concede that as of May 2, it was likely still true that were the season to start the next day, Giguere and Powers would be the guys, but the circumstances under which Polian said it in the first place should have been considered when republishing over a week later.