Eagles fans must accept it—the dingo ate your D-G-B…

adgb

Geez, I hate to give up on what should have been a premier receiving talent in this league…but Dorial Green-Beckham had to go.

Often criticized as a million dollar body with a ten-cent head, I guess DGB will go down in Eagles history as one of those “POTENTIAL” guys.  Personally, I think he looked around at the newest high-profile signings at WR by the Eagles and simply said “eff it”… I’m sure new receivers coach Mike Groh with his hard-nosed technical approach didn’t exactly charm DGB, either. Greg Lewis was easy on DGB last year, using the “coddle” approach. Either way, DGB was underperforming.

I don’t know the guy personally, but I am sure he could have benefited from a more disciplined upbringing as a youth. Still, it’s not the end of his NFL career— someone will pick him up and give him that proverbial third chance.

Mike Groh coached Bears wideouts for three years before spending last season as passing-game coordinator and wideouts coach with the Los Angeles Rams. He comes off as more of a technician, and a stickler for details, an approach that seems to be producing results with everyone except DGB.

“We’re trying to build a foundation of things that I think are really important, that might not have been emphasized by the previous coach,” Groh said. “That doesn’t mean it’s better; that just means it’s different.”

Subjects such as “stance, release, and attacking the football” Groh said, are addressed “on a consistent basis.”

“It all starts with our stance. That’s the core for a receiver, and really anybody in the game of football,” said Groh, whose father, Al, is a former NFL and college head coach. “Trying to find a really good, explosive stance” is one of the things Groh said he was working on with the underachieving wideout Dorial Green-Beckham.

“Everybody’s (stance is) going to be a little bit different, like a golf swing,” Groh said. “We want to create power off the line of scrimmage, and we want to be efficient with our movement, eliminate false steps. Obviously, play with our eyes up and things like that. Things that seem really simple, but you can fall into bad habits pretty quickly. … A little thing in your foot placement or your knee bend can change your explosion off the ball.”

DGB either didn’t get it or didn’t want to get it.

“We try to be efficient with our movement, coordinating hands and feet, and then stuff at the top of the route. Because in this league, you either win at the line of scrimmage, or you win at the top of the route,” he said. “So that’s where we spend a lot of our time.”

DGB has always been more of a free-lance route-runner, changing his technique or abandoning it as the mood struck him.

Hard to believe a guy like DGB with natural ability and size (6-5, 4.49 ’40 speed) couldn’t or wouldn’t adapt to the demands of the craft at this level. But is is the way it looks right now.

Imagine the brain, heart and desire of a guy like Paul Turner installed into DGB’s body? You’d probably be looking at a perennial pro-bowl guy.

I mean, let this sink in: One of the most highly regarded football recruits of the high school class of 2012, Green-Beckham was listed as the number one overall prospect in the nation by Rivals.com.

He got serious playing time as a true freshman for the University of Missouri. Then came an arrest and suspension due to drug possession, causing Green-Beckham to miss the Vanderbilt and Alabama games on October 6 and 13, respectively.

Strike One.

In his sophomore season, Green-Beckham had 59 receptions with a 15-yard average and 12 touchdowns. In the SEC championship game against Auburn, he caught six passes for 144 yards and two scores. His 27-yard catch set up Henry Josey’s go-ahead score in the Cotton Bowl victory over Oklahoma State. On April 11, 2014, Green-Beckham was dismissed from Missouri due to legal troubles involving a fight with a girlfriend.

Strike Two.

After his dismissal from Missouri, Green-Beckham transferred to the University of Oklahoma. As per NCAA transfer rules, Green-Beckham was required to sit out for the entire year. Green-Beckham attempted to post a waiver request in order to make him eligible to play for the year, but NCAA declined it.

In January 2015, Green-Beckham announced he would be entering the 2015 NFL Draft. During his time at Oklahoma, he spent his season on the scout team and didn’t play a single down for the Sooners before declaring for the draft.

Amazing as it sounds, Green-Beckham was selected with the 40th overall pick in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans. On June 1, 2015, the Titans signed Green-Beckham to a 4-year, $5.6 million contract with $3.0 million guaranteed and a $2.3 million signing bonus.

As a rookie in 2015, Green-Beckham played 16 games with 549 receiving yards and four touchdowns. But the nagging questions about effort and focus ended up haunting him as he was traded to the Eagles for Dennis “Hagrid” Kelly in 2016.

In his season with the Eagles 2016, Green-Beckham appeared in 15 games with 392 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Maybe more to the point, there were times on the field when DGB looked lost and completely befuddled by the playbook.

Sigh. Strike Three.

Maybe it helps to make more sense when you consider DGB’s less than ideal childhood. He was the third of six children born to Charmelle Green, a single mother, in St. Louis, Missouri. He never knew his biological father and lived in several foster homes before John Beckham, his high school coach, and John’s wife Tracy officially adopted him on December 30, 2009. The Beckhams had previously brought Green and his younger brother Darnell into their home in 2006.

You get bounced around like that as kid, no wonder you might have trouble focusing upon and giving effort to a team concept as a young adult. Still, it was all there for DGB to run with if he could have just visualized it.

Rats. Sometimes the dingo gets the baby—I mean, the DGB.

 

Arrow to top