Todd McShay destroys Warren Sapp's argument against Myles Garrett, questions his motives
If you missed it over the weekend, former NFL lineman Warren Sapp came out with his version of a hot take, claiming the consensus top prospect in the 2017 NFL Draft Myles Garrett should not be the first pick in the upcoming draft. Consider ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay among those not buying into what Sapp is selling when it comes to Garrett.
In his argument, Sapp claimed Garrett was lazy and failed to take over games. Featured as a guest on the Paul Finebaum Show Monday, McShay was asked to give his opinion on Sapp’s take and the ESPN analyst couldn’t disagree more with the former NFL lineman.
“I can put together a highlight reel, or a lowlight reel if you want, of every single player conserving energy,” McShay said on the air. “It’s a different game now, and I’m not making excuses. There are some plays where you kinda want to see a little bit more at the end of the play by Myles Garrett, but you’re playing 80-90 snaps on defense now versus 50-60 years ago because of the up-tempo offenses. I think some people missed out on the full picture here with Myles Garrett because you go back two years ago and watch the tape and there’s a lot more consistency. This year, you go back and watch the UCLA game — before he has the ankle injury — and he’s absolutely all over the place and dominating two offensive tackles for UCLA.”
McShay delved deeper into Sapp’s comments and questioned the very reason the former NFL lineman would be making these claims without doing the proper evaluation that many others have, including himself.
“I think Warren Sapp is probably trying to take advantage of an opportunity to get back in the public’s eye the week of the draft,” McShay continued. “Unless you tell me that Warren Sapp went and watched 12-14 tapes, as I did on Myles Garrett from the last two years, I just can’t buy that opinion.”
While Sapp used to be employed by the NFL Network, he was fired in early 2015 after being arrested for solicitation of a prostitute, among other charges.
Paul Finebaum then chimed in with his thoughts on Sapp.
“I think it’s a safe bet that Warren Sapp hasn’t even seen (Garrett) play,” Finebaum said.
It’s not clear if he’s specifically addressing Sapp here, but Garrett’s former teammate Christian Kirk also weighed in Tuesday on the thought of criticizing Garrett’s stock as the draft approaches.
Thought I might chime in on this Myles Garrett criticism.. if you buy into any of it, you're gonna be severely mistaken next fall
— Christian Kirk (@ChristianDavon2) April 25, 2017