[EDITORS NOTE]: silencecs wrote a nice piece on why Lito Sheppard might be overrated.  I know that the trade talks have suddenly quieted, but it's good writing.  If anyone ever wants to write their own article, there's a 99% chance I'll put it on the front page!  Thanks Sliencecs for doing this![/NOTE]

First off, all of this really has no bearing on what really happens with this trade non-sense, but I've done some research and have come to the conslusion the Lito is overrated. I, like many of you, was excited by his bag flashy name... LITO... it just souds cool. However, after spending a few hours looking over information, my opinion has changed.

This post is filled with quotes I've scoured from articles, all but one are from football outsiders and if you don't understand their terminology, go check it out on their site.

We all know the world revolves around money; this especially holds true in the NFL where the cap is king, so let's start there. I found the following excerpt very revealing from a financial standpoint.

"the 2003 Philadelphia Eagles recorded 13.15% fewer tackles than you would expect from their team defensive plays total (885 tackles on 1019 defensive plays). Troy Vincent and Lito Sheppard are both penalized by adding 13.15% to their respective tackle totals."

Why would this happen you ask? An offensive player running out of bounds is the main culprit. What's so bad about that you ask? It shows a lack of physiciality number one, it allows the offensive player to dictate tempo when he wants to stop the clock, and it decreases the possibility of a fumble or a jarring hit (WR's remember those). That's not Jaguar football.

-NEXT

"Lito Sheppard has now gone from terrible to amazing to terrible in the three years we’ve been charting, but at least this backs up the comments in the Game Charters Speak article that he has not been as good this year."

Doesn't sound like a consistent player to mean... Injuries or not, you gotta show up.

"The Eagles passing defense was only average on throws right (+16.5% VOA) but one of the best in the league on throws left (+0.3% VOA). "

Hmm... wondering which side Lito primarily covered that season... you guessed it, the right side.

"Worst Success Rate 2007"

#7 Lito Sheppard, PHI: 41%
Last year, according to the FO game charting project, Sheppard allowed 10.4 yards per pass when he was in coverage, the third worst figure among NFL cornerbacks (83 were ranked). "

Ouch... no wonder the Eagles wanna move him, he had a Marcus Stroud season last year, hearby dubbed a Stroud-son. Anyway, I say one suspect corner in Drayton Florence is enough of a pick-up for one off-season... You're thoughts?