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Every now and again, we here at GangGreenNation like to watch the watchmen and scrutinize the job the beat reporters are doing. Someone has to keep the media in check, and as I know they are anxiously awaiting these rankings, it might as well be me.
Instead of doing the Madden rankings that I typically do, I decided to just rank everyone with a few thoughts interspersed. If you click on each of the names, you can get to their twitter accounts. I also chose to limit the group here to those that regularly cover the team; not those who come and go and cover other teams. I think, overall, the beat has been doing a better job as of late. There are always a few bad eggs that bring the collective group down. Inevitably, there are a few that decide to go full Manish.
- Kristian Dyer - Dyer has been good for a long time, but lately he's pulled ahead with numerous scoops and original story ideas. For whatever reason, the team has been feeding Dyer the inside goods. His sources are impeccable, and as I mentioned, he has a knack for coming up with creative and original topics.
- Dom Cosentino - The resident funny man continually has reasoned analysis peppered with entertaining jokes. His training at deadspin has served him well, as Cosentino brings levity to a sport that we almost all take way too seriously.
- Ben Shpigel - Shpigel, like Woo below him, doesn't break news. However, Spiegel (and Woo) are phenomenal writers and give you all the information you need to know with little of the dramatics that have plagued the beat.
- Stu Woo
- Chris Nimbley
- Rich Cimini - Cimini, known for his inability to use twitter, has seemingly improved as of late to remove some of his trademark snark. He provides the best X's and O's analysis of the beat, and often looks at the team from a different perspective.
- Chris Lopresti
- Kimberley Martin
- Dennis Waszak
- Darryl Slater
- Connor Hughes - The new man to this list has shown potential at, you know, actually analyzing the team's performance.
- Brian Costello
- Dan Leberfeld - In perhaps the biggest upset of this list, Leberfeld has risen from the dredges of the beat. His tweets and articles are still written in an arcane writing style and tend to be way after whatever topic he's spouting about has happened, but Leberfeld has been a voice of reason lately. He still says his fare share of stupidity, but he's had a few nuggets lately that have caused him to rise.
- Seth Walder
- Manish Mehta - His latest personal vendetta against John Idzik and Geno Smith have gone far beyond the realms of professionalism. I think some of it has to do with being cut off from the team from his usual sources. With Mark Sanchez playing well, Mehta, a noted Philadelphia Eagles fan, has become even more unbearable.
- J.P. Pelzman - Unquestionably the most useless member of the beat. Pelzman provides no original content, nor does he provide good analysis. The only two things he's known for, besides his creepy twitter avatar, are two outbursts during press conferences. The first was when he randomly interrupted a press conference to demand information about the role of executive Ira Akselrad. The second was recently, when he demanded to know if the team overestimated Smith, and then absolutely refused to let Idzik answer the question with repeated interruptions.