This Week’s RLV: Why the RSP shows its work, Chase Stuart’s Combine MVP,  and one funky spider.

Listens

What is Reads Listens Views?

If you’re new to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio blog, welcome. Every Friday, I post links to content I’m saving for later reading when I have time. You may not like everything listed here, but you’re bound to like something.

In Case You Missed It

I posed this fantastical question to Ryan Riddle and Sigmund Bloom the other day: If an alien race came to earth and challenged the human race to a game of football with the planet on the line, who would be your starting quarterback?

I have my answer, but I want to hear yours.

I don’t care how you imagine the aliens. Nor do I care if you pick a player who is 60 or six feet under and the aliens resurrect/revive him to his peak physical powers. That dilemma is for your twisted imagination.

I just want to know who you pick.

Here’s the follow-up question: If the aliens’ deal is that we have to pick a quarterback from this 2014 draft class, who would it be? I’ll be holding a tournament to decide. Make your nomination here.

Thank You

Friday’s are also my chance to thank you for reading my work, encourage you to follow the RSP blog, and download the Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication.

The RSP is available every April 1 for download. It’s a 250-page (give or take) draft publication filled with analysis of over 170 skill position prospects that has earned it a loyal following of happy readers:

• Rankings
• Draft history analysis
• Overrated/Underrated analysis
• Multidimensional player comparisons
• Individual skills analysis by position

This is only some of what you receive in the RSP publication. I began writing the RSP 9 years ago. At the time, I was an operations and process improvement manager who was certified in an operations certification standard. The training included best practices for performance evaluation processes – and quality performance from my teams was a hallmark of my work for nearly 15 years.

As much as I loved and studied football, I knew that the only way anyone would buy into my analysis would be to show my work. This meant making everything as transparent as possible:

• How I define everything I grade
• The point values for my grading
• The checklists/reports that I use for the grading
• All the play-by-play notes I take for the games that I grade

That’s right, I show my work down to the play-by-play notes. The “back of the RSP” is often another 700-1000 pages of content that comes with the 250-page RSP pre-draft guide.

Don’t worry, at least half of my readers never look at this part of the RSP.  However, those who like to crosscheck their own scouting reports (be it media, draftniks, or scouts), find this material a worthwhile resource. Even if they don’t agree with all of my assessments, the back of the book gives them a clear indication of why I made the calls that I did.

You can learn more about the RSP here. If you want to see samples of the play-by-play notes I take to write the analysis, you can find them here.

If you don’t have time to look into details, know that once you look through the RSP, there will be no question in your mind that I do the work, that I have a plan about the work that I do, and that you get more than your money’s worth. It’s why more and more draftniks every spring can’t wait until April 1.

If you think that’s a ton, you ain’t seen nothing. When you purchase the RSP, you also get a free post-draft publication that’s available for download a week after the NFL Draft. Fantasy football owners tell me all the time that this alone is worth the price.

Best yet, 10 percent of each RSP sale is donated to Darkness to Light, a non-profit devoted to preventing and addressing sexual abuse through community training in schools, religious groups, and a variety of civic groups across the U.S.

Here is what the RSP donated to D2L this year. According to D2L, the RSP’s 2013 donation amount was enough to train 250 adults in communities across the country.

Pre-order the 2014 RSP and/or download past versions of the publication (2006-2012).

Reads (Football)

• Pittsburgh’s Aaron Donald Was Your Combine MVP  – Chase Stuart scrambling them eggs like a master chef – except those eggs are data. Fine analysis.
• If I were scouting an NFL QB – This is an article Chris Brown recommended Thursday. It’s a must-read if you want real insight into a flawed scouting process.
• 2014 NFL Draft: Bob McGinn’s Anonymous NFL Exec Interviews – Speaking of some of the people accountable for the poor allocation of resources and lack of training . . .
• The Notebook: Jadeveon Clowney is ready to be molded into a monster – Stephen White is a former NFL defensive tackle whose writing at SB Nation. Worth a read.

Reads (Life In General)

• 10 Painfully Obvious Truths Everyone Forgets Too Soon – H/T Keith Overton for sharing.
• There is no white boogeyman – I agree, but I do believe the boogeyman is a collective system that’s undergoing a slow, painful change.
• This Old Man – Life in the nineties. H/T to Steph Stradley

Listens