The Rookie Scouting Portfolio (RSP)

Go Deep: What We’re About at the Rookie Scouting Portfolio (RSP)

Nine years ago, Matt Waldman began the Rookie Scouting Portfolio (RSP) website. It’s about time he has a page to welcome readers and explain what’s going on around here. 

Welcome to my site and thank you for visiting. If you’re new to the site or wondered about the invisible thread that runs through the work you’re reading, listening to, and watching here, I recommend you read this post and check out the links at the end.

I consider this work important to the RSP’s philosophy. Much of it is evergreen material. Some of it is things we’ve learned since we wrote the pieces. Consider them markers along our journey as students of the game.

I make my living as an independent scout and football analyst.

I used to resist using the term ‘scout’ because I wanted to respect those plying this craft in professional leagues. Thanks to the feedback of professionals who’ve read my work—players, scouts, analytics professionals, and coaches— I’ve come to accept that I am a scout despite taking an unconventional journey to get here.

Creating a successful business is difficult. It’s even crazier to start one in an industry where most of your peers played, coached, or scouted at the highest levels of the game and the last time you donned pads or participated in practice was a Pop Warner league.

Back then, I joked with my friends about seemingly being at a complete disadvantage in this field.

I may not have the street cred or football experience, but I have something most of them don’t.

What’s that? 

I’m broke.

My friends, family, and colleagues didn’t think it was funny. Some of them looked afraid when I described what I was undertaking.

Despite my unfortunate experiential and financial disadvantages, there were some things that I had in abundance. I was a successful operations manager of large teams where I worked in demanding and stressful environments. Later on, I became a director of quality management, and I gained training in best-practices in performance evaluation.

Years later, an experienced NFL employee in the player-personnel arena reached out to me. He had been an RSP subscriber for several years, and one of the things that he valued most about my work was how clearly I saw the operations and business side of teams as it relates to player personnel.

He also had a deep appreciation for the backbone of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio’s (RSP) evaluation process that’s in-depth, defined in great detail, and transparent. As a result, the design is built for continuous improvement and evolution.

Since the annual scouting publication’s debut on April 1, 2006, the RSP has come a long way over the course of 15 years. ‘The RSP’ now refers to several things:

This growth includes the past and present contributions of several fine analysts. Mark Schofield who splits his time among several regional and national sites continues doing work here.

Dwain McFarland is about to show Pro Football Focus  how it’s done. We still find time to hang at the RSP Cast.

J. Moyer is getting the chance to do what he always wanted–help run his own shop at FF Astronauts. I’m sure we’ll find a chance to do a podcast between his ever-growing family.

Although the RSP has evolved greatly,  the underlying thread of the work remains the same: Go Deep.

Be it a play, a series, a player, a scheme, a technique, a concept, a strategy, or a perspective held about the craft of player evaluation, whatever we’re analyzing about the game, the RSP goes deep.

We do this here because we’re students of the game. While we have much to share, we recognize that we always have even more to learn.

Whether you’re new to the RSP or a long-time repeat customer, we’ve reached a place with this site where sharing notable milestones of lessons we’ve learned that serve as the foundation for new adventures into the body, mind, and soul of the game.

The Craft And Processes of Scouting, Team-Building, And Football Analysis
On-Field Player Evaluation
Player Development
Evaluating Off-Field Behavior

For the most in-depth analysis of offensive skill players available (QB, RB, WR, and TE), pre-order the 2020  Rookie Scouting Portfolio for a discounted price of $21.95.

If you’re a fantasy owner and interested in purchasing past publications for $9.95 each, the 2012-2019 RSPs also have a Post-Draft Add-on that’s included at no additional charge.  

Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is set aside until the RSP has reached its annual goal of donating $5,000 Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. 

Matt Waldman

,
, , , , , ,

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from The Rookie Scouting Portfolio (RSP)

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading