Who is this Matt Waldman guy? What is the Rookie Scouting Portfolio? What’s this all about?
Sean Douglas, a reader and fantasy writer, suggested I maintain a running page with information that folks like you and Sean can send people to find out about me and what this is all about. Sean suggested my posts that complement my views on evaluating players, podcasts that give new folks a good idea of what I bring to the table, and possibly topics outside of football.
Good ideas, Sean.
Podcasts
- Ross Tucker & Evan Silva’s Fantasy Feast Podcast: “Eatin’ With Matt Waldman”
- Blogging the Boys Podcast
- Sigmund Bloom’s On the Couch Footballguys Podcast
The Rookie Scouting Portfolio
- What is the RSP/Why Buy the RSP?
- The RSP Film Room Series
- 2015 RSP Pre-Draft Video Tour
- RSP Post-Draft Video Tour
- 2015 Draft Analysis
- 2014 Draft Analysis
- 2013 Draft Analysis
- 2012 Draft Analysis
- 2011 Draft Analysis
On the NFL, scouting, and the development of football players
- Losing Your Football Innocence – Readers often ask me for advice on how to watch football with a more critical eye. My answers are inside, but if you take my advice you’ll lose your football innocence.
- Evaluating the Evaluator – The NFL still has a huge opportunity to improve as evaluators of talent and it begins with the process.
- Talent and Production: The Great Emotional Divide – It’s the path that every college talent must travel to become a productive pro. It’s something that neither scout nor coach nor general manager will ever know will happen for sure.
- Why Scouting Gets a Bum Rap–A Front Office Overhaul – It’s time to take front offices to the wood shed. No beatings though.
- “I am Smarter Than ‘Phillip’ Rivers” – The Wonderlic is great for testing future loan officers, but Matt Waldman would rather have Wonderlic failures like Jim Kelly or Ray Lewis as his on-field CEOs.
- My Expansion Franchise – You’ve just been awarded an NFL expansion team and must build your personnel department. Go.
- Russell Wilson, Drew Brees, Prince, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and the Difficulty of Comparisons – My take on player comparisons.
- What is an Integrated Skill Set? – The precursor to my term “The I.T. (Integrated Technique) Factor.”
- Character, Media, & the NFL Draft: A Sour Cocktail – It’s a bad idea to evaluate his smile the way you critique his release. And I dare say that I’m more qualified than most of my peers when it comes to interviewing a perspective employee.
- Randy Moss & Exceptions to the Rule – Some greatness is easy overlooked because it is easier to focus more on what he can’t do rather than celebrate what he does better than everyone else.
- A Game of Inches: The Talent Gap By the Numbers – Based on these numbers, less than 1 percent of the seniors playing college football will ever earn a second contract in the NFL.
- Deny Emotion And You Only See A Fraction of the Game – Football and the analysis of the sport have become an increasingly intellectual pursuit of a physical game. However, the impact of emotion on the performance of players, plays, and a team remains as important as ever despite the desire to hide its seat at the table.
- The Hidden Advantage of Being a High NFL Draft Pick – This is Ryan Riddle’s work, but his writing on this topic based on his experience as a player echoes my sentiments. If I could buy this piece from Bleacher Report and post it on my blog, I’d do it.
On position-specific techniques, strategy, and concepts
- Boycotting the Corner Store: A Lesson for RBs
- Discerning Errors From Deficiencies: A WR’s Hands
- Tulane QB Ryan Griffin and The Disconnect Between Evaluating and Drafting Talent
- Quarterback Development: When Practice Reports Are Useless
- Vision Quest: The Artfulness of LeSean McCoy and Jamaal Charles
- Sr. Bowl WR Technique Roundtable
- What I’ve Learned: Context and Perspective Trump Technique – A football writer called me up yesterday morning and broached a topic that I believe separates the savvier talent analysts from the less nuanced: quarterback mechanics.
26 responses to “About”
Hey there, been really a fan of your work going into year 3 now. First year was the Eric Kendricks year where after watching your videos along with my own eye test, I really felt strongly about him being a top 20 pick. I get to go to Mankato every year and do photography for Vikefans.com and spoke with Mr. Kendricks and talked to him about the bucket steps, his brother, film study. Also told him you know you weren’t 45th best player in the draft. All he did was smile, because he knew it but wasn’t going to say it.
Anyways had a request, Im a Vikings diehard, and already diving into draft season again. With AP surely done in Minny I’ve been watching tape on RBs that I think will be 2nd round or further down due to Bradford trade and no 1st rounder. One guy who has really caught my eye is D’Onta Foreman, from Texas. At just under 6 foot the 240ish lb RB has great skills and would like your opinion on Foreman. IMO I see the vision and running style of Le’veon Bell without the high end agility and stiff arm techniques. But in open field look god awfully simular. Maybe Im wrong, but really would like to see a video breakdown of your assessment of D’Onta Foreman. Thx Jason @VikefansBeast
Hey Jason,
Right now, Foreman is a player that I see in the range of Blount-D Henrry in style. More to study at this point, so everything is still evolving. Glad you had an enjoyable conversation with Kendricks. He’s easily one of my favorite young players in the league right now. I actually did video work of Foreman on this site. Check this link for it and a list of others…https://mattwaldmanrsp.com/2016/10/15/2017-draft-analysis/
Bst,
Matt
Hey Matt
I love your work and subscribe to your draft guides. Great insight and thoughtful comments on your podcasts! And I am a Georgia Bulldog so you can imagine how close I follow your work.
What do you think of Wims? I have 5-7 WR spots (we start 3) Of course I have AJ already
Would you take a flyer on Wims this year for the last roster spot? We are dynasty…rookie contracts last 4 years at their auction price then they go back into the auction.
He is under most radars as I’m the only Dawg fan so I assume he will cost a $1. I love those great catches he makes but not sure if makes the team
at this point in the preseason. We draft Sunday. Thanks for any advice =)
Ill have to over pay for Roquan, Chubb and Sony already….hoping Wims is my sneak attack
Sorry I missed this, John. I was out of town for a work-related project. I’m not a huge fan of Wims’ starter potential. He has the skills of a worthwhile role player long-term but his athletic ability that matches up well with the NFL is the type that usually looks good during the preseason. He’s worth a flyer but I wouldn’t get too aggressive.
I’m having problems downloading the RSP that I paid for. I try to open with Adobe and it’s not coded properly? What app should I use? Any chance you can email it to my account login email? Thank you! Been a fan of your work for years!
Hey Tony, email me at mattwaldmanrsp@gmail and confirm the email you used to purchase. If you tried earlier this week without success, my server folks had a failing disk. If you tried without success today, I will email them to you upon confirmation of purchase with email. I will do this tomorrow, thanks.
Hey matt,
Just wanted tell you i think you do an awesome job im a big fan of what you do. Ive always been a loved doing amateur scouting and profiling, and have recently just started doing videos and posting them to my ffl group chat. I want to take it to the next level, im just unsure of the juances abd legalities. I assume youre a busy guy, but would love to pick your brain. If you ever have a minute to email and look over a video or 2 of mine and give me a critique and answer some questions id appreciate it, if not i understand. Thanks again for what you do.
Hey Jason,
I’ll have more time after May to have this conversation. In the meantime, I would suggest looking into the Scouting Academy as an educational resource. Dan Hatman’s company is well-organized and does good work. Hit me up with an email in May at mattwaldmanrsp@gmail.com for a longer conversation. As for a quick overview of legalities… I am not an attorney so I am not giving advice based on full knowledge of the law. I highly suggest you consult an intellectual property attorney because I don’t know the details of your plans and won’t have time really discuss anything you casually broach until late May.
If you’re not planning to ask for money or sell a product in conjunction with your videos you can look into claiming educational use. Some entities have a protect first, ask questions later type of mentality about education claims on YouTube (the NFL). So if you’re doing NFL videos, that’s an area you’ll need to research in-depth. If you’re doing college videos and you’re not selling a product or asking for money, then it’s a little more straight-forward.
As you see with my videos, I don’t sell my product there. I simply refer people to a tour of the publication or links to my site, pod, twitter, etc. Hope that helps for the time being.
M
Hi Matt,
I’m a Ravens fan from the UK, and was brought to your page via Twitter regarding your analysis on Lamar Jackson. I think your work is amazing, and hands down the best draft analysis I’ve seen online!
Going back on your pre-draft analysis of Lamar and listening to your “Making a case for Lamar Jackson” podcast was a joy to consume. I commend you and your process for ignoring the noise and basing your assessment purely on the tape, and the character of the young man! This time 2 years ago he was touted as a WR/RB and now he’s the youngest unanimous MVP QB in league history! #notbadforarunningback
That being said, the last 2 playoff appearances have been disappointing. I would like to know your opinion on how/what Lamar should do to clean up the issues currently preventing him from getting over the hump in the playoffs? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the evolution of the Ravens passing attack relies on Lamar refining his footwork and the Ravens upgrading at WR.
In my humble opinion as a fan, I actually think Lamar’s throwing mechanics are pretty good. Quick release, left hand always in front of his face and solid throwing footwork/base except for the occasional heel click and front toe not being perfectly placed. I think he can get a little too side arm happy at times too!
However, his dropback footwork needs a lot of work. He commonly dips his shoulders too low and/or hops with both feet off of the ground. That seems like a lot of unnecessary and inconsistent movement!
In both playoff appearances, his interior offensive line absolutely crumbled and allowed constant interior pressure. Therefore, I believe all of that pressure didn’t allow him time to correct all of that wasted movement from his dropback footwork.
I’ve went back and watch Joe Burrow’s 2018 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lwGn2dtA4c) v 2019 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-k4gsReMpM) tape and the main difference is evidently footwork. I really like Joe’s refined consistent dropback which sets him up to strike down the field accurately, balanced and in rhythm! Joe is on record saying he dedicated his 2019 offseason to footwork, and I believe Lamar could benefit from the same approach.
I also believe Lamar’s grip can lead to inconsistencies in how much he spins the football due to where his index finger rests on the top of the ball. However, Kurt Warner (ALWAYS threw perfect spirals) held the ball the same way, and told Lamar to continue to do so. Your thoughts on Lamar throwing a perfect spiral consistently?
I would love to know your opinion on these thoughts and how Lamar is progressing 24 starts into his NFL career compared to your pre-draft expectations. Thanks for taking time to read my message and keep up the good work!
Thanks,
Edward
Hi Edward,
Thanks for the comment. I’m a buried in work until early April, but I’ll try to get to it next month. This is my busiest month of the year. Appreciate you…
Matt
No worries! Thank you for responding to my message and bad timing on my part.
Thanks
Hi Matt,
I just found you this year after expanding my podcast listening. Really enjoyed using your RSP 2020 as one tool during my dynasty drafts this spring and summer. I’ve been doing fantasy football for about 20 years and dynasty for 5 years. I was wondering if there are players that you or everyone completely miss on that come out of no where. I don’t know if you’ve ever done a show on this topic but if you have let me know if any come to mind or if you have a link top one. One player I was trying to find more information on is Steven Sims on the Washington Redskins. I’ve watch some of his highlights and was wondering if he is the real deal or just a product of late season tanking and trying players out. He looks awesome but there is very little information about him. I found him on waiver wires of almost every league.
Rolph,
Thanks for the feedback. I’ve done a few shows and written pieces on misses. You can find one on this about page (Lessons learned)
Hi Matt,
To get your rankings, do I subscribe to the RSP, or do I buy a subscription to Footballguys? I am ideally looking for Best Ball rankings.
The RSP is more of a dynasty and rookie-friendly service. I do re-draft work at Footballguys, including rankings there.
Hey Matt,
Long time FBG listener. Just finished listening to The Audible on Thurs Oct 29, 2020.
I wanted to reach out to you and thank you for the speech you gave at the end of the episode when it was just Cec, Sig, and you. Great stuff.
I think what you put out there is vitally important. Far too many people are too eager to jump into whatever will reward them on social media. Far too many people lazily consume whatever legacy media feeds them. Far too many people are so damn eager now to jump into ideological camps.
Carl Jung wrote a lot on the idea of the individual, and perhaps the ‘divinity’ (no religious connotation needed here, although Jung did argue for the role that religion plays in empowering the individual from the state) of the individual is something that needs to be resuscitated. Why are so many people so eager to give up their entire identity in the name of an idea that has been given to them through media tricks? (Jung called these dangerous, mercurial ideologies something akin to ‘chimeric wish-fantasies’.. to me that sounds like a mythological beast which shouldn’t be rallied behind, but instead slain by the mythological hero [often, the archetypal hero is the ‘divine individual’]).
I really enjoyed your final speech on this episode of The Audible. One book recommendation from Jung that I think reinforces the essence of your words would be “The Undiscovered Self”, subtitled ‘The Dilemma of the Individual in Modern Society’.
I appreciate the effort you put into your words at the end and I hope you continue to actively strengthen yourself, your family, and your community.
Jon
Hi Matt, been a fan of yours for many years, I’ve been subscribing to footballguys since 2006. My question is how you arrived at the crow/raven imagery? I know you’re a Browns fan, so I can’t imagine you chose an actual raven LOL, although they are the smartest bird around, just like you and Charlie Parker 🙂
Hey,
I have a long story I’ll make shorter about a murder of crows making a tight circle over my house one day for about 20-30 minutes until there was only one left. There were certain events in my life that lead up to that moment for it to feel like a good omen. I had lost a dear friend not long before that and there were ties to that as well. The logo I use the most reminds me of that friend. It was purely an intuitive thing. Then, as I learned more about crows, the more it fit scouting: crows are problem solvers, they represent intelligence, they are process-oriented, they communicate well, and do a good job of “scouting” their environment. They are also misunderstood and there’s a lot of rich and dark humor surrounding them. “Crow” also has a positive funny connotation to “crowing about success,” and “eating crow” when there’s failure. It all fit. I just listened to my gut to begin using it based on that day and the tie to the dear friend and the rest was there to mine.
Thanks for asking,
M
Hello! Harris podcast listener here. I thought I heard you mention on an episode you do a rookie fantasy cheat sheet. Where can I find that?
Hey Ethan,
You can learn more here: https://mattwaldmanrsp.com/2020/12/15/new-product-matt-waldmans-rsp-dynasty-rankings-two-year-projection-package/
And buy it here: http://www.mattwaldman.com
It takes about 24 hours to process the info and send you an email with access to the latest info I’ve update. The next update will be late this week or early next week, so what you’d initially receive is in August.
Ethan,
To buy, use this link: https://www.mattwaldman.com
Hi Matt, follow your insight weekly via Twitter. We would love to have you on the Gridiron Icon Podcast to discuss this years crop of rookie QB’s, etc. Are you available to be a podcast guest? Any interest? Thank you and we love your work!
Sure, email me at mattwaldmanrsp@gmail.com
Hi Matt!
I listened to the March 31st The Audible podcast on 2022 Tight Ends and noted your story about a college music class professor who applied the “tough love” technique (maybe not the most appropriate phrase) to talent evaluation. Curious to know where you went to school, as the story reminded me of one of my favorite professors at UT (TN, not TX) Donald Brown. He played with Art Blakey, the Marsalis’s, Ray Charles, among many others, and had several stories about how all of these musicians became so good because they were such perfectionists. He once said Charles got up and walked off before a show because he wasn’t convinced a new player in his band really knew his stuff. I loved hearing those stories even though I don’t think I would have survived in that environment. Thought I’d share. I really enjoy hearing your analysis on players and will be checking out the RSP because of that.
Love it! I went to the University of Miami for 2.5 years. The teacher was the late Vince Maggio, an excellent pianist and instructor.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicagotribune/name/vincent-maggio-obituary?id=6486275
Here’s a link of his playing.