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Vision Quest: The Artfulness of LeSean McCoy and Jamaal Charles
Vision is a magical term in football. It’s not a single skill, but an integration of several. It requires anticipation, awareness, confidence, creativity, pacing, and split-second processing of all these traits (and others) to determine optimal risk-reward. Vision is a dazzling illustration that the game of football is not a science, but performance art. Science…
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No-Huddle Series: Cal/Green Bay TE Richard Rodgers
Cal tight end Richard Rodgers isn’t at the top of this class, but he has the tools to climb an NFL depth chart. The difference between a college star and an NFL starter is a player’s ability to integrate skills into meaningful play. Otherwise, his value to the team will be little more than that…
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Talent Mining: Vikings RB Jerick McKinnon
One of the most compelling skill players in this draft is former QB Jerick McKinnon, the Vikings’ third-round pick to back up Adrian Peterson. Former players like Ryan Riddle say that NFL coaching is focused more on scheme than skills development. It’s one of the reasons why I find player development in pro football so…
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WR Size: Is It Valid Analysis? By Chase Stuart and Matt Waldman
Chase Stuart of Football Perspective drops by to collaborate on the topic of wide receiver size and the limits of applying analytics to the subject. Matt Waldman: Stats Ministers and Their Church I’m a fan of applying analytics to football. Those who do it best possess rigorous statistical training or are disciplined about maintaining limits…
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Chicago Bears RB Ka’Deem Carey: Substance Over Flash
Many draftniks are lukewarm about Ka’Deem Carey’s prospects, but it’s the little things he does that generate big plays that get me excited about his future. A scout told me this spring that Ka’Deem Carey is the type of runner that scouts like and coaches love, but makes personnel executives squint their eyes. Carey’s off-field…
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Teddy Bridgewater’s NFL Personality Assessment
An NFL source confirmed to me that Teddy Bridgewater has scored exceptionally well on a league-used personality assessment. I know how some bloggers have develop some disdain for the anonymous source when it comes to football news. If you’re one of them, this isn’t the post you want to read. If you don’t care, tonight…
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Futures: QB Tom Savage
Savage has the physical skills and flashes of on-field play that make him look like a first-rounder. Is his rumored late rise up draft boards a product of hyperbolic thinking? Futures: Pittsburgh QB Tom Savage By Matt Waldman Beware of the fast rising quarterback. This is what Football Outsiders newcomer Jason Lisk wrote in 2012…
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Gruden QB Camp: Teddy Bridgewater
Reader Advisory: This series is an experiment. The takes within are not anything that I’m willing to stand behind as enhancing or detracting from the “draft value” of the players I am profiling here. I developed this series to illustrate the subjectivity of a player interview. There will be plenty of armchair psychology and body language analysis interlaced…
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Futures: Alabama MLB C.J. Mosely
Seeking an lesson in playing middle linebacker? C.J. Mosely’s game is instructive. Futures: Alabama MLB C.J. Mosely By Matt Waldman He can’t catch, he’s had numerous injuries, and a well-executed read-option keeper can trip him up. But if these are the only damning aspects to middle linebacker C.J. Mosely’s game, and his injuries don’t present…
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Gray Matter: RBs Andre Williams and Anthony Dixon
I see the good from Andre Williams, but will he show it often enough on the field? I’m often asked about my “misses.” Who were they? What did I learn? The answers aren’t always as simple as the questions. Sometimes the outcome is wrong, but the process is right. Cincinnati running back Cedric Peerman hasn’t…