The Rookie Scouting Portfolio (RSP)

Category: Running Back

  • Eerie Coincidence: Ryan Williams

    This morning a friend of mine on Twitter pointed out my profile of Cardinals RB Ryan Williams in the 2011 Rookie Scouting Portfolio.   Please understand that I wasn’t predicting injury or that I’m claiming that I knew all a long that Williams would suffer this fate. I’m sharing this analysis summary published in April because…

  • Top UDFA RBs

    Due to the lockout, 2011 could be more difficult than usual for undrafted free agents trying to make it in the NFL. Yet, there will be players with the talent, the skill, and the work ethic to enter a camp and make the most of their limited opportunities. This week, I’m profiling offensive skill players…

  • Emerging NFL Talents: RB James Starks

    Although my takes on the players in the next series of posts might be useful to fantasy owners, these aren’t fantasy football articles. I’m not projecting stats. I’m writing about talented players whose portfolio of work reveals techniques and behaviors that I think translate well to the NFL game. At the end of the year,…

  • Emerging NFL Talents: RB Ryan Mathews

    Although my takes on the players in the next series of posts might be useful to fantasy owners, this isn’t a fantasy football article. I’m not projecting stats. I’m writing about talented players whose portfolio of work reveals techniques and behaviors that I think translate well to the NFL game. At the end of the…

  • YouTube Chalkboard: Three `90s RBs to Learn From

    Walking into the lobby of the Pro Football Hall of Fame a couple of weeks ago, the banner of 2011 inductee Marshall Faulk got me thinking about the runners who came into the league in the mid-to-late `90s. Runners who had hall of fame ability but aren’t likely to be first-ballot inductees, if enshrined at…

  • Grinding Tape: Chad Spann – Stiff arms and Green Dogs

    NIU RB Chad Spann led the NCAA Divison I-A with 22 rushing touchdowns in 2010. That’s one more than LaMichael James and two more than Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton. Recently, I had the chance to watch tape with the 2010 MAC MVP. This week we discuss two plays where there are problems with the…

  • In Perspective: Marshall Faulk Defensive Back???

    Every year the draft brings rookies into the league and many of the prospects have question marks about their game. Pick a player and there’s a criticism: too short, too light, too slow, not muscular enough, didn’t play well against top competition, came from a lesser program, you name it. This is why I love…

  • Grinding Tape Part III – NIU RB Chad Spann

    In Part I of the Grinding Tape Series, Mid American Conference MVP Chad Spann explained the concepts behind plays that require a running back to understand blocking schemes, defensive tendencies, and reading keys. In Part II, he revealed how quickly a runner needs to be able to process information to choose a hole, ball security…

  • Grinding Tape: NIU RB Chad Spann Part II

    In Part I of the Grinding Tape Series, Mid American Conference MVP Chad Spann explained the concepts behind plays that require a running back to understand blocking schemes, defensive tendencies, and reading keys. This week, he reveals how quickly a runner needs to be able to process information to choose a hole, ball security protocol,…

  • Grinding Tape: NIU RB Chad Spann Part I

    This is the first in a series of posts will feature a film study session I had with former NIU RB Chad Spann, 2010’s Division-I leader in rushing TDs and the Mid-American Conference’s Most Valuable Player. If you don’t know about Chad Spann, you’re probably not alone. He wasn’t drafted in April. However, that doesn’t…