The Rookie Scouting Portfolio (RSP)

Tag: 2013 RSP

  • Boiler Room: Oregon St. WR Markus Wheaton

    Boiler Room: Oregon St. WR Markus Wheaton

    Wheaton is my favorite wide receiver in this draft. There are dozens of plays I’d like to show you and then there’s another dozen of one-on-one moments where he shined against a good class of corners at the Senior Bowl practices. He might not be the best receiver in this class, but I think he’s…

  • 2013 RSP Scavenger Hunt Contest – Closed

    2013 RSP Scavenger Hunt Contest – Closed

    Most of my readers find my contests challenging. I try to make them difficult, but sometimes they wind up easier than I thought. This one could go either way. Ready? The first three people to email me the link to a page on my blog that has a picture with collard greens wins a 2013…

  • Boiler Room: Geno Smith and Gradkowski Tangent

    Boiler Room: Geno Smith and Gradkowski Tangent

    Geno Smith may not be a quarterback I’m super-excited about as an NFL prospect, but it doesn’t mean he won’t develop into a decent starter. Smith’s game travels to the Boiler Room where I distill what makes him a solid prospect at the position, including a tangent about a player who belongs in the family…

  • Futures: OLBs Dion Jordan and Barkevious Mingo

    Futures: OLBs Dion Jordan and Barkevious Mingo

    Imagine you’re considering two final candidates for a job. Both possess top-drawer talent, which is what you’d expect at this point if their resumes are the remaining two on your desk. Candidate A is refined, smooth, and versatile. If you needed him to start today, he’d be up to speed and produce with minimal training.…

  • Character, Media, and the NFL Draft: A Sour Cocktail

    Character, Media, and the NFL Draft: A Sour Cocktail

    I’m 43 years old. Since I was 15, I’ve held 16 types of jobs with 9 different companies. I’m not counting the four soul-sucking hours I spent as a stock boy at a Winn-Dixie. On my lunch hour at that job, I walked out the door and kept walking. Two miles later, I made a…

  • Behind the Scenes Thoughts on Tight Ends in 2013 RSP

    Behind the Scenes Thoughts on Tight Ends in 2013 RSP

    With the launch of the 2013 RSP, Sigmund Bloom suggested that I share a behind the scenes retelling of my thoughts and feelings about players – something that delves deeper than rankings and profiles of skills ad potential. A few days ago, I wrote about running backs. Today, it’s tight end – a position where three years…

  • Reads Listens Views 4/5/2013

    Reads Listens Views 4/5/2013

    Would Josh Gordon have been the top option in the 2013 draft class if his college career wasn’t filled with off-field missteps? I thought he was an option in the late-first to early-second rounds of 2012 rookie drafts, which would have placed him in the conversation with this year’s class. If you wish to take a liberal…

  • Behind the Scenes Thoughts on Running Backs in 2013 RSP

    Behind the Scenes Thoughts on Running Backs in 2013 RSP

    In case you were on a covert mission in the jungles of southeast Asia to save the world from a mad scientist hunkered down in a secret lair who was just a step away from bringing the world to the brink of chemical warfare, the 2013 Rookie Scouting Portfolio is now available for download. The…

  • The Elusiveness Factor: Patterson-Austin-Woods By Nick Whalen

    The Elusiveness Factor: Patterson-Austin-Woods By Nick Whalen

    If you’re an NFL Draft junkie, this time of year feels like the weeks of anticipation leading to Christmas Day.  When I was a kid, recordings of previous NFL Drafts were my “cartoons before bedtime,” before this blessed event that always brought a sense of euphoria when it finally arrived. I’m not normal. But I…

  • Futures: Unknown, Unsung, and Underappreciated

    Futures: Unknown, Unsung, and Underappreciated

    When you’re in my line of work, the most memorable players are often the unknowns, the underappreciated, and the underdogs. One of the most memorable for me was a player I watched in September 2006, whose performance against a top-ranked Tennessee Volunteers defense was so good that it belied his 24-carry, 72-yard box-score entry. Here’s…