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QB Logan Thomas: Look Out Below!!!
Utter the name “Logan Thomas” on Twitter and assign some positives to his game before the NFL Draft and the most likely responses coming your way were derision and confusion. The cynicism stems from the failures of NFL teams that have consistently pursued big, strong quarterbacks without enough regard for pocket presence, capacity to learn…
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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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2014 RSP Post-Draft Ready for Download!
Waiting to buy the RSP for the Post-Draft Analysis? Wait no longer . . . “I’m not sure it would be a good business decisions, but I [would] probably pay $100 for the Matt Waldman Rookie Scouting Portfolio.” -Mike Beckley, @NFLLionBlood on Twitter The 2014 Rookie Scouting Portfolio Post-Draft Add-On is ready for download. If you’re in…
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Reads Listens Views 5/2/2014 + My Take on MMQB Manziel Roundtable
My critique of Peter King’s Manziel roundtable, Beats Antique, Hangouts, Cramps and crablegs What is Reads Listens Views? If you’re new to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio blog, welcome. I post links on Friday to content I’m saving for later consumption or content I’ve viewed that I found compelling. You may not like everything listed here,…
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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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Rehabbing the Wonderlic
The Wonderlic and the NFL’s misguided use of it continues to fascinate. I propose a solution. If you’ve seen the Audible Podcast where I commented on the Wonderlic exam, then you know my suggested alternative to the Wonderlic. This test was designed in 1936 and the military adopted it for measuring a pilot’s ability to think fast. One…
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Reads Listens Views 4/18/2014
Fran Duffy’s Scouting Notebooks, Voodoo Chile Trip, Trio of Doom, and Solar in the Dark What is Reads Listens Views? If you’re new to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio blog, welcome. I post links on Friday to content I’m saving for later consumption. You may not like everything listed here, but you’re bound to like something.…
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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…
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Boiler Room: Nebraska WR Quincy Enunwa
Ever think about how you’ve changed over the years? What did the “old you” think, say, and do versus the “new you?” This is something I think about all the time when I’m studying football players. I remember the first time I saw Terrell Owens as a rookie. He wasn’t the rocked-up, raging force of…