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Futures: DE’s Bjoern Werner and Damontre Moore
As a football fan, odds are high that you at least had a brief love affair with professional wrestling. Mine lingered a while. It was an obsession lasting long enough that when I think of defensive ends, they remind me of the ultimate “heels” from professional wrestling promotions: big, bad, freakish athletes capable of putting…
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Reads Listens Views 12/14/2012
Listens Thank You Fantasy football is slowing down and draftnik season is heating up. I’ll be here and at Football Outsider’s providing analysis of the 2013 prospects as I compile my research for the 2013 Rookie Scouting Portfolio, which will be available for download April 1. If you’ve never seen the RSP publication, 2006-2012 versions…
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Futures: Texas FS Kenny Vaccaro
Studying football players is a solitary pursuit. So it feels good when a performance catches your attention and months later you learn that it did the same for another writer, scout, or talent evaluator. Everyone enjoys that kind of validation. One of those moments occurred last spring when I was watching Keenan Allen. As fun…
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Futures: Florida TE Jordan Reed
Last week, I wrote about Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert and how his skills fit into the growing pantheon of versatile tight end play that is in vogue in the NFL. But versatility can have a number of different meanings depending on the talents of the player and his fit within an offense. The word doesn’t necessarily mean…
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Mike Gillislee and the Currency of Respect
Hitting and guts are the currency of respect in the game of football. A football player that can deliver a hit, take a hit, and play with abandon earns respect from teammates, opponents, and fans. When I watch a prospect, these three aspects of football stand out immediately when I see them. Said player may…
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Futures: West Virginia WR Tavon Austin
Evaluating players is a long process. It doesn’t end when an analyst watches a few games of a prospect. I want you to keep this in mind as you read this take or any take that I provide of a player before his college career has ended. My methodology of evaluation is as detailed as…
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Big Bad Utah War Daddy Star Lotulelei
War Daddies. Chris Brown introduces this coach’s term of endearment for big, bad defensive tackles that man the middle of a defensive front in his ode to the position at Grantland. Brown, the author of the always excellent Smart Football, explains that when it comes to prioritizing the factors that make a good defensive tackle,…
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Futures: Georgia LB Alec Ogletree
Six years ago, I met an athletic trainer for the University of Georgia football team. I joined a local gym and wanted to begin a weight training program. I was leery of the bells and whistles that “athletic clubs” have in their facilities and even more skeptical of the trainers who seem to be more…
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Reads Listens Views 9/14/2012
Chris Potter and Marcus Strickland, two of the better saxophonists of my generation playing with a great group that includes the fantastic Benny Green on piano, Martin Wind on bass, and Matt Wilson on drums. Reads From the “isn’t that charming and hip, but completely stupid file,” The USB Typewriter. If someone rigged any of…
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Futures: My New Football Outsiders Column
This week’s column on Russell Wilson is titled, “Studying the Asterisk.” I studied three games of Wilson’s junior season at N.C. State – FSU, UNC, and Va. Tech – and I think there’s ample evidence that demonstrates why Wilson is an underrated commodity in this draft. I also provide some footage and analysis of Drew…