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Super Bowl XLIX: Making Sense of One Yard
Looking beyond the single-worst call in Super Bowl history to make sense of a winning philosophy that came a yard shy of consecutive championships. Seattle lost the Super Bowl because it dared to win. It’s extraordinarily difficult to reconcile this statement in light of the Seahawks’ choice to call a pass over the middle from the…
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RSP Film Room No.26: WR Jaelen Strong w/Jeff Lloyd
Strong isn’t flashy, but Jeff Lloyd and I show you why this Sun Devil’s ability to flash clean, simple execution makes him a prospect with game that should be pro ready sooner than later. RESN analyst Jeff Lloyd learned how to play wide receiver under former Oregon State offensive coordinator John Garrett. Lloyd visited the RSP…
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Boiler Room: UMass TE Jean Sifrin
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Process The Process: New Podcast Hosted by Josh Norris
Rotoworld’s Josh Norris asked me to be his first guest on a new podcast available on iTunes. Learn more (and perhaps win a 2015 RSP). Josh Norris is a good friend of the blog. The Rotoworld draft writer invited me to kick off his new podcast Process The Process. The aim of this show is discussion of…
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Seeing Two Games In One: Projecting College Performance to the NFL
Effective personnel evaluation requires a little bit of time travel, seeing double, and a rich imagination. See below. I’m among the football writers you’ll read or listen to on a podcast explain that it’s important to know the difference between “college” accuracy and “pro” accuracy. When described, it often means tighter passing lanes against zone…
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RSP Film Room No.20: Nebraska WR/KR Kenny Bell
There are six plays from Odell Beckham’s LSU tape that made me a fan of his game. Bell isn’t Odell Beckham, but the reasons I like his game aren’t much different on tape. I’m a fan of quick, physical, technically sound, smart, and versatile football players. Kenny Bell hits these marks. I’ve seen three games of…
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Reads Listens Views 12/12/14
A Duo of Devantes, A Meghan Trainor Parody, An Early Anonymous Scouts Story, and A Love Supreme. What is Reads Listens Views? If you’re new to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio blog, welcome. I post links on Fridays to pieces that I’ve found personally compelling or to content I haven’t read yet. You may not like…
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Trick Shot Hero: WR Ezell Ruffin
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Futures: Six Memorable Lessons About Talent Evaluation
This week’s Futures makes a visit to the past. Matt Waldman lists the 10 most influential prospects in his development as a talent evaluator. This will be the tenth season that I publish the Rookie Scouting Portfolio. One of the most frequent questions readers ask is, Who were your greatest hits and misses? It’s an…
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No-Huddle Series: Rice WR Jordan Taylor
Who is Jordan Taylor and why should you keep tabs on him? Seeing what others don’t when scouting a player often means you’re either equipped with pixie dust or the gunpowder. Get it right and it’s magic, get it wrong and it can blow up in your face. That’s the dramatic, bottom-line story you’ll see in…