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RSP Boiler Room No. 28: TCU WR Kolby Listenbee
A 4.35-second 40 means you can beat most cornerbacks in a race. Football isn’t racing. Two plays of Listenbee’s reveals two things that can make a deep threat dangerous or render him ineffective. Outrunning defenders is only a part of the equation of becoming an effective deep threat in the NFL. Professional defensive backs aren’t…
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RSP Film Room No.76: DL DeForest Buckner
Bolts From the Blue writer Kyle Posey rejoins the show for a look at Buckner, a strong, versatile lineman with a lot of tools in the box. If the techniques for defensive linemen are tools, DeForest Buckner’s game is on its way to becoming a garage of a gearhead. The Oregon lineman is long, strong,…
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RSP Boiler Room No.27: QB Christian Hackenberg
Two red zone plays, one lesson learned for the Penn State QB that could hold some promise for NFL development. Christian Hackenberg is a difficult prospect. Despite an underwhelming career, the physical ability is there. The flashes of conceptual acumen show up on occasion, too. What will matter most for the NFL team that selects…
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RSP Boiler Room: Utah RB Devontae Booker
Two plays, both display Booker’s skill, but one also has a lot of luck involved. Learn the difference. Skill and luck. Depending on the bias of the fan or the depth of observation, these two things get confused every time there’s a game on television. Booker is a skilled back, but even skilled backs get lucky…
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Every Play Tells a Story: RB Derrick Henry & Forcing the Counter
Eric Stoner’s latest episode of Every Play Tells a Story looks at an Influence Play involving Derrick Henry as football’s version Floyd Mayweather. You’re a boxer. You’re matched up against an extremely aggressive fighter. He’s not a reckless one, either. He has a plan. He’s been taught well. He’s calculated. Most of all, he loves punching. Hard. What are…
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Flawed: The NFL’s Investigation of Character
Working from a place of paranoia and basing judgments on gossip should not be the operating standard. Thoughts from those inside the league. A man walks into a bar. It’s the beginning of most of your grandfather’s jokes. Let’s update it: A man walks into a bar. He is an NFL employee. He walks into…
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Waldman on Craft & Industry
Interested in a career in writing or breaking into football writing? I join Matt Harmon on his Backyard Banter Podcast to deliver my thoughts straight, no chaser. Matt Harmon kicked off his new podcast on the people and stories of football writers and football writing with my pal Sigmund Bloom. The joke around social media…
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RSP Film Room No.74: QB Vad Lee
The James Madison passer is a late-round/UDFA favorite of me and ITP’s Mark Schofield. Vad Lee is a quarterback who can run. He’s not a runner who played quarterback in college football. What’s the difference? When a team will need to do more work to get less out of a player by converting him to…
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Strive for Elegant
Should scouting football players be a simple or detailed process? Let’s strive for elegant. This rant features Florida WR Demarcus Robinson. It’s not a scouting report, but you will learn something about him in addition to my thoughts on the “simplicity” conversation working through social media on scouting football talent. Within the span of…
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RSP Boiler Room No.25: RB Wendell Smallwood & The Craft of The Gap Play
Gap blocks require its own brand of patience from a runner. A Smallwood run versus Texas illustrates the importance of pacing to set up blocks. Walter Payton. O.J. Simpson. Thurman Thomas. Watch highlights of some of the great runners in football history and you’ll see plays where they extend an arm to the back of…