The Rookie Scouting Portfolio (RSP)

Tag: Matt Waldman

  • Execution

    While researching YouTube highlights for my last blog post, I came across a series of short videos on fundamentals for wide receiver and tight end. One set of these videos features former Packers, Chiefs, and Vikings tight end Paul Coffman, who does a fantastic job of demonstrating fundamental techniques for blocking, releases, routes, and pass catching. […]

  • YouTube Chalkboard: Six WRs Who Will School You

    Wide receiver can be a difficult position to evaluate because there are three general factors that contribute to a player’s success in the NFL: Athleticism, technique, and the mesh of his skills within the team’s offensive system. Here are six NFL WRs with lessons to share through the lens of YouTube highlights.  Welcome to a […]

  • YouTube Chalkboard: Three `90s RBs to Learn From

    Walking into the lobby of the Pro Football Hall of Fame a couple of weeks ago, the banner of 2011 inductee Marshall Faulk got me thinking about the runners who came into the league in the mid-to-late `90s. Runners who had hall of fame ability but aren’t likely to be first-ballot inductees, if enshrined at […]

  • Grinding Tape: Chad Spann – Stiff arms and Green Dogs

    NIU RB Chad Spann led the NCAA Divison I-A with 22 rushing touchdowns in 2010. That’s one more than LaMichael James and two more than Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton. Recently, I had the chance to watch tape with the 2010 MAC MVP. This week we discuss two plays where there are problems with the […]

  • In Perspective: Marshall Faulk Defensive Back???

    Every year the draft brings rookies into the league and many of the prospects have question marks about their game. Pick a player and there’s a criticism: too short, too light, too slow, not muscular enough, didn’t play well against top competition, came from a lesser program, you name it. This is why I love […]

  • Grinding Tape Part III – NIU RB Chad Spann

    In Part I of the Grinding Tape Series, Mid American Conference MVP Chad Spann explained the concepts behind plays that require a running back to understand blocking schemes, defensive tendencies, and reading keys. In Part II, he revealed how quickly a runner needs to be able to process information to choose a hole, ball security […]

  • An Unexpected Visit With Family

    On Saturday, my wife and daughter drove to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to attend a family event, which I hoped to make, but I had work that kept me home. At least that’s what I thought. Then I received news that my grandmother passed away. By Sunday morning I was on the road for an 11-hour […]

  • Grinding Tape: NIU RB Chad Spann Part II

    In Part I of the Grinding Tape Series, Mid American Conference MVP Chad Spann explained the concepts behind plays that require a running back to understand blocking schemes, defensive tendencies, and reading keys. This week, he reveals how quickly a runner needs to be able to process information to choose a hole, ball security protocol, […]

  • Grinding Tape: NIU RB Chad Spann Part I

    This is the first in a series of posts will feature a film study session I had with former NIU RB Chad Spann, 2010’s Division-I leader in rushing TDs and the Mid-American Conference’s Most Valuable Player. If you don’t know about Chad Spann, you’re probably not alone. He wasn’t drafted in April. However, that doesn’t […]

  • Losing Your Football Innocence

    Losing Your Football Innocence

    Readers often ask me for advice on how to watch football with a more critical eye. My answers are below, but if you take my advice you’ll lose your football innocence. Let’s dispense with the obvious: You love football. I love football. We wouldn’t be interacting on this blog if we didn’t. I’m stating these […]