The Rookie Scouting Portfolio (RSP)

Tag: NFL draft

  • RSP Boiler Room: Utah RB Devontae Booker

    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…

  • Flawed: The NFL’s Investigation of Character

    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…

  • RSP Film Room No.74: QB Vad Lee

    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…

  • Strive for Elegant

    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…

  • RSP Boiler Room No.25: RB Wendell Smallwood & The Craft of The Gap Play

    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…

  • RSP Boiler Room No.24: Swimming With WR Jordan Payton

    RSP Boiler Room No.24: Swimming With WR Jordan Payton

    It’s all about taking it to the defender. It’s why they are called “offensive” players. Good football is often about controlled aggression.Watch a wide receiver beat press coverage and you’ll see what I mean. One of my favorite wide receivers is UCLA’s Jordan Payton. He meets criteria I find important: Physical, versatile, and technically savvy for…

  • RSP Boiler Room No.23: TE/WR Stephen Anderson, Cal – Intangibles on Film

    RSP Boiler Room No.23: TE/WR Stephen Anderson, Cal – Intangibles on Film

    Intangibles show up on film. Here’s an example of competitive effort from Cal hybrid Stephen Anderson Intangibles are real things that we aren’t able to fully quantify in the present. That’s my view and I’m sticking with it. Stephen Anderson exemplifies the intangible for me this year. Of all the players I’ve studied this far,…

  • RSP Boiler Room No.22: RB Jordan Howard, Indiana

    RSP Boiler Room No.22: RB Jordan Howard, Indiana

    It’s Valentine’s Day and I looked for the least sexy run I could find. And if you love football, you’ll be glad I did.  One of the more frustrating things I see on video is a great athlete at running back that doesn’t know how to use his power. This RSP Film Room doesn’t feature…

  • RSP Film Room No.73: Baylor DT Andrew Billings

    RSP Film Room No.73: Baylor DT Andrew Billings

    Find out why Football Educator writer Brandon Thorn thinks of Broderick Bunkley when he watches the tape of this War Daddy.  If you haven’t seen Andrew Billings, you’re in for a treat. The 6’0″, 311-pound gap dominating , solar eclipse of a defensive tackle is a linebacker-and-a-half specimen of athlete with uncommon strength . Put this…

  • RSP Boiler Room No.20: RB C.J. Prosise

    RSP Boiler Room No.20: RB C.J. Prosise

    Why is Frank Gore pictured for this Prosise run vs. Temple?  Read on. C.J. Prosise is a gifted athlete with NFL physcial skills who must learn to become a craftsman at his position if he wants a professional career as anything more than a specialist. If you’re new to the RSP then you’re not familiar with…