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RSP Roundtable Podcast: Alan Dandar and Dan Hatman
Get a whole new perspective on scouting and NFL decision-making and listen to this show before the draft tonight. The NFL Draft begins today and rather than talking about prospects, I spoke with two experienced NFL football operations and personnel people about scouting, management, and strategy of building a team. This is easily one 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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What I’ve Learned: Context and Perspective Trump Technique
A football writer called me up yesterday morning and broached a topic that I believe separates the savvier talent analysts from the less nuanced: quarterback mechanics. “How important are quarterback mechanics and what do you make of analysts that cite them as critical cause-effect issues with the development or lack of development of a passer?” […]
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The Boiler Room: Nebraska RB Ameer Abdullah — The Difficulty of Judging Football Speed
A common refrain among experienced coaches, scouts, and personnel managers is that football players rarely run untouched in a straight line for 40 yards. I’m not knocking the 40-yard dash as a combine activity — only attempting to place a proper frame around the evaluation tool when the media and fans magnify its importance. Whether […]
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Futures: My Expansion Franchise
You’ve just been awarded an NFL expansion team and must build your personnel department. Go. Futures: My Expansion Franchise By Matt Waldman When the writer of Smartfootball.com suggests that, “you should storify that series of tweets,” it’s a take on a subject worth further exploration. The topic came courtesy of Luke Easterling (@NFLDraftReport) who, on […]
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A Game of Inches: The Talent Gap By the Numbers
Based on these numbers, less than 1 percent of the seniors playing college football will ever earn a second contract in the NFL. Greg Linton, an NFL agent, shared this on Twitter this morning. There’s another salient point embedded in this data that goes beyond the message of “get your education.” It’s how data displays […]
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Reads Listens Views 1/10/2014
This Week’s RLV: A jive turkey worth eating, appreciating Klook, a spec at sea, Cyrille Aimee, and tree houses. Listens Views – Unbelievable Tree Houses For more, including an invisible tree house, check out Higher Learning Welcome If you’re new to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio blog, welcome. Every Friday, I post links to things I’m […]
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On Scouting Wide Receivers
I believe analytics have value, but the grading of wide receivers based heavily on speed, vertical skill, and production is an ambitious, but misguided idea. Further the application is the torturing of data to fit it into a preconceived idea and making it sound objective and scientific due to the use of quantitative data. Unless […]
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What is Integrated Technique?
In the world of draftniks, the word ‘intangibles’ is often a catchall term that explains a smart player without NFL skill sets. Sometimes those using the term make the mistake to include players who possess what I call an integrated skill set. Find out what that means and why it’s the difference between a good […]
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Futures: WR Marquess Wilson
Futures: WR Marquess Wilson by Matt Waldman This week’s Futures is about more than Marquess Wilson. It’s about the dynamics of power within college football programs and the risks that come with questioning their authority. For most of us outside the situation, it’s about being willing to reserve judgment about a player’s decisions when we may never […]