In-depth film analysis of NFL Draft Prospects With a Fantasy Football Lens - by Matt Waldman ©2025
With the help of numerous Footballguys.com writers, Bob Henry creates a weekly aggregation of camp news titled (simply enough) Training Camp Update. I can’t recommend it highly enough. The first issue is free to the public.
I’m going to quote some of the notes and provide my own take.
Carolina Panthers FB Mike Tolbert: Why I want to see All-22 analysis of Carolina this year. Continue reading
Dave Richard is a diehard football fan and lives the dream as one of the few full-time fantasy writers in the business. Richard handles sports news and analysis for Fantasy Football at CBSSports.com and is one of many members of Pro Football Writers of America who I imagine will take cookies and pizza as bribes. The Florida native’s team takes some departures from the trends I’ve seen with most of the RSP Writers’ Teams I’ve seen thus far.
Richard invested in an upper echelon left tackle, took an unusual combination of tight ends, and invested in many rookies that I think will develop into underrated role players within the next few years. Two that come to mind immediately are Continue reading
For more about the RSP Writers Project, featuring some of the best football analysts on the Internet, go here.
Matt Williamson unveiled his RSP Writers Squad yesterday and the offensive firepower is obvious. The ESPN analyst was gracious with his time to kick the tires on this project before releasing it to the public. I could say he had a head start, but the reason he picked a promising team has more to do with his experiences, including work as an NFL scout. Continue reading
Matt Williamson’s story is well-known to us at the RSP blog. The former Cleveland Browns scout graciously served as our unofficial quality assurance tester for the writer’s project player values. Due to a communication error on my part, some of the writers built rosters with only two quarterbacks. I’m letting it slide due to the sake of time, but just know that there would have to be some minor adjustments with Williamson’s squad to meet the three-quarterback rule.
I doubt the adjustment would seriously change the make up of his team, which at first glance is an offense with a powerful ground attack complemented by a fearsome vertical passing game, and a 34 defense with most of the money invested in linebackers. Williamson’s team is a fun mix of big and small investments with a lot of players that reflect his eye for talent combined with a willingness to rely on role players that fit his scheme.
I think the last part of that statement is an important one to remember. Good teams aren’t filled with superstars from top to bottom, but they do have a great mix of studs and players that are studly at a limited number of tasks. See comments for guys Chris Rainey and Williamson gets it.
At the same time, he also found potential bargains. His tight ends are a great example. If Fred Davis can stay away from situations where he has to be his own lawyer Continue reading
For more analysis of skill players like the post below, download the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio. Better yet, if you’re a fantasy owner the 56-page Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 RSP at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. Here’s an update on my pledge.
Texas Longhorns receiver Marquise Goodwin is a world-class long jumper with track star speed. Earlier this week, I broke down a play of Goodwin’s that shows how he had to do a better job of using his body to prevent a defender from gaining access to his hip pocket as the ball arrived. Here is the second of the two posts I promised. This is also from the December bowl game versus Cal and it underscores the importance of body position to maximize his speed. It also illustrates my oft-mentioned point that athleticism might be a game changer in college football, but it’s merely a baseline for the NFL. Continue reading
[youtube=http://youtu.be/4RcIJ2rLMUQ]
Falcons receiver Julio Jones is a world-class physical talent as a football player. However, until he can make the plays you see in the video above, he’s still playing a “B-game.” Jones is a good player with flashes of excellence and this is the component of his craft to monitor in order to see if he takes the next step in 2012.
This Weekend
More on the craft of gaining separation from the line of scrimmage, with a play-by-play example of Texas speedster Marquise Goodwin.
Coming Soon: Cecil Lammey Q&A
Finally, Lammey and I had a chance to spend an hour with a digital recorder running. The newly syndicated host of “Riding Shotgun” is an aficionado of cattle roping, boars, and running backs. I’ll let him tell you about the chaps – I’m still getting treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. Expect to see this posted at the eve of the regular season.
New Project on the Horizon: NSFW Week
If you listen to The Thursday Night Audible Roundtable, I sometimes let my irreverent side out for a walk (with a choke collar and a sturdy leash). Somtimes I also do it here. I don’t know when, and I’m not sure what form it will take just yet, but I have a feeling sometime this fall, I’m going to have a “Wildman Uncensored: Not Safe For Work Week at the RSP.”
Pretty much anything and everything I wouldn’t share and laying it down unfiltered. I’ll provide Continue reading
Another guy from my April No-Huddle Series looking good in camp. LaVon Brazill earning first-team reps. It’s early, but when a sixth-round pick gets a chance to take first-team reps that’s worth monitoring.
According to Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh, undrafted free agent Bobby Rainey “is opening eyes” in camp. Here’s an analysis of Rainey’s game, a player I compared stylistically to Ray Rice. With Bernard Pierce struggling thus far, and an unproven depth chart at the position, Rainey is making the most of limited opportunities thus far.
Chase Stuart took an aggressive, offensive approach to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio Writers Project, spending $93.5 million of his $150 million salary cap on his offense. Can’t say I blame him. He has a nice mix of young skill talent and veteran grit and his dollar cost averaging for his offensive line could pay off.
Although his defense has some clear weaknesses, he also has talented players that should do a good job of playing aggressive football when Stuart’s team has a lead. If this team gets behind early it could be problematic, but I can see how this offense is set up for this team to go 10-6, even in a tough division.
Learn more about Stuart’s team below as the writer at Footballguys.com, Pro Football Reference, and (his new blog) Football Perspective provides an engaging take on the RSP Writers Project. Continue reading
Chase Stuart is probably what my dad envisioned when he had his first son back in 1970: a Manhattan lawyer with a proclivity for stats and history. Well Pops, one out of three ain’t bad – in baseball. Of course, his third try was the charm: my little brother is a Columbia grad student earning his master’s in statistics. But lets’ get back to Stuart and his aggressive offensive mentality you’re about to see below.
At Footballguys.com, Stuart writes a popular series called “Player Points,” which I think always has a great takeaway worth remembering about a player. He also blogs for the venerable Pro Football Reference site that has earned kudos from some of the top football journalists around. And recently, Stuart created his own excellent blog, Football Perspective.
Because Stuart has everything going for him, I have to try (note the word “try”) to knock this Jets fan down a peg with the observation that his team philosophically looks a lot like the 2012 New England Patriots or Colts of the Manning era. Continue reading