Category RSP Writers Project

RSP Writers Project Q&A: Zach Bahner, NFL Draft Hub

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Zach Bahner is another writer in the RSP Writers Project who is a Reggie Bush fan Photo by JSnell.

Zach Bahner is an analyst at NFL Draft Hub. Bahner is a Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish fan, which is an odd combination when one considers that most Miami Dolphins fans are Miami Hurricanes fans. Bahner’s team has some personnel fresh to this project and I’m intrigued with what he intends to do with them. What I like about Banher’s team right away is that his players tend to be second- and third-year veterans on the verge of their prime.

For more information about the RSP Writers Projects and how to build your own team, check out this link.

  1. Describe your offensive system: Continue reading →

RSP Writers Project: Zach Bahner, NFL Draft Hub

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Zach Bahner is an analyst at NFL Draft Hub. Bahner is a Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish fan, which is an odd combination when one considers that most Miami Dolphins fans are Miami Hurricanes fans. Bahner’s team has some personnel fresh to this project and I’m intrigued with what he intends to do with them. What I like about Banher’s team right away is that his players tend to be second- and third-year veterans on the verge of their prime. Stay tuned for the Q&A.

For more information about the RSP Writers Projects and how to build your own team, check out this link. Continue reading →

RSP Writers Project Q&A: Dave Richard, CBS

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Robert Griffin III might have won the 2011 Heisman Trophy, but Trent Richardson LOOKS like a new and improved version of the sculpture. CBS writer Dave Richard hopes Richardson gets well soon. Photo by Erik Daniel Drost.

Dave Richard works for CBS. His RSP Writers Team can be found here. His Q&A is below. He writes in short sentences. You’ll notice this tendency. Richard is economical. Get used to it.

Okay, not really. Richard is a busy guy and we appreciate the effort he made to contribute a team and add to the rich diversity of offerings to this project. I did asked follow up questions, but with fantasy football season nearing its peak I presume Richard is underwater with “who do I draft,” emails from the masses or readers in CBS leagues.

Seriously, Richard’s answers will probably be a refreshing to those of you that appreciate brevity but rarely get it here. Continue reading →

RSP Writers Project: CBS Sportsline Analyst Dave Richard’s Team

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Can you name this Redskins running back? I appreciate the CBS fantasy football analyst Dave Richard has this hard-running rookie from Florida Atlantic on his RSP Writers team. Based on his depth chart, it makes a lot of sense. Photo by Keith Allison.

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 →

RSP Writers Project Q&A: Matt Williamson ESPN

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Hard to disagree with ESPN analyst and former NFL scout Matt Williamson about Matt Stafford. Especially on his take about Stafford’s durability. Photo by C. Vogle.

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 →

RSP Writers Project: Matt Williamson, ESPN

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I had a feeling Matt Stafford would be on a lot of RSP Writers Project Teams, but after 5-ish used Stafford for his reader’s submission, I haven’t seen Stafford appear until Matt Williamson took the plunge. Photo by Marianne O’Leary.

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 →

RSP Writers Project Q&A: Chase Stuart, Footballguys, Football Perspective, and Pro Football Reference

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Can Peyton Manning add years to Anquan Boldin’s career? Chase Stuart hopes so. Find out more about his RSP Writers team below. Photo by Michael Wifall.

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 →

RSP Writers Project: Chase Stuart, Footballguys, Football Perspective, and Pro Football Reference

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Chase Stuart spent $93.5 million of his $150 million camp on offense. By those standards, Peyton Manning was a bargain. Photo by Jeffrey Beall.

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 →

RSP Writers Project Q&A: Russ Lande of GM Jr. and The Sporting News

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Looking for a player with Darren Sproles’ style? Former NFL Scout and draft analyst Russ Lande tabs Falcons RB Jacquizz Rodgers for this role on his ground-centric offensive attack. Photo by McD22.

Russ Lande is a former NFL scout with the Rams and Browns who produces the draft publication GM Jr. and provides content for The Sporting News, including its annual draft guide. Lande has also appeared on television, including The Big 10 Network and ESPN2. Here’s a Q&A I did with Lande in the New York Times Fifth Down a couple of years ago at the Senior Bowl.

Lande’s RSP Writers Team has a makeup of players that is largely unique from other squads Continue reading →

RSP Writers Team: Russ Lande, GM Jr. – The Sporting News

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About Russ Lande

If you want to learn something right away about former NFL scout Russ Lande, note his preference for quarterbacks with great awareness and accuracy over pure arm talent and athleticism (I agree). Photo by Parker Anderson.

Russ Lande began his football career as a scout with an unpaid position as a part-time recruiting intern with the UCLA Bruins. The next year, Lande was a pro scouting intern with the Los Angeles Rams and then transitioned into the role of scouting administrator from 1994-1998. He learned from the likes of Jack Faulkner, Dick Vermeil, Mike White, Bud Carson, Charley Armey, and Nick Aliotti.

Lande founded GM Jr Scouting and published his first annual GM Jr’s Guide to the NFL Draft (“The Guide”), starting with the 1999 NFL Draft. He also worked in the XFL as an east coast scout and later earned a job with CBS Sports’ television show NFL Today as an editorial consultant. Soon after, the Cleveland Browns hired Lande as a Midwest Blesto Scout responsible for evaluating senior players at over 70 colleges and universities. Since 2007, Lande has been the draft expert for The Sporting News.  His company, GM Jr. Scouting LLC supplies The Sporting News all NFL content for the NFL and NFL Draft, both online and in their annual Sporting News Pro Football Draft publication.

Lande’s RSP Writers Team was originally composed with a $140 million cap through a miscommunication that we had about the rules (which was my fault). When I gave him more time to redo his team with the extra $10 million, he made tweaks to his quarterback depth and added Matt Hasselbeck. I think this is important to note, because I believe Lande is confident enough in hi selections that the extra $10 million didn’t make a huge difference except at one position.

Because I regard Lande as an industry peer when it comes to studying prospects, I enjoyed discovering players we both like: Hasselbeck, Juron Criner, Donald Brown, Taylor Thompson, Glenn Dorsey, and Cordy Glenn. The fact that Criner reminds me of Cris Carter and Lande describes the rookie as having “the best Continue reading →