Posts tagged 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio

Vertical Goodness: Stephen Hill

0 Comments read Players, Wide Receiver
Calvin Johnson was a better prospect than Stephen Hill, but the 2012 Combine Stud has the fundamentals to become a dangerous X receiver.

Because I’m tired of picking on Stephen Hill…

I’ve been critical of the Georgia Tech receiver all week, but I’ve also been saying that the star of the Combine is more than just a gold medal winner 2012’s Underwear Olympics at Lucas Oil Stadium. Hill is a legit prospect with NFL starter upside. Although I’ve spent several pages analyzing what Hill doesn’t do, one play can encompass most of his strengths. On the surface, one good play to several not so good ones might seem heavily weighted to the negative. However, there are certain talents that don’t require lengthy analysis to value. Continue reading →

WRs Stephen Hill and Marvin Jones: Going Deep

0 Comments read Players, Wide Receiver
Think Cal receiver Marvin Jones is strictly a possession guy? Think again.

This week I have been spotlighting the craft of playing receiver and using plays from the careers of Georgia Tech’s Stephen Hill and Cal’s Marvin Jones as examples. Yesterday, I profiled two crossing routes that couldn’t have been run more different from each other. Today, I’m going deep and examining a vertical play from both receivers.

What’s fascinating about spotlighting Hill and Jones is that outside of Techwood and Berkeley campuses, these receivers seem like polar opposites to the general public. Hill played in a run it and chuck it, triple option offense where he averaged 30 yards per catch for a stretch this year. Hill looks like the next generation mutant receivers – X-men that begin with Homer Jones and continues today with Calvin Johnson.

Marvin Jones played in a west coast offense at Cal. Steve Young says Jeff Tedord’s offense during Aaron Rodgers’ time at Berkeley was literally the 49ers offense of the dynasty era. I don’t think much as changed conceptually. Jones was the high-reception, third-down bail-out “Z” receiver during his final years with the team.  Mr. Reliable. Under the safeties. Under the radar.

But Jones blew the lid off that perception at the Senior Bowl and Continue reading →

Blocking Clinic: Clemson TE Dwayne Allen

0 Comments read Players, Tight End
This analysis has nothing to do with Dwayne Allen with the football. Although he's pretty good there, too. Photo by .PDA Photo

Note: The analysis you’ll find in this blog post and other posts on RB David Wilson, WR Kendall Wright, and Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill are merely snapshots of plays I have compiled from game study. These spotlights focus on a subset of the individual’s talents or deficiencies and are not an overall report on the player. My comprehensive analysis of the player will be available April 1 in the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio – now in its seventh year of publication.

Funny what keeps you up at night. Saturday, I watched two backs in pass protection and their successes and failures got me so fired up that I discovered I had an offensive line coach inside me after all. I nearly burst a blood vessel yelling at the TV. The adrenaline kept me awake until 4 a.m.

The longer I study film the more I enjoy the skill of blocking. Yesterday, I watched Clemson tight end Dwayne Allen put on a blocking clinic. The fact that Allen has the physical skills and hands to become a productive move-tight end or hybrid player already places him atop most teams’ positional boards. The fact that he demonstrated the skill to execute a full complement of blocks gives him star potential.

Continue reading →

When “Flat” is Good: Route Running and Baylor WRs Kendall Wright and Terrance Williams

0 Comments read Players, Wide Receiver
Baylor WR Kendall Wright is a top prospect, but he still has things to learn as a route runner. Photo by GoIowaState

[Editor’s Note: The second route is actually one from Terrance Williams. Thanks for pointing this out, Bryan. However, the concept of making a correct break and not drifting away from the ball is still the same. ] See Also: Kendall Wright And The Money Catch.

For the next two months, I’ll be providing excerpts of film study I’m doing for my 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication, which will be available here on April 1. The David Wilson Vision Series is one example of what you’ll be seeing: analysis of one particular skill set of a player and his position. Although the Wilson Series was a little more comprehensive, you’re going to find highly critical or praiseworthy analysis on an aspect of a player that might not match my overall take that you’ll find in the 2012 RSP.

Kendall Wright is likely an example. There is a lot like like about the Baylor wide receiver and I won’t be surprised if he’s among my top prospects at his position. He’s explosive, dynamic after the catch, and he demonstrates some strong skills as a perimeter deep threat. In many respects he reminds me of what Mario Manningham brings to the table for the Giants, but has potential to become much more (of course, so does Manningham).

However, today’s post is about route running and like Manningham, when it comes to this aspect of the position Wright has things to learn. So does his talented counterpart, underclassman Terrance Williams. Continue reading →

David Wilson’s Vision: Part IV – Exploring the Gray Area

0 Comments read Players, Running Back
Wrapping up David Wilson Week at the RSP Blog with some good plays that might have been better in more experienced hands. Photo by Tech Sports.

If you’ve missed David Wilson Week at the RSP blog you can catch up by reading parts I, II, and III. If you want to start here that’s fine, too. No one is going to write you a ticket for improper blog reading.

Ever watch a ball carrier in a football game finish a good run and still wonder if his choices were the best ones? If you watch the game with any regularity it has probably crossed your mind numerous times. The “what-if” game is a natural part of being an avid football fan.

I had these questions arise while studying Virginia Tech RB David Wilson’s Sugar Bowl performance against Michigan. I frequently saw good runs where Wilson deserved praise for the work he did, but his decisions still left me wondering if he left better choices on the field. Would a runner with Wilson’s physical skills and greater vision been able to do more with these attempts? I don’t know if I have a good answer.

These runs are “gray area,” plays. I watched these runs enough to believe there’s a chance Wilson could have made a different decision and generated a better outcome on the play, but I think its highly debatable. Still, the alternative for each run profiled below is obvious enough to generate a post and potentially some worthwhile discussion. Continue reading →

A Bait and Switch Fiesta: How Oklahoma State’s defense revealed chinks in Andrew Luck’s armor.

0 Comments read Players, Quarterback
Apple pie, (Chevrolet), con men, and football. Its all America unfiltered. Photo by Bucklava

I’ve always loved movies about con men. I think con men are as American as apple pie.

-Bill Paxton, American actor and director.

Good football is about successfully perpetrating a con. Almost every element of the game is designed to persuade the opponent to fall for a bait and switch. The most basic techniques of head fakes, dead legs, spin moves, and swim moves are used to execute strategies like play action passes, trap blocks, shotgun draws, and fire zone blitzes to trick opponents into a vulnerable position and ultimately earn a team an advantage.

One of the best football games I saw last week was a seesaw affair in the Fiesta Bowl where Oklahoma State edged Stanford 41-38 in overtime. The most fascinating moments of the game came when OSU’s defense faced Stanford’s offense. Both units excel at the art of the bait and switch and the game’s first quarter was a display of strategic and technical savvy that makes football a riveting contest of trickery thinly disguised as a battle of brute force.

If the Cardinals offense is a road gang of con men, Continue reading →

2012 RSP Update

0 Comments read Reads Listens Views

With the NFL well into its postseason, I’m steadily working my way through draft prospects for the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio, which will be sold exclusively through a link to a secure shopping page you can access from this blog. If you’d like to purchase the 2011 RSP it is still available for $9.95. Back issues are available for $5.95 apiece until April 1.

To buy past RSPs, email me at mattwaldmanrsp@gmail.com and include the years you wish to purchase (2006-2011 are available) and the email I can use to send you a PayPal invoice as well as the publications once the invoice is paid. After March 31, Continue reading →

RSP Cutting Room Floor: College RB and WR Notes

0 Comments read Players, Running Back, Wide Receiver
Jarrett Boykin has NFL athleticism but the Hokie offense didn't demand him to develop NFL receiver skills. Photo by Gary Cope.

If you haven’t noticed, the RSP blog is often my catchall area to write about anything I can relate to football. Nonetheless, rookie evaluation is still far and away the headliner. With the regular NFL season in the books I’ve ramped up my film study of college players. Here’s a few odds and ends about several players I’ve watched recently. For much more in-depth analysis, get the Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication available April 1.

Western Kentucky RB Bobby Rainey is the best running back prospect you’ve never heard of. Continue reading →