Posts tagged 2012 RSP

Looking for Mr. Dunn: LaMichael James

0 Comments read Players, Reads Listens Views, Running Back

[youtube=http://youtu.be/5dgrjrp6jXE]

If there’s an alternate universe, I’m a running back in it. There isn’t a week that goes by that I walk along the field that held the first football game at the University of Georgia and daydream of ripping off a run like Garrison Hearst’s 96-yard touchdown versus the Jets. I just don’t act it out (although the urge is there). It’s probably why most of my analysis this month has been quarterbacks, receivers, and tight ends. I want to save the best stuff for last – the way your son or daughter might save a favorite dessert.

One of the running backs of the past 20 years whose game I had grown to admire was Warrick Dunn. He was listed at 5’8″, 187 pounds, but I bet 5’6″, 178 is closer to the truth. Even if his listed weight is correct, I like the tall tale version more – it befits a back of his size who carried the load for Alex Gibbs’ zone blocking scheme for the Falcons.

I love what LaMichael James brings to the table, but it isn't in Hungry Man portions - if you know what I mean. Photo by Neon Tommy.

Since Dunn, Continue reading →

Pre-Order the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio

0 Comments read Uncategorized
Ahmad Bradshaw was an RSP fave and 2012 has a lot of players capable of out-playing their draft position. Pre-order the 2012 RSP for the low-down. Photo by Ted Kerwin.

If you haven’t heard, the 2012 RSP is now available for pre-order. Now in its seventh year, I publish the Rookie Scouting Portfolio every April 1. I  have evaluated 161 players at the offensive skill positions thus far. The publication essentially has three parts:

1. Rankings, analysis, and player comparisons: This is generally 120-130 pages of material, much like a draft magazine, but focused solely on QBs, RBs, WRs, and TEs.

2. Appendix of my game-study notebooks: All my raw notes from my database and I also supply a complete grading checklist for each player and game I study. This also includes my scoring process. And last but not least, I also provide play by play notes on each player that is often pages of analysis for each prospect. This blog analysis of players you’ve seen this month draws from these notes.

3. Defined criteria for my scoring methods: How I define a technique and the value I give it.

You can also order back issues of the RSP (2006-2011) from this same link. This year, I’m donating 10 percent of all 2012 sales to Darkness to Light. Its mission:

Our programs raise awareness of the prevalence and consequences of child sexual abuse by educating adults about the steps they can take to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to the reality of child sexual abuse.

You can learn more about this excellent organization and its noble aim through the link above. In the spirit of transparency, I will provide an annual update and documentation of the monies donated to Darkness to Light on this blog.

Once again, you can pre-order the 2012 RSP or immediately purchase and download past RSPs through this link.

 

 

Why Ryan Tannehill is a First-Round Prospect

0 Comments read Players, Quarterback
Dolphins offensive coordinator Mike Sherman says Ryan Tannehill is a lot like Andy Dalton, but with a better arm. Some evaluators think Tannehill will get a GM fired. I'm on Sherman's side of the fence.

What do you call 9/22, 156 yards, TD, INT in a half of football? If the execution behind the stats isn’t studied then I call it meaningless. These stats belong to Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill’s performance in a blowout loss to Oklahoma in 2011. After studying his performance in this game and others, my conclusion is that Tannehill exhibits starter potential for the NFL.

Oftentimes the worst statistical games reveal strong positives in a player’s skill and potential. I’d rather see how a player deals with adversity than study games where he only has success. There are more situations that test a player’s skill to its limit and the absence of good stats doesn’t mean an absence of skills to watch. It’s why I had strong marks for players like Ahmad Bradshaw, Joseph Addai, Matt Forte, and several other prospects whose opponents over-matched their teams. If you’re watching technique, effort, and physical skill then stats fade into the background.

I’ve written about Tannehill here recently and with the Redskins’ exchange of three first-round picks for the second spot in the NFL Draft, there is a lot of debate among draftniks about Tannehill’s value as a top-10 overall pick. I’ve read one former scout write on Twitter that he’s the most likely player to get a GM fired. I read another say he’s overrated. On the other hand, Tannehill’s former coach Mike Sherman compares his A&M starter favorably to Bengals QB Andy Dalton – with a better arm. Continue reading →

Chad Spann: Lessons Learned and Work Ahead

0 Comments read Players, Reads Listens Views, Running Back
Chad Spann began his career as a walk-on and ended it the MAC MVP. As Spann likes to say, "Falling Forward..."

Chad Spann is a reserve running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers after stops with the Colts and Buccaneers. I have interviewed Spann multiple times since this time last year. The former NIU walk-on who began his career ninth on the depth chart and ended it as the 2010 NCAA touchdown leader is a confident but grounded player who learned early that everything he’s going to get as a football player will be earned with hard work and persistence.

It won’t be a surprise to most fans if Pittsburgh drafts a running back in the mid-to-late rounds as a hedge for Rashard Mendenhall’s recovery from a knee injury. Even so, Spann is still the only healthy running back on the roster with change of pace, third-down skills. There’s a strong likelihood that Spann’s name becomes more common on the lips of beat writers this summer.

More stories about Spann at the RSP blog:

Bottom line, I liked Spann’s game before I had a chance to speak with him. However, I have no problem admitting Continue reading →

Reads Listens Views 3/9/2012

0 Comments read Reads Listens Views

John Wooden on true success

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Ahead at the RSP Blog

The 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio will be available on April 1 via a link to my shopping cart site. Learn more about the RSP process and content here.

Pre-order the 2012 RSP and buy past RSPs (2006-2011) here.

Steelers RB Chad Spann and I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago (preview below) and he has agreed to spend time studying a game of Ray Rice’s with me. Expect transcripts of that session in mid-April or early May.

The RSP Writers Project is still on, but I decided to push back the process of picking players until May since most of us doing the work are busy covering the draft. Expect an unveiling of teams in July and August.

Preview of Next Week’s Q&A Sessions with Chad Spann

Chad Spann has been a Pittsburgh Steeler since late fall. He's a long-term sleeper to monitor. Learn more about what he's learning to compete at the highest level.

Q: You talked with me in the past about what your Steelers teammates shared about your game and the advice they gave this year. One of those things was when Will Allen told you about maintaining your drive phase longer. For my audience, can you explain what that means and why it helps a running back?

Spann: If you watch a sprinter run the 100 meters Continue reading →

QB Russell Wilson: Undersized-Underrated

0 Comments read Players, Quarterback
Russell Wilson is short by NFL QB standards but matched with the right offense, there is a place for him in the league. Photo by Seth Youngblood.

Author’s Note: For a far more intricate analysis of Wilson at N.C. State throwing under pressure that also features analysis of Drew Brees in comparison, read my Football Outsider’s Future’s Column “Studying The Asterisk”

One of the bigger questions about Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson will be his height. Measured at 5107, 204 lbs., Wilson will be one of the smaller quarterbacks in the NFL. Journeyman Doug Flutie was a legit 5’9″, fellow journeyman Jeff Blake might have been 6’0″. The common knock on quarterbacks under 6’2″ is that they will have difficulty playing from the pocket because they won’t be able to see over the line of scrimmage and they’ll have a higher rate of deflected passes.

Certainly a quarterback under 6’2″ has to bring an extra dimension to the table. Michael Vick brings speed, agility, and a fantastic arm. Drew Brees brings uncanny accuracy, anticipation, and athleticism. Height doesn’t worry me, but the corresponding weight does. You don’t see any sub-6’2″ quarterbacks packing 225-230 lbs. and as QB-friendly the NFL rules have become, it’s still a punishing sport.

However, Wilson’s athleticism makes him an intriguing prospect. Continue reading →

Q&A w/Chron.com’s Texans Chick Steph Stradley

0 Comments read Matt Waldman
Will the Texans draft a complement for Andre Johnson or his eventual replacement? Steph Stradley and talk Texans draft on her Houston Chronicle blog.

Steph Stradley, who is known as the Texans Chick, has an excellent blog on The Houston Chronicle’s web site. We took some time to do a Q&A about the Texans draft. Here’s an except below and a link to the rest:

. . . In any event, just as I love talking Texans football, Matt loves talking draft. My kind of people.

Our Discussion Below:

Steph: Everybody is talking Texans and wide receiver. Things I think that the Texans may value for their wide receivers over some other teams in no particular are:

1. Special teams ability and speed for same (very key for WR and corners. If they can’t get on field right away as starter, they want as special teams return option because Kubiak hates specialists).

2. Captain, leadership, love of football, good lockerroom guy, bright, hardworking, can pick up details of playbook quickly (applies to all positions on the field).

3. Route running

4. Hands

5. Blocking (this may translate into size–they like being able to run out of formations that usually signal pass but they can block with a WR players typically blocked by TEs).

6. From Texas/southern. Guys who may want to stay in this part of the world after their first contract. Can deal with heat.

I think they may take a big WR and a slot special teams sort of guy. I also think that their draft board tends to look very different than consensus Kiper boards. So I’m looking for some unconventional choices too. Think they are perpetually chasing the modern Rod Smith–a value who can take advantage of the offensive scheme.

Question 1: With these items in mind, which wide receivers might the Texans target at or near the bottom of the first round?

Matt: “A lot of the better NFL receivers of the past 10-15 years have remained productive well into their mid-thirties so I’m not concerned about Andre Johnson’s immediate future. So when I listen you’re run-down of what you believe the Texans want from their receivers I think you’re on the money. It means the team is likely seeking a flanker (Z receiver) to complement Johnson, but has the vertical prowess to take over Johnson’s role as the X.

The receivers projected to go in the 1st-2nd round after Kendall Wright and Justin Blackmon include Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd, LSU’s Reuben Randle, Rutgers’ Mohamed Sanu, and Georgia Tech’s Stephen Hill.

Neither Blackmon nor Sanu are vertical threats – they will never become X receivers. But they are physical, glue-fingered flankers that can get yardage after the catch and return kicks. Blackmon is the better route runner, but (read the rest of the Q&A here) . . .

Creating Bad Luck

0 Comments read Players, Quarterback
Even the best prospects make mistakes. Sometimes it's the type of mistakes they make that elevate them from the pack. Photo by Michael Li.

Note: The posts of 2012 Draft Prospects this month are brief examples of plays that highlight specific skills and/or deficiencies of a player. They are not meant to draw overall conclusions of that player’s pro potential. For a thorough analysis of these prospects – and over 150 others – purchase the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio, available through a link at this site on April, 1.

Yesterday, I featured a play where Robert Griffin III reacts poorly to pressure. Today, Andrew Luck gets the same treatment. However, I believe there’s a difference between the types of mistakes that I showed with Griffin and the two I’ll show today with Luck. Griffin’s opponent tipped its hand before the snap and the Baylor quarterback missed a relatively easy read. In contrast, Luck’s opponent uses a more complex scheme and hides it before the snap like a stone-faced killer. Luck still makes mistakes, but the errors are against a more advanced concept with stronger execution. Continue reading →

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 →