In-depth film analysis of NFL Draft Prospects With a Fantasy Football Lens - by Matt Waldman ©2025
This is one of my favorite posts in a while, because it is two very different angles of one play. The first angle will leave you shaking your head at the wide receiver. The second angle will provide a more sympathetic feeling towards him and less so for the quarterback. Continue reading
Spring is here, flowers are in bloom, and now’s the time to look at next year’s NFL Draft prospects. A player I didn’t see much of the past two years, but I intend to watch a great deal in 2012 is Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones.
Jones considered leaving school a year early to enter the 2012 NFL Draft, but wisely chose to stay for one more. Not that I have a definitive list of reasons why Jones made the right choice, but one of the things I would like to see him improve upon is his decision-making. This is true for most college quarterbacks heading to the NFL, but I think Jones could use another year to master the speed of the college game before he tackles the challenge of the pros.
Jones has the fundamental tools to develop into a good pocket passer in the NFL. However, like Tom Brady, he’s not going to wow anyone with his athleticism. This means his skill at finding the open man, manipulating the defense, and delivering the ball with uncanny accuracy will need to be top notch for Jones to maximize his potential. Continue reading
Questions came this morning on Twitter and the names in parenthesis are Twitter accounts.
Q (Dave Larkin): Is this the day Mark Ingram breaks out?
A: I think this five-week stretch with Carolina, Tampa (twice), Indianapolis, and Saint Louis is the time that Mark Ingram is going to either build steam or become a wait-til-next year guy. Either way, I don’t think Mark Ingram has shown anything counter to his standing as a top-tier draft prospect at his position. Carolina has the best chance to maintain a points pace with the Saints offense, but the next four opponents will struggle offensively and I think Ingram will then see more game-sealing opportunities.
Q(Haydn239): How close are Landry Jones and Andrew Luck in talent?
A: I think it’s Luck and not even close. Cam Newton might have a better statistical year this year than Luck next year because Newton has the great athleticism combined with smarts and an offensive system that really has been tailored well for him, but I think Luck’s demonstration of how to change plays at the line of scrimmage and manage a game is rare.
Luck runs a west coast offense that is very close to what we see in the NFL and his ability to manipulate a defense before the snap is very much like Manning or Brady. I just watched him against UCLA last week on a 99-yard drive where he consistently moved around his personnel to the optimal run or pass play after getting the defense to reveal its base shell. This isn’t something that we see very often with college football quarterbacks and it is not that noticeably impressive to the casual fan because it doesn’t involve athleticism.
Landry Jones is a nice physical talent with the type of skills to have been a top-tier guy in other drafts. He still is a top-tier QB prospect. However, Luck is in another realm because he is given the conceptual keys to the offense that few quarterbacks his age are.
Q(Baxinpin): Thoughts on Jahvid Best the rest of the way?
A: Best is a terrific receiver from the backfield and I think the Lions are a smart enough group to make offensive adjustments to exploit defensive weaknesses that will generate big plays in the next 6-8 weeks. However, I don’t think the Lions have enough evidence to change their minds about Best and use him as a 15-20 carry back.
I think it will take injuries to other offensive pieces in the passing game and Best to show he can handle a higher workload to prove to the Lions that he can be more of a Marshall Faulk or a Tiki Barber in terms of role. It might evolve for Best over a course of years. However, I don’t think we’ll see it this year. Maybe some big runs this year, but the Lions are a pass-first team and the addition of Mikel LeShoure in the draft was an attempt to develop a power running game that they lack.