Posts tagged Matt Waldman NFL

Reads Listens Views 5/2/2014 + My Take on MMQB Manziel Roundtable

0 Comments read Reads Listens Views
I bought mine, thank you very much. Photo by Kevin Lu.
I bought mine, thank you very much. Photo by Kevin Lu.

My critique of Peter King’s Manziel roundtable, Beats Antique, Hangouts, Cramps and crablegs

What is Reads Listens Views?

If you’re new to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio blog, welcome.  I post links on Friday to content I’m saving for later consumption or content I’ve viewed that I found compelling. You may not like everything listed here, but you’re bound to like something.

Listens/Views

[youtube=http://youtu.be/nWeYKrGQkR0]

Before I was writing about football, Friday nights for me after work often meant a couple of beers, some crab legs (don’t go there . . . ), and NBA on TNT. This is one sports show I do miss watching.

 Opinion- MMQB Johnny Manziel Analysis Article

Peter King wrote a roundtable piece on Johnny Manziel where he had a group of football men view some plays of Manziel at Texas A&M and comment on what they saw. I always enjoy these type of articles because the reader gets a chance to see the perspective of individuals who are paid to play, coach, and study the game. If the reader looks beyond the immediate information, he or she sees that there’s quite a bit of disagreement about Manziel among players who have all had success when it comes to the quarterback position.

Mike Holmgren is skeptical about Manziel; David Cutcliffe is optimistic. Kevin Gilbride is most critical of technique; Rich Gannon and Doug Flutie have a more pragmatic take. Think about the experiences of these five people in football and it provides opportunity to critique each critic.

Flutie and Gannon were successful quarterbacks who performed in the league with skill sets that approximate Manziel as a scrambler who can throw. I commend King for recruiting them for this analysis. While both are critical of Manziel’s behavior at times, they’re not dismissive of Manziel’s chances to play the position. Both Gannon and Flutie were in some respects exceptions to the rule of what the NFL values from the position and their perspective includes which quarterbacks in the NFL are exceptions to the rule in ways Manziel might be and why ; what factors will aid the rookie’s transition; and what he’ll see in the NFL that will require him to adjust based on their experience as successful scramblers and improvisors.

Kevin Gilbride has been a quarterback coach and offensive coordinator for several NFL teams and he’s known for an offense that is mostly pocket driven. Even the mobile Mark Brunell, who Gilbride described along with other mobile passers as “running around like a maniac,” threw for over 4000 yards in Gilbride’s offense in 1996. I do find it telling that Gilbride’s noun of choice to describe these quarterbacks is “maniac,” because his perspective is the most critical from a technical standpoint.

Although I’d bet Gilbride’s offensive philosophies have evolved over time, his strength as a coordinator was with pocket passers. Brunell could scramble, but at heart he was still a pocket passer. Kordell Stuart had his worst two seasons with Pittsburgh under Gilbride after having success in a mobile-friendly scheme under Chan Gailey. Gilbride’s criticisms of Manziel are just, but any conclusions drawn from these criticism come from a coach who didn’t have success molding a system to a player who wasn’t a strong pocket passer from the beginning.

I love how King emphasized Cutcliffe’s experience working with successful NFL quarterbacks, coaching the current college game that is feeding offensive concepts to the NFL, and competing against Manziel this year. Something that I believe is true, but King was right not to write as the host of this piece–if he even recognized it as a valid reason for highlighting Cutcliffe in the first place–is that Cutcliffe displayed more flexibility in his perspective than either Gilbride or Holmgren and he’s well-known for his work with classic pocket passers. If King states it as bluntly as I do, the statement would characterize Gilbride and Holmgren as stiff and inflexible minds rooted in their process.  Instead he lets the reader derive his own conclusions.

Holmgren has the greatest range of experiences as a coach and general manager. However, I think we see more of Holmgren the GM than Holmgren the coach when it comes to Manziel. If you recall, the former Packers and Seahawks head coach was very hands-on with his quarterbacks and not averse to critiquing his passers in the moment of the game. He had a very set idea of what he wanted from his passers and I think he emotionally thrived off being known as the quarterback guru as well as a coach. You don’t let media film you coaching your quarterbacks in meetings during the week if you don’t have pride in this aspect of your job.

Holmgren’s specific prescriptions for quarterback play as a coach and then his experience as a GM might actually limit his scope on what he believes works and doesn’t work in the NFL. Someone I spoke with last night told me that there are certain players that make coaches light up, but cause GM’s to squint their eyes and shake their heads. In this case, my friend was talking about running backs who play with little regard for their bodies. However, I can see how it translates to other positions–especially quarterback.

Of course, these perspectives are based on my views of them as a writer and film analyst. Take it for what you will.

Download the 2014 Rookie Scouting Portfolio

Friday’s are also my chance to thank you for reading my work, encourage you to follow the RSP blog, and download the Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication.

The RSP is available every April 1 for download. This year’s RSP is nearly 300 pages in the draft guide section and filled with analysis of  164 skill position prospects that has earned a loyal following:

  • Rankings
  • Draft history analysis
  • Overrated/Underrated analysis
  • Multidimensional player comparisons
  • Individual skills analysis by position

You can learn more about the RSP here. If you want to see samples of the play-by-play notes I take to write the analysis, you can find them here. If you want to know what my readers say about it, look here. If you want a quick video tour, here it is:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRsQwtyOCDM&feature=share]

If you don’t have time to look into details, know that once you look through the RSP, there will be no question in your mind that I do the work, that I have a plan about the work that I do, and that you get more than your money’s worth. It’s why more and more draftniks every spring can’t wait until April 1.

If you think that’s a ton, you ain’t seen nothing. When you purchase the RSP, you also get a free post-draft publication that’s available for download a week after the NFL Draft. Fantasy football owners tell me all the time that this alone is worth the price.

Best yet, 10 percent of each RSP sale is donated to Darkness to Light, a non-profit devoted to preventing and addressing sexual abuse through community training in schools, religious groups, and a variety of civic groups across the U.S.

Here is what the RSP donated to D2L this year. According to D2L, the RSP’s 2013 donation amount was enough to train 250 adults in communities across the country.

Pre-order the 2014 RSP and/or download past versions of the publication (2006-2013).

In Case You Missed It/Coming Soon

  • Futures: Tom Savage – Why magnification exists in NFL scouting and why it demands more vigilant regulation so it doesn’t overshadow important issues.
  • Gruden QB Camp: The Teddy Bridgewater Interview – An experiment with interview analysis, including body language analysis. What’s the deal with Teddy licking his lips?
  • Gruden QB Camp: The Tajh Boyd Interview – Boyd sure likes to tell us he’s a top-three quarterback, but he’s as elusive with criticism as he is in the pocket.
  • Futures: My Expansion Franchise – I’ve just been awarded an NFL expansion team and must build my personnel department. Here’s how I departed from many in the NFL.
  • The Audible Hangout NFL Draft Show – Bloom and I will be hosting shows during the first and second nights of pro football’s annual selection process.
  • The 2014 RSP Writers Project -Sometime after the draft, we’ll get this rolling.

The Thursday Night Audible Hangout

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXDWE5gWPE4&feature=share]

Reads (Football)

Listens

[youtube=http://youtu.be/YI8yvTXNNeU]

Hat-tip to Bryan Zukowski for sending this my way.

 Reads (Life In General)

Views

[youtube=http://youtu.be/9nUAarErp5Y]
Another good one from Bryan from this South African group that says so much with who they are and what they do.

 

Futures: My Expansion Franchise

0 Comments read 2014 NFL Draft
Welcome to my lab where will I concoct a winning franchise. Photo by the state of Victoria.
Welcome to my lab where will I concoct a winning franchise. Photo by the state of Victoria.

You’ve just been awarded an NFL expansion team and must build your personnel department. Go.

Futures: My Expansion Franchise

By Matt Waldman

When the writer of Smartfootball.com suggests that, “you should storify that series of tweets,” it’s a take on a subject worth further exploration. The topic came courtesy of Luke Easterling (@NFLDraftReport) who, on Sunday night, posed the following scenario on Twitter: “You’ve just been awarded an NFL expansion team and must build your personnel department from Draft-Twitter. Go.”

I gave my list of NFL writers, former scouts, consultants, and analysts that I’d use to build my organization, but what was more compelling to Twitter was the way I structured the jobs. My vision for team-building a front office and scouting department got a lot of positive response.

More than anything, I believe the way the Twitter community responded to my approach has to do with the fact that a lot of my audience is football writers and diehard fans who are critical of the NFL’s approach to managing its own. They’re ready to welcome a different vision.

Some of my plans aren’t unique to the NFL. There are teams that at least have an aligned vision from its ownership to its coaching staff. However, the way I’d create and continuously strengthen that alignment is a departure from the league.

I believe in the merit of my ideas, but I’m not dreaming of the day I win multiple Powerballs or inherit billions. Unless an NFL owner is alright with me reporting to work in jeans and sporting my collection of hats and caps, the likelihood of me becoming a GM went from infinitesimally small to impossible.

Then again, there have been requests for my consultation on prospect evaluation that I didn’t intend when began the Rookie Scouting Portfolio in 2006, so you never really know. Maybe my buddy Sigmund Bloom manages to raise $50 from the 20 million NFL fans around the world on Kickstarter and we’re in business. Until then, let’s call this a (hopefully) entertaining football and management exercise.

First, a couple of assumptions we need to get out of the way. If I was awarded an NFL franchise I would have done three things—among others—before I even applied for the rights to an expansion team:

  • A 10, 15, and 20-year cost analysis of owning a team based on my vision.
  • Studied the details of the city of Green Bay’s ownership of the Packers and formulated a 15-year plan to transition the team to a non-profit corporation owned by its fans (one person can own no more than 200,000 shares of its stock).
  • Determined the efficacy of current personnel and front office roles within most NFL organizations

The next step is building an organizational structure. There are several things that I’d do that due to time and space limitations, I won’t get into, but here are the highlights of how I’d implement a vision to build a brain trust responsible for evaluating, acquiring, managing, and developing talent on and off the field.

Read the rest at Football Outsiders.

Rehabbing the Wonderlic

0 Comments read 2014 NFL Draft
It's a better fit to assess football intelligence than a standardized test. See below. Photo by Brandon Velasco.
It’s a better fit to assess football intelligence than a standardized test. See below. Photo by Brandon Velasco.

The Wonderlic and the NFL’s misguided use of it continues to fascinate. I propose a solution.

If you’ve seen the Audible Podcast where I commented on the Wonderlic exam, then you know my suggested alternative to the Wonderlic.

This test was designed in 1936 and the military adopted it for measuring a pilot’s ability to think fast. One way of looking at the Wonderlic is that it’s an exam twice removed from its original purpose–if it ever had one besides one form of measuring the ever-elusive concept of intelligence.

But let’s talk about the Wonderlic’s use as a test for our nation’s airmen. While true that pilots face life or death situations, the physical stress of flying a plane is different from that of a football player.

Pilots have to be in great physical condition due to the altitude and G-Force of aerial maneuvers that cause fast changes to blood pressure, heart rates, and blood flow through the body–often resulting blackouts if a pilot isn’t in supreme condition.

The G-Force of flying a fighter jet also creates a sensation of carrying extra weight.  Combine these sensations with the need to maintain a sharp mind and precision movements to control the plane, and it’s understandable why the NFL might look at the cardiovascular demands and draw a parallel between a cockpit and a pocket.

It’s one thing to be out of breath and weighed down while making lightning-quick decisions; it’s another to be breathless and pummeled from a series of moderate car accidents while trying to execute an offense. Yet what really separates the pocket from the cockpit is the type of decisions a quarterback makes that differ from a pilot.

Operating a fighter jet requires excellent skills in mathematics: reading performance tables; gauging time, speed, and fuel; understanding the geometry for specific weaponry; and mastering the impact that certain angles will have on a plane with challenging navigational movements.

A quarterback doesn’t need to know a lick of math. He doesn’t need to read anything but a clock. And his plays are diagrams and words that he has memorized. The Wonderlic tests more for math and language skills than visual diagrams and executing strategy. Moreover, it doesn’t test for the combination of the strategic integrated with motor skills and physical-mental stamina.

So like most non-NFL people, I think the Wonderlic is a useless–and often a counterproductive–assessment tool. If the league wants to make it remotely worthwhile, here’s what I suggest:

  • Lead the prospect to a room for an interview, workout, or press conference–whatever ruse necessary to set up an ambush.
  • At the ambush point, have 3 or 4 of your defensive linemen or linebackers grab the prospect, put a bag over his head and beat on him for 45 minutes.
  • Remove the bag, lead the prospect to a table, and administer the Wonderlic.
  • If the prospect can answer any question correct in 15 minutes, he passes.
  • If the prospect can avoid the bag or ambush and has a stand-off with his attackers, he should be considered for the top half of the draft.
  • If the prospect aces the test after getting beaten up or avoids the ambush altogether, he’s a first-round pick.

Yes, I’m kidding. However, a  player asked to think quickly and make good decisions with accurate execution after a 45-minute mugging is closer to the reality of what you want to see than a book-smart suburban kid who scored well in controlled, standardized test environment.

If you ask me, the NFL would be better off if it put a player through an exhaustive workout and then ask him to execute physical-mental football concepts that are basic to most college players at their positions. If you want to up the stakes, add less familiar concepts that are a logical extension or advanced wrinkle of this knowledge base.

It will require more work for the league to develop, but isn’t it worth it to assess a player’s intelligence free from the socio-economic bias that comes with standardized tests? More important, isn’t it worth it to assess intelligence that’s appropriate to the environment?

But what do I know, I’m just a writer.

Reads Listens Views 4/18/2014

0 Comments read Reads Listens Views
Photo by Ashley Bovan. Solo by James Marshall Hendrix.
Photo by Ashley Bovan. Solo by James Marshall Hendrix.

Fran Duffy’s Scouting Notebooks, Voodoo Chile Trip, Trio of Doom, and Solar in the Dark

What is Reads Listens Views?

If you’re new to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio blog, welcome.  I post links on Friday to content I’m saving for later consumption. You may not like everything listed here, but you’re bound to like something.

Listens/Views

[youtube=http://youtu.be/MMGwTJ63jcA]

Love videos like this, although I’ve heard better Hendrix versions and I can’t talk about this song without sharing this version . . .

[youtube=http://youtu.be/OEJh2FFUUoU]

Download the 2014 Rookie Scouting Portfolio

Friday’s are also my chance to thank you for reading my work, encourage you to follow the RSP blog, and download the Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication.

The RSP is available every April 1 for download. This year’s RSP is nearly 300 pages in the draft guide section and filled with analysis of  164 skill position prospects that has earned a loyal following:

  • Rankings
  • Draft history analysis
  • Overrated/Underrated analysis
  • Multidimensional player comparisons
  • Individual skills analysis by position

You can learn more about the RSP here. If you want to see samples of the play-by-play notes I take to write the analysis, you can find them here. If you want to know what my readers say about it, look here. If you want a quick video tour, here it is:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRsQwtyOCDM&feature=share]

If you don’t have time to look into details, know that once you look through the RSP, there will be no question in your mind that I do the work, that I have a plan about the work that I do, and that you get more than your money’s worth. It’s why more and more draftniks every spring can’t wait until April 1.

If you think that’s a ton, you ain’t seen nothing. When you purchase the RSP, you also get a free post-draft publication that’s available for download a week after the NFL Draft. Fantasy football owners tell me all the time that this alone is worth the price.

Best yet, 10 percent of each RSP sale is donated to Darkness to Light, a non-profit devoted to preventing and addressing sexual abuse through community training in schools, religious groups, and a variety of civic groups across the U.S.

Here is what the RSP donated to D2L this year. According to D2L, the RSP’s 2013 donation amount was enough to train 250 adults in communities across the country.

Pre-order the 2014 RSP and/or download past versions of the publication (2006-2012).

In Case You Missed It/Coming Soon

Reads (Football)

Listens

[youtube=http://youtu.be/zfFmTefVGg8]

 Reads (Life In General)

Listens

[youtube=http://youtu.be/Rf8m3Ww-Unk]

Futures: Pitt DT Aaron Donald

0 Comments read 2014 NFL Draft, Players
Aaron Donald is as promising as Geno Atkins Photo by Ashley and Matthew Hemingway.
Aaron Donald is as promising as Geno Atkins Photo by Ashley and Matthew Hemingway.

I’m not a betting man, but if I were, Aaron Donald would be one of two players in this deep draft class that I’d have no reservations betting on as a future star.

Futures: Pittsburgh DT Aaron Donald

By Matt Waldman


Help Wanted: Football Players

Candidates must demonstrate efficiency and productivity while performing in a fast-paced, stressful environment. Speed, quickness, and strength required. Toughness and quick thinking are essential. Prototypical height and weight for role preferred, but will consider candidates with exceptional compensatory skills. Major college program is a plus. Relocation required. Job entails travel for 50-65 percent of work year. Submit a portfolio of work, at least five professional and five character references, and a working phone number to NFL.com. Eligible candidates should expect to receive a call in May for a summer training program at one of our 32 branches.

If only it was as easy as it looks on the page.

I don’t get to visit often, but I’m a big fan of The Sideline View. Lance Zierlein, John Harris and the rest of the team provide the goods on the game. As I examined the first round of Zierlein’s latest mock draft, it struck me that for a class noted for its depth of talent, there are few “safe” picks.

Greg Robinson, Khalil Mack, Ryan Shazier, Eric Ebron, Dee Ford, Johnny Manziel, and Anthony Barr have a ton of upside, but they are just a small list of the top 50 players on draft boards with notable shortcomings. However, most starters in the NFL have flaws and the NFL knows that the upside it covets from these headliners outweighs the risks.

Some of these flaws have nothing to do with a player’s work on the field. Jadeveon Clowney and C.J. Mosley are two prospects with unquestioned skill, but rumors about Clowney’s work ethic (which I think are questionable in origin) and Mosley’s injury history generate lingering questions about them fulfilling their vast promise.

My short list of safe picks — barring issues of character and injury — includes Jake Matthews, Sammy Watkins, Teddy Bridgewater, Odell Beckham, Mike Evans, and Darqueze Dennard. I am confident that barring catastrophic injury, these six players will at least provide 6-to-8 years of serviceable work as starters in the NFL.

If I were a betting man, there are only two players in Zierlein’s mock draft that I’d wager on developing into Pro Bowl players. The one from the above list of players is Watkins, and the other is Aaron Donald. Read the rest at Football Outsiders.

Futures: BYU OLB Kyle Van Noy

0 Comments read 2014 NFL Draft, Players
Tyrann Mathieu might inspire an NFL team to consider Lamarcus Joyner in a similar role. Photo by wxcasterphx.
Is Kyle Van Noy the Tyrann Mathieu of outside linebackers? Photo by wxcasterphx.

Van Noy has all the tools to become a quality starter in the NFL. He also has the vision and decision-making to become potential star.

Futures: BYU OLB Kyle Van Noy

By Matt Waldman

When my friend Ryan Riddle, Cal’s all-time sack leader, says outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy has great instincts, that’s a player I want to watch.

“Some things in football cannot be coached. When it comes to play making instincts, you either have it or you don’t,” says Riddle about Van Noy’s play-making abilities that he describes as “off the charts.”

“I like to compare him to a linebacker version of Tyrann Mathieu in terms of his ability to be incredibly disruptive by knowing exactly how and when to take chances.”

According to Riddle, Van Noy, who Football Outsiders projects as a first or early second-day pick, is earning mid-round grades. He explains that a player with good instincts can be often be characterized as product of a good system –- even lucky. Worse yet, a coach can sometimes mishandle a player with good instincts because the process isn’t by the book.

I watched enough of Van Noy to say that he was often lucky, but it wasn’t blind luck. Van Noy’s good fortune comes from smart decisions, creativity, effort, and patience.

Read the rest at Football Outsiders

Futures: “I am smarter than ‘Phillip’ Rivers”

0 Comments read 2014 NFL Draft

 

WonderlicThe Wonderlic is great for testing future loan officers, but Matt Waldman would rather have Wonderlic failures like Jim Kelly or Ray Lewis as his on-field CEOs.

Futures: I Am Smarter Than “Phillip” Rivers

 

by Matt Waldman

 

“You scored a 32 –- that’s better than Phillip Rivers. He scored a 30. Rivers’ career quarterback rating –- at 95.8 -– ranks second-best all time, one point behind Steve Young (96.8) among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1500 pass attempts. He has a career total of eleven 4th quarter comebacks.”

 

Hey Nicholas Creative Media, LLC, Rivers spells his first name with one L. Does that make me smarter than you guys, or just more experienced with writing his name?

 

Considering that I can’t go a day without calling Derek Carr ‘David’ and I still refer to former Lions running back Jahvid Best as ‘Travis’ -– the former Indiana Pacer -– I’ll opt for the latter choice.

 

Nicholas Creative Media does do a good enough job describing the basic purpose of the Wonderlic Personnel Test:

 

“The test is a sort of IQ test to measure players’ aptitude for learning and problem solving. The possible score range is 1 to 50. The average football player scores around 20 points and scoring at least 10 points suggests a person is literate.”

But let’s dig a little deeper. Read the rest at Football Outsiders

Reads Listens Views 2/28/2014

0 Comments read Reads Listens Views

 

Joe Montana's legendary cool-under-fire humor reminds me of Bill Murray in Stripes. Wouldn't you want him saving the world? Read on. Photo by David Shankbone.
Joe Montana’s legendary cool-under-fire humor reminds me of Bill Murray in Stripes. Wouldn’t you want him saving the world? Read on. Photo by David Shankbone.

This Week’s RLV: Why the RSP shows its work, Chase Stuart’s Combine MVP,  and one funky spider.

Listens

[youtube=http://youtu.be/edUGRcKHccA]

What is Reads Listens Views?

If you’re new to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio blog, welcome. Every Friday, I post links to content I’m saving for later reading when I have time. You may not like everything listed here, but you’re bound to like something.

In Case You Missed It

Who would you pick to defend the planet in a science fiction football game? Photo by Frankula.
Who would you pick to defend the planet in a science fiction football game? Photo by Frankula.

I posed this fantastical question to Ryan Riddle and Sigmund Bloom the other day: If an alien race came to earth and challenged the human race to a game of football with the planet on the line, who would be your starting quarterback?

I have my answer, but I want to hear yours.

I don’t care how you imagine the aliens. Nor do I care if you pick a player who is 60 or six feet under and the aliens resurrect/revive him to his peak physical powers. That dilemma is for your twisted imagination.

I just want to know who you pick.

Here’s the follow-up question: If the aliens’ deal is that we have to pick a quarterback from this 2014 draft class, who would it be? I’ll be holding a tournament to decide. Make your nomination here.

Thank You

You picked this guy high despite a nagging injury if you followed the 2013 RSP. Photo by John Martinez-Paviliga
You picked this guy high despite a nagging injury if you followed the 2013 RSP. Photo by John Martinez-Paviliga

Friday’s are also my chance to thank you for reading my work, encourage you to follow the RSP blog, and download the Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication.

The RSP is available every April 1 for download. It’s a 250-page (give or take) draft publication filled with analysis of over 170 skill position prospects that has earned it a loyal following of happy readers:

  • Rankings
  • Draft history analysis
  • Overrated/Underrated analysis
  • Multidimensional player comparisons
  • Individual skills analysis by position

This is only some of what you receive in the RSP publication. I began writing the RSP 9 years ago. At the time, I was an operations and process improvement manager who was certified in an operations certification standard. The training included best practices for performance evaluation processes – and quality performance from my teams was a hallmark of my work for nearly 15 years.

As much as I loved and studied football, I knew that the only way anyone would buy into my analysis would be to show my work. This meant making everything as transparent as possible:

  • How I define everything I grade
  • The point values for my grading
  • The checklists/reports that I use for the grading
  • All the play-by-play notes I take for the games that I grade

That’s right, I show my work down to the play-by-play notes. The “back of the RSP” is often another 700-1000 pages of content that comes with the 250-page RSP pre-draft guide.

Don’t worry, at least half of my readers never look at this part of the RSP.  However, those who like to crosscheck their own scouting reports (be it media, draftniks, or scouts), find this material a worthwhile resource. Even if they don’t agree with all of my assessments, the back of the book gives them a clear indication of why I made the calls that I did.

You can learn more about the RSP here. If you want to see samples of the play-by-play notes I take to write the analysis, you can find them here.

If you don’t have time to look into details, know that once you look through the RSP, there will be no question in your mind that I do the work, that I have a plan about the work that I do, and that you get more than your money’s worth. It’s why more and more draftniks every spring can’t wait until April 1.

If you think that’s a ton, you ain’t seen nothing. When you purchase the RSP, you also get a free post-draft publication that’s available for download a week after the NFL Draft. Fantasy football owners tell me all the time that this alone is worth the price.

Best yet, 10 percent of each RSP sale is donated to Darkness to Light, a non-profit devoted to preventing and addressing sexual abuse through community training in schools, religious groups, and a variety of civic groups across the U.S.

Here is what the RSP donated to D2L this year. According to D2L, the RSP’s 2013 donation amount was enough to train 250 adults in communities across the country.

Pre-order the 2014 RSP and/or download past versions of the publication (2006-2012).

Reads (Football)

Reads (Life In General)

Listens

[youtube=http://youtu.be/ZhNOJKXTVVs]

 

Futures: 2014 Speed Score Leaders

0 Comments read 2014 NFL Draft, Players, Running Back

Where Bo Jackson 2.0 could be made . . . photo by Dancelilsister.
Where Bo Jackson 2.0 could be made . . . photo by Dancelilsister.

If I had a laboratory fitting of a mad scientist, Football Outsiders’ Speed Score would have its application. What about now?

Futures: The 2014 Speed Score Leaders

By Matt Waldman

Indulge me in a bit of fantasy. Imagine an old football field. It’s a practice field at the rear of an abandoned high school with woods surrounding it on three sides. Behind the north goal post is an equipment building no bigger than a backyard storage shed with a green tin roof, white cinderblock, and a steel blue door held three-quarters shut with a rusted chain and pad lock.

Squeeze inside this dark, dilapidated building and you’ll find Craig James’ concussed son -– wrong story. Let’s try again…

Squeeze inside this cobweb-filled space and you’ll find nothing but a bench press station with a torn vinyl cushion. Reach into the tear of the cushion and there’s a switch that opens a trap door in the floor near the entrance that reveals a long, torch-lit spiral staircase made of stone that leads to the secret laboratory of M. Waldman, mad scientist of offensive skill talent.

The demented (but good) doctor is pouring over plans to create Bo Jackson 2.0. He has set up shop in the southeastern United States because of regional and socio-economic factors that point to it as the best area to produce a rare athlete for the game. He’s hacked into the medical records of pediatrician offices and narrowed the field of candidates to boys who are projected to develop into young men between five-foot-nine and six-foot-one and have the skeletal-muscular potential to carry 210-to-225 lbs.

Like a formula to determine the tensile stress of a material for an engineering firm, Football Outsiders’ Speed Score would have an ideal application in M. Waldman’s secret lab. The problem wouldn’t be constructing the running backs, but preventing Nick Saban from breaking them before they reach the NFL.

In the reality of the NFL Draft, the Speed Score provides a layer of analysis that illuminates the players with desirable physical skills. The idea is a fine one: if they’re big and explosive, they’ll have the strength-speed-agility to measure on a spectrum that ends with terminates at Bo Jackson.

But we know that good running backs come in all shapes and sizes. Darren Sproles and Brandon Jacobs illustrate how the range of height, weight, speed, strength, and agility of successful players at the position is wider than any in the NFL.

The differences in size are also indicative of the specialization of the position that has evolved over the years. The New Orleans Saints three different types of runners on its depth chart:

  • Darren Sproles — A hybrid of a scat-back, slot receiver, and return specialist.
  • Pierre Thomas — A utility back that does his best work in pass protection, draws, and screens.
  • Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson — Traditional power backs who do best with a high volume of touches.

The Patriots, Cardinals, Bengals, Colts, Chargers, Panthers, Lions, and Falcons have at least two runners with roles that may blend in some places, but have distinct separation of labor in others. Based on recent drafts, one could argue that the Packers, 49ers, and Washington had similar aspirations.

Specialization offers more avenues for a variety of physical talents at the running back position to earn a roster spot. However, it doesn’t create more opportunities for running backs overall.

There’s a lot of talent on the street that can enter an NFL locker room, exit the tunnel to the field on Sunday afternoon, post 80-100 yards, and help a team win a game. The fact that Thomas and Robinson -– two UDFAs -– are viable options is a testament to this point.

Joique Bell, Alfred Morris and Arian Foster’s numbers all sound the refrain that a quality NFL running back often requires a lot less of what we emphasize as “good foot-speed.” There’s another type of speed that these three possess that is as important as foot-speed, agility, balance, and vision –- “processor speed.”

It’s an attribute often linked with vision –- a quality that is difficult to quantify unless one deconstructs “vision” into definable components. I still link processor speed with vision –- it’s the mental speed that a football player sees the position of the players on the field, links it to the game situation, and executes the appropriate physical reaction to the this environment-stimuli.

Processor speed enhances on-field speed. Watch a tentative or confused player and subtract tenths of a second of his execution time. While you’re at it, begin subtracting positive plays, playing time, and ultimately a contract with the team.

Clean, consistent technique is another factor that enhances on-field speed. There are receivers with 4.3-speed that cannot separate from cornerbacks because they cannot run clean routes. However, there are much slower pass catches whose routes are so good that they earn separation as if they had great foot-speed.

There’s no silver bullet or code to crack that will yield accurate projections of rookie prospects with quantifiable precision. Because the mad scientist’s football laboratory is only a pipe-dream, it’s important to view players that score high on Football Outsiders’ Speed Score within the context of the rest of their skills.

Nevertheless, the 2014 version of the Speed Score offers an intriguing quartet of players at its top: Oklahoma’s Damien Williams, Georgia Southern’s Jerick McKinnon, Stanford’s Tyler Gaffney, and Notre Dame’s George Atkinson. I’m not convinced all four have a place in the NFL, but even before Aaron Schatz asked me to write about them, I thought each offered an intriguing storyline.

Read the rest at Football Outsiders

Reads Listens Views 2/21/2014

0 Comments read Reads Listens Views
"+4 Wand of Instant Inferno" or as I call it, "Bruce Ellington Abstract" Photo by Dvanzuijlekom.
“+4 Wand of Instant Inferno” or as I call it, “Bruce Ellington Abstract” Photo by Dvanzuijlekom.

This Week’s RLV: 2-hr couch session on rookie QBs, Lil’ Darlin’, David Fales Developmental Gem?, 2 Muggs and my ugly mug.

Listens – Speaking of Infernos . . .

[youtube=http://youtu.be/Ns02jzH8Ccw]

Michael Brecker may look more like a Philadelphia-area accountant than a musician, but if you ever heard the Saturday Night Live Band from the 70s or listened to Cameo’s “Candy” then you know different. He’s a musician’s musician and one of the greatest saxophonists in history.

Welcome

A 261-page online publication that provides 1029 pages of play-by-play notes from my evaluation database and 10 percent of your purchase is donated to fight sexual abuse. Pre-order 2014 now.
A 261-page online publication that provides 1029 pages of play-by-play notes from my evaluation database and 10 percent of your purchase is donated to fight sexual abuse. Pre-order 2014 now.

If you’re new to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio blog, welcome. Every Friday, I post links to things I’m checking out when I’m online. You may not like everything listed here, but you’re bound to like something. It’s also my chance to thank you for reading my work and encourage you to follow the RSP blog and buy the Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication.

For those of you new to the Rookie Scouting Portfolio, the publication is available every April 1 for download. You can learn more about the RSP here. If you want to see samples of the play-by-play notes I take to write the analysis, you can find them here. And to download past versions of the publication (2006-2012) or to pre-order the 2014 RSP, go here.

If you don’t have time to look into details, then I’ll say this about the RSP: Once you look through the RSP, there will be no question in your mind that I do the work, that I have a plan about the work that I do, and that you get more than your money’s worth.

In addition to the RSP and  the post-draft publication that comes with it a week after the NFL Draft, 10 percent of each sale is donated to Darkness to Light. This organization is a non-profit devoted to preventing and addressing sexual abuse through community training in schools, religious groups, and a variety of civic groups across the U.S.

Here is what the RSP donated to D2L this year. According to D2L, the RSP’s 2013 donation amount was enough to train 250 adults in communities across the country.

Listens

Where Bloom and I meet in the cosmos. Photo by David Stillman.
Where Bloom and I meet in the cosmos. Photo by David Stillman.

Last Night’s On The Couch: Two-hour quarterback therapy covering these topics and more:

  • Deconstructing the myths of Johnny Manziel.
  • Teddy Bridgewater and why the sum of quarterbacking is greater than its parts.
  • Which team takes the chance or passes on Derek Carr?
  • What does the choice of quarterback tell us about the personality of the head coach?
  • Sorting out the upsides of Carr, Aaron Murray, and David Fales in the context of current pros.
  • Break-downs and expectations for Brett Smith and Logan Thomas.
  • Which quarterback in this class is acting like Justin Beiber?

Good times. Hopefully you find it informative. If you want more, I was also recently on with the 2Muggs crew – not to give them second-billing, it’s just a few days older. In that podcast we have a good time talking about these topics:

  • The how and why behind the RSP Publication.
  • What makes Sammy Watkins special and is he more than speed?
  • Where does Mike Evans fit within this class and is he a special prospect?
  • Is Isaiah Crowell in a similar situation at this point of the draft process as Christine Michael last year?

In Case You Missed It and What’s Ahead at The RSP Blog

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZigsJdm75M&start=78&w=560&h=315]

This play illustrates where QB David Fales has the potential of an NFL starter and one of the paths he must take to reach it.

I might even have a little something about the Wonderlic Test. By the way, here’s Rotoworld’s Josh Norris getting ready for the Wonderlic.

Relax Norris, you’re ruining a great opportunity to enjoy a massage . . .

Reads (Football)

Reads (Non-Football)

For the poor farmers, building a yadong costs next to nothing – all one needs is a shovel and a few friends to dig the soil.

This dwelling dug underground is called a “yaodong” and it’s one of many homes created in unexpected places around the world. See below.

Listens – “Lil’ Darlin'”

[youtube=http://youtu.be/FMibKxQWRnw]

This is a technically difficult gem because it’s hard to swing with this kind of patience.