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
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Welcome to Reads Listens Views. It’s my Friday space where, in contrast to the rest of the week, I write less about football and share a little more about life in general. I’d like to thank my avid readers for your patronage during the quiet months of late spring-early summer. I’m growing more attached to this blog with each passing month. Hopefully, everyone has been getting good use of the 2012 RSP and 2012 RSP Post-Draft addendum.
If you have a dynasty draft coming up and haven’t downloaded it, you’ll love it. I have a lot of first-timers this year that have told me how pleased they are with it. I’m also days away from cutting my second donation to Darkness to Light, thanks to my readers. Every $10 I’ve been able to donate on behalf of the RSP pays for training of an adult to understand how to combat and prevent sexual abuse in the community.
Football Reads Continue reading
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“He’s going to play everywhere. He’s our starting fullback. He’s a starting (tight end) if we go to two tights. It’s still about versatility with James.”
– Gary Kubiak, head coach of the Houston Texans talking to Houston Chronicle reporter John McClain about James Casey in May 2012.
Based on what I’ve observed about James Casey, I’m willing to bet if he weren’t a professional football player he’s the type of guy that the Universe gives him a gift as it kicks him in the ass. If you’ve lived life, you know what I mean. If you don’t, imagine driving an 12 year-old beater that you’ve been holding together with prayers and duct tape to hang onto that job or get your kid to school and it breaks down and needs $500 in repairs just you won the $520 on a scratch-and-win lottery ticket the night before.
Casey the football player is ahead of his time, 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
Carolina Panthers rookie receiver Joe Adams has dynamite skills after the catch. I also like his ability to catch the football. However, one thing I consistently saw at Senior Bowl practices was difficulty getting early separation against press coverage.
On at least five down field routes, I saw Adams still fighting for separation against the defensive back 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. On each of these routes he was at least a step shy of a well thrown pass. This had nothing to do with speed. Adams has plenty of it. But route running isn’t about straight-line speed. Continue reading
I have often broached the idea that quarterbacking or running between the tackles is similar to improvising with a rhythm section. There has to be an understanding of rhythm, interaction, and when to play outside the conventional boundaries of the structure. It should also be a given that a player has to have mastery over his fundamental technique.
You don’t have to be a fan of jazz improvisation to grasp what I’m saying. However, jazz performers tell some great stories that parallel the type of things that young pro football players learn in camp from veterans. One of the big lessons is, don’t bring that weak-ass shit here. Continue reading
I believe the best way to prepare to watch college players is to study the pros. The reason is that if I’m trying to project a prospect’s potential at the NFL level then I need to have good reference points of what works in the NFL. I also have to understand the differences between the college and NFL games when it comes to execution.
I can tell you that the process is ongoing and I’m still learning. This week, Coach Rob Paschall, PR director for the site Coach Huey, tweeted a link to a video titled, “Wide Receiver Technique Release Drills.” I expected an instructional video.
However, if my eyes aren’t betraying me – and they might be – it was something a lot better. Continue reading
With the NFL Draft over and mini camps underway, we’re getting close to that time of year where football writers can take a breather. That’s my rationale for delaying the RSP Writers Project a few months (if you’re new around here, I’m re-posting the original description of the project below). It’s a nice way of saying that those of us involved have been way too busy to set it up and deliver the information our owners need to build teams.
Good news! The project will be delivered to the writers on June 18 and they will have until July 20th to submit their teams and questionnaires. I’ll begin posting one team at a time beginning July 23rd.
Details (Original Post)
Secretly, we all want to build a football team. It’s why we’re passionate about every player recruited, drafted, traded, and signed. It’s why we play fantasy football. It’s why many of us are fanatical about the NFL draft. Continue reading
Russell Wilson to Compete for Seahawks Starting Gig Now
Apparently, I was wrong about Russell Wilson. I thought he’d compete for the starting job next year – not right now.
I’ve been talking about Wilson’s potential as a future starter before the draft at FootballOutsiders.com in my Futures column. Wilson had an off-the-charts Lewin Career Forecast score (highest ever as an indicator of potential success in the NFL), which my colleagues at Outsiders consequently labeled with an asterisk because history accurately demonstrated that quarterbacks with Wilson’s height aren’t drafted in the first three rounds as potential starters. I decided to take a bit of the different approach and “Study the Asterisk.” Click the link above and learn why Pete Carroll and the Seahawks saw Wilson as a future starter, why his game translates, and why the comparisons to Drew Brees aren’t silly.
The Nature of Player Comps
Speaking of player comparisons, I think it is important to talk about them. There are a lot of opinions about the value of comparisons. When done well, Continue reading
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NFL Head Trauma – My View Continue reading