In-depth film analysis of NFL Draft Prospects With a Fantasy Football Lens - by Matt Waldman ©2025
Everyone is doing mock drafts. I’m waiting for President Obama to do one on ESPN any minute now – especially with the ladies of The View likely scheduled to do one on Wednesday. For fear that my football card might be taken away, I thought it was time I do one.
Like Greg Cosell, I plead ignorance on the machinations of teams’ draft boards. In fact, I’ll go a step further and plead insanity. Continue reading
As Jon Gruden said during his QB Camp episode with Brandon Weeden, Iowa State is “a pretty good football team. Quietly, they’ve become formidable.” You don’t become that quietly formidable without some quietly formidable players. I think that pair of words fits wide receiver Darius Reynolds.
The Cyclones receiver ran a 4.54-40, bench pressed 225 lbs. 23 times, delivered a 6.77 three-cone drill, and posted a 35-inch vertical leap at nearly 6’2″ and 206 pounds. His three-cone time would have been third-best at the NFL Combine and his bench press reps would have topped Marvin Jones’ 22 reps as the best overall. To give you a little more perspective, all of those numbers beat Justin Blackmon’s workouts. Continue reading
12th Rounder…
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Appreciation
I’m incredibly thankful to have the readers I do. I have thoroughly enjoyed the feedback I’ve received this month from those of you downloading the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio. And by popular demand, I am finally writing a post-draft add-on to the 2012 RSP, which will be available with the publication beginning May 6.
If you purchase the 2012 RSP before the draft, keep your login and password and it will allow you to download the add-on at no extra charge (Note: I am not selling the add-on separately, because the information is based on the research and analysis presented in the book.). So far the response to the add-on has been spectacular. Continue reading
I’ve decided that I’m going to create a post-draft update for the 2012 RSP. I don’t know how long it will be, but it will update rankings based on landing spots of players and discuss potential fit, depth chart competition, etc. I will make this available for download as a separate document that will be a part of the purchase with the 2012 RSP.
If you already bought the RSP, it’s free and you’ll be able to download it from your account when it’s ready. If you haven’t bought the RSP yet, it’s simply a part of the original deal and you’ll be able to download it with the RSP upon purchase.
I anticipate the update will be available the Sunday May 6, to include as many UDFAs as possible.
10 percent of all RSP sales for 2012 will be donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse.
The first person who tipped me off to Bobby Rainey was NFL.com writer and researcher Chad Reuter, who worked at CBS Sportsline and NFL Draft Scout. Like many of the great tape grinders out there, I don’t get a chance to talk with them often or at great length because they are busy doing what I’m doing – working long hours. If this blog hasn’t helped you figure it out, the community of tape grinders who aren’t current NFL scouts is a cool group of people. If they recognize you as one of them, you learn that on the whole, they are hard-working, generous people with an abundance of humility.
Reuter is definitely one of these people. So it was a pleasant surprise last fall when he saw Rainey play, liked him, and Continue reading
I want to thank Sheil Kapadia for the Q&A session we had on his blog Moving The Chains. You can find here.
If you haven’t signed the petition to get Greg Cosell on TV for the draft, I recommend you do it. I view it as a way to inform producers that their perceptions are not always correct about what its audience wants.
More later…
I lied to you.
The RSP No-Huddle Series was something I initially created to write about prospects likely to get drafted in the late rounds, if at all. I’m still going to do more of those players, but sometimes there are plays you remember that you want to share with people.
One of these plays is a pass involving Chris Polk that reveals more to his game than usually meets the eye and continues an observation I had about the play I profiled yesterday of NIU’s Chandler Harnish.
If you don’t live in the Pacific Northwest, then you probably don’t realize that Chris Polk was a wide receiver in high school. It’s not common to see a player switch from wide receiver to running back when he transitions from high school to college. Usually it’s the other way around: Hines Ward, Jeremy Ross, and Marvin Jones are all good examples. The last time I saw a college receiver transitioned running back it was when Lou Holtz did it with Ricky Watters, who I though was one of the best short-yardage running backs in the league because of fantastic footwork in tight spaces.
This play below is what separates the 5’10”, 215-pound Polk from many of his peers. It begins Continue reading
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1. Michael Floyd, Notre Dame (6-2, 220)
From the standpoint of on-field performance, I believe Floyd has the best all-around skills and talents among the receivers in this draft class. This is a talent-rich group, but none of the prospects in this class have all of the qualities that Floyd brings to the game. When evaluating the last two years of receiving talent, I believe the only receiver with more promise is A.J. Green.
One of the factors that might have clouded the picture in the evaluation of this year’s receiver class was the condition of Floyd’s right knee. While Floyd was still healing, he had to gather his steps to accelerate. If he had to make a break to the quarterback, he could not get a great bend on the knee when he had to use his right leg to plant.
However, after watching Floyd get completely healthy, [Read the rest here]
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Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish might be known as a dual threat in the college game, but he has the size (6’1″, 219 lbs.), athleticism, and fundamentals as a passer for a team to develop him into an NFL contributor. Here’s a touchdown pass from the Godaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Alabama that demonstrates his skill with play action, a decent release, and budding skill with the deep ball that has room to get better with work.
For more about the RSP No-Huddle Series, read here.
Harnish throws this touchdown the series after throwing a 1st and 10 interception to begin the second half. Continue reading
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3. Kendall Wright, Baylor (5-10, 196) (Video above different from video at NY Times)
There was a time that I considered Wright the best receiver in this draft class. He’s not big, but he is physical and that is what you need from an N.F.L. player with his speed and quickness. He has no problem lowering his pads into secondary defenders and bouncing off their hits for extra yardage. He is strong for his build, and his acceleration aids that strength to run through hits or grabs by a defender.
Wright adjusts well to the ball and tracks vertical passes at a high level. He ran by many college cornerbacks who gave him a cushion, without the aid of trickery. He showed that he understood how to find open zones in the Baylor offense, but his change of direction is so good that he will eventually thrive against man coverage.
His routes need refinement. He needs to be more careful about [Read the rest here]