Posts tagged NFL Combine

Reads Listens Views 2/15/2013

0 Comments read Reads Listens Views

If you see me when you see these three players (among others) you don’t need me to say any more. If you don’t, perhaps its time to starting downloading the RSP publication every April 1. Based on eight years of experience, you’ll thank me later. More about the RSP publication later. First, a ton of great Friday links.

On The Couch Podcast Thoughts: QBs-Combine-Your Mama

Who doesn't enjoy being On The Couch? Photo by spacemanor.
Who doesn’t enjoy being On The Couch? Photo by spacemanor.

This week’s On The Couch with Sigmund Bloom, Dane Brugler, and Lance Zierlein had some meaty stuff about the 2013 Draft. I recommend a listen. Here are some thoughts I had from the podcast now that I’m through with 90 percent of my film research for the 2013 Rookie Scouting Portfolio:

  • This year’s QB class – I couldn’t agree more with Zierlein about this group. There is no one in the top half of most rankings that I’d be standing on the table telling management to draft. I felt that way about Luck, Griffin, Tannehill, and Wilson last year. In a perfect world, these QBs should be drafted where Wilson was in 2012 and Wilson in the first round. There’s a chance a team makes the right call with one of these 2013 guys, but I’d honestly rather take a guard…yes, a guard…over most of the consensus top 3-4 signal callers and I can tell you that’s unlikely to happen in the real NFL world. However, there are some intriguing backup-caliber/developmental projects available between rounds 3 and on the curb on Sunday evening of Day 3, who I’d rather make a low-money investment. More on that in April. Meanwhile, if you’re a regular reader but just emerged from a cave in the past two weeks, you can read more about my take on drafting quarterbacks here. 
  • The Combine – I also have to give props to these guys for delineating where the Combine is helpful to folks who study players and where it isn’t. As writers/analysts like Josh Norris, Bloom, Brugler and I have been discussing off and on this week on Twitter, the combine puts a fine point on things. The debate seems to come among writers who are thinking the same thing but coming from two different directions to get there. There might be 20-30 guys I want to see very specific things about them at this event, that the limitations of scheme or opponents didn’t illustrate on tape. Considering I’ve studied multiple games for most of the 171 players I’ve watched, that’s a small but potentially important number.
  • Gun-to-The-Head/Put-It-On-My-Mama Picks – I enjoyed the picks Brugler and Zierlein mentioned as must-haves – especially Brugler’s of Cincinnati tight end Travis Kelce. The guy is an animal on the field and if you want a complete tight end capable of starting this year and thriving as productive cog as a receiver and blocker, Kelce is far and away my choice of a celebrated class. Give me Kelce – and I’ll disarm a bomb with a blindfold and a rusted-out, Swiss Army Knife. I also like the mention of cornerback Dee Milliner, who will be a pro’s pro.

The Overview Effect: The idea that once human beings can view Earth from a perspective away from the planet, the long-term effect will be as powerful as any in history. If you check out anything on this blog today, this is the top item. Once again a good link from my friend Sara

[youtube=http://youtu.be/qBA1bPcehlw]

Football Reads

Thank You

If you think of me when you see these three players - among others - you don't need me to say any more. If you don't, perhaps its time to starting downloading the RSP publication every April 1.
If you think of me when you see these three players – among others – you don’t need me to say any more. If you don’t, perhaps its time to starting downloading the RSP publication every April 1.

Thanks to all of you who purchase the Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication. Available for download every April 1 (no joke) for going on eight years, the RSP is an online .PDF publication devoted to the play-by-play study of NFL prospects at the offensive skill positions. The publication has a menu that bookmarks the document so you have two types of analysis. The first portion is a magazine-style, pre-draft analysis of 120-150 pages that includes position rankings, player comparisons, skill set analysis of each position, and sleepers.

The second portion is where I show all my work: between 700-800 pages of grading reports, play-by-play analysis of every player and game I watched, and a glossary that defines every criteria in my grading reports. My readers who want the bottom line love the first half of the book and appreciate the transparency of this section. My hardcore readers love the fact that they can dive as deep as they want into these raw play-by-play notes.

Included with the RSP (since 2012) is a post-draft document between 50-70 pages that comes out a week after the NFL Draft with updated post-draft rankings, tiers, team fit analysis, and fantasy cheat sheet with value analysis (Russell Wilson was calculated as the best value last year). Fantasy owners can’t get enough of it.

The RSP is $19.95 and I donate 10 percent of each sale to Darkness to Light, a non-profit dedicated to training individuals and communities on the prevention of sexual abuse. Past years of publications (2006-2012) are available for $9.95 and I also donate 10 percent of each sale to D2L. You can prepay for the 2013 RSP now.

Non-Football Reads

  • Why J Dilla May Be Jazz’s Latest Great Innovator – “He’s so important,” says jazz drummer Karriem Riggins, who collaborated extensively with Dilla and is himself a hip-hop producer. “Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams and Miles; he’s in the same category to me.” 
  • The Best and Worst of the 2013 Grammys – Obviously I’m no purveyor of pop culture, but when three of my favorite artists get 45 seconds to pay tribute to a giant it’s worth noting why I don’t keep up any more. But it really has less to do with me liking their music. Imagine a football awards ceremony spending four hours celebrating agents, Tim Tebow, and Goodell, and 45 seconds to Adrian Peterson, Peyton Manning, and Robert Griffin.
  • Authenticity is The New Bullshit – H/T to Sigmund Bloom. I’ll be reading this a number of times.

Listens

Views

Georgia Tech WR Stephen Hill: Speed Kills – Now Learn How To Aim!

0 Comments read Players, Wide Receiver
Georgia Tech WR Stephen Hill ran the 40 in a blistering 4.36 seconds at the NFL Combine. See why speed is a valuable raw material - emphasis on raw material. Photo by Hectorir.

The late, great Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis coined the phrase “speed kills.”  There was a time Davis prized speed the way a trained gun enthusiast prized a competition model Glock. But late in his career, Davis’ love for fast-moving players seemed more like a warning for addiction.

If Davis were alive to see Stephen Hill’s 4.36-second, 40-yard sprint on Sunday, he’d probably get a contact buzz just from watching the Georgia Tech receiver on Lucas Field’s track. It’s hard to blame Davis, speed is a lot like a loaded gun. Capable of great power, it can disable an opponent without even pulling the trigger – sometimes without even removing it from the holster. However in untrained hands, it’s often more dangerous to those handling it. Continue reading →

Wake Up Call: Notable 40 Times

0 Comments read Matt Waldman
Arian Foster breaks a ton of big runs, but the stopwatch at the NFL Combine ran out of juice before he crossed the finish line. See who else lost the Underwear Olympics, but helps NFL teams win games. Photo by Wade Rackley.

Riddles for you. What do you call a wide receiver that runs in the 4.61-4.72 range in the 40 at the NFL Combine or Pro Day?

What about a running back that runs 4.66-4.69?

A bust?

Yeah, in February. Maybe in April. But you better try on some different labels for the guy come September.

NFL starter. League receptions leader. Perennial Pro Bowler. Super Bowl star. Here are some notable 40 times for players in the annual Underwear Olympics broadcast on NFL Network. Continue reading →

RSP Combine Contest: Guess the 40 Times

0 Comments read Reads Listens Views
Can you guess RGIII's 40 time at the 2012 NFL Combine? If you do, you could win a free RSP. Photo by cmiked.

I’m not big proponent of 40 times. They have their place, but I’ll take a 4.6 RB with great vision, good initial acceleration and balance any day over a 4.3 guy with a lot less of those other three qualities. So to make the 2012 NFL Combine more interesting, I’m holding another contest.

Your job is to guess the 40 times of Robert Griffin III, Chris Polk, and Alshon Jeffery. The closest person to guess any of these times correctly (the first person for each player)  wins a free copy of an issue of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio from 2006-2010. Here’s the details:

  1. Go to my Rookie Scouting Portfolio Page on Facebook.
  2. “Like” my Facebook page.
  3. List the 40 times under each wall post I’ve created (How fast will Robert Griffin III run the 40? How fast will Chris Polk run the 40?, etc.) .
  4. Don’t post the times on my personal Facebook wall, in a Twitter response, or on this blog – those entries will be disqualified.

If one of you guesses all three correctly (to the 100th of a second), I will give you this year’s and 2013’s RSP free.

Are you ready to be a human stopwatch? Go to my Facebook page and give it a shot.