Posts tagged Peyton Manning

UT-Chattanooga QB B.J. Coleman: Decision-Making is Also Fundamental

0 Comments read Players, Quarterback
B.J. Coleman copied Peyton Manning’s drops and play fakes to a “T.” Here’s a look at both guts and in flawed decision-making by the young prospect with late-round value. Photo by chattanoogaalumni.

For a more in-depth breakdown, see my analysis of Coleman at FootballOutsiders.com

A few weeks ago, I profiled East Carolina receiver Lance Lewis and demonstrated how his fade routes often appear identical to Patriots receiver Brandon Lloyd. In that post, I mentioned that University of Tennessee-Chattanooga QB B.J. Coleman’s drop, play fake, and release of the football is no different than Peyton Manning. Coleman voraciously studied Peyton Manning’s game as a redshirt freshman at Tennessee before transferring to Chattanooga and it has paid huge dividends with his fundamentals.

I had a chance to watch Coleman again this weekend with my Footballguys.com pals Cecil Lammey, Sigmund Bloom, and David Dodds (Jene Bramel would pop in, see one bad throw, and then mock us before returning to the NCAA tourney). I’m not going to detail how Coleman looks like Manning here. It’s pretty obvious once you see it. So, here’s highlights of the Shrine Game:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/__GQYD1aRi8]

You have to admire a young player like Coleman to copy the best fundamental physical skills of a great like Manning. I bet coaches and GMs wish more Continue reading →

Logic (Newton) or Chance (Luck)?

0 Comments read Players, Quarterback, Reads Listens Views
By rookie QB standards Cam Newton has been incredible. In fact, he's been terrific by any standard. Photo by PDA.Photo

If you were in charge of player-personnel decisions for the NFL team that had the opportunity to choose between Cam Newton or Andrew Luck, which quarterback would you take? I think this is probably one of the most compelling questions I’ve seen all season. There are so many layers of analysis to explore with this type of question.

While Newton was considered a fine quarterback prospect, only a few really nailed him as a player capable of making a Peyton Manning/Carson Palmer impact early in his career. And even fewer did as good of a job debunking the “running quarterback” myth with Newton than Chris Kouffman and Simon Clancy. Their analysis of Cam Newton was dead-on this winter. I highly recommend you make this your lunchtime read. I think the work they did was most impressive and something to learn from.

But then there’s Luck, who is considered the best prospect in the last 20 years. Unlike Newton, Luck is a three-year starter in a pro-style offense that uses West Coast concepts. Luck also has freedom to change plays at the line of scrimmage with the authority of veteran pro quarterbacks while Newton played in what is conceptually recognized as a highly simplified offense by comparison at Auburn. Furthermore, Luck is an athletic quarterback who is more physically mobile along the lines of Ben Roethlisberger or Tarvaris Jackson than Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.

So what do you do, take arguably the “best quarterback prospect in the past 20 years” or take arguably “the best performing rookie quarterback in the past 20 years?” Continue reading →

Behind the Blue Curtain – Part II: A Glimpse at Colts Training Camp With RB Chad Spann

0 Comments read Players, Quarterback
Chad Spann explains the differences between a pass protection scheme with the Colts and his assignments at NIU. Photo by Mann00.

Former Northern Illinois RB Chad Spann led college football with 22 touchdowns in 2010, but it didn’t get him drafted. No matter, Spann was a local star in Indianapolis and no team offered him a scholarship at his position and that didn’t deter him from finding a team that would give him a chance to prove his ability. This is exactly what the rookie free agent did this summer with his home town Colts, earning a spot with his play despite suffering a grade three hamstring tear that led to an injury settlement. To those uninitiated with the nuances of roster management, Spann simplifies the situation and states he’s been placed on Injured Reserve until he’s available. However, most football fans familiar with IR know that this designation wipes out a player’s entire season.

An injury settlement allows the Colts to keep Spann on the team without going through the step of cutting him and then potentially losing him to another team before they can sign him to the practice squad. Spann is scheduled to be ready to rejoin the team in Week 8. If the Colts decide to cut him there are nearly a half-dozen teams that have indicated interest in signing him.

Spann is one of those players I have the rare opportunity to speak with that is the complete package of skills, smarts, and toughness. There are first-round picks at his position who lack the self-assured confidence that Spann exudes without even trying, but it’s also mixed with a grounded sense of humor and generosity that makes him an enjoyable personality to talk to.

After creating an interview series this summer where Spann and I watched one of his games together and he tutored me on the nuances of his position, Spann agreed to discuss his training camp and preseason experiences with the Colts. Part I details the differences between college football training camp and NFL training camp. Part II addresses the complexity of the Colts pass protection schemes, working with two other rookies at his position while also competing with them, and why what fans see on the field and what coaches see are often completely different.

Waldman: What kinds of things did you learn about your position that were Continue reading →

Behind the Blue Curtain: A Glimpse at Colts Training Camp With RB Chad Spann

0 Comments read Players, Running Back
Colts RB Chad Spann provides a glimpse into his rookie training camp and preseason. Photo by Icon Sports Media, Inc.

If I didn’t know better, I would have thought Chad Spann was messing with me. Every few minutes during our hour-long conversation the running back would grunt, yell, or laugh without any discernible rhyme or reason. At one point as he talked his voice quavered as if someone was jumping up and down on him.

That’s exactly what was happening.

Spann made time for our phone conversation while he was on the receiving end of a deep tissue massage. The unexpected outbursts at various points during our conversation were a back-handed acknowledgement to his trainer/physical therapist doing things to his legs that Albert Haynesworth once tried to do to Andre Gurode’s head. The rookie free agent running back for the Indianapolis Colts has been steadfastly rehabbing a grade three hamstring tear that he suffered in the final preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals – an injury that occurred three minutes into the most important game of his young pro career.

Spann managed to play the entire game with an injury that leaves most people unable to walk: returning kicks, special teams coverage, and even as the running back on the game-winning, 85-yard drive . An injury that my colleague Dr. Jene Bramel Continue reading →

Pocket Presence

0 Comments read Quarterback
Philip Rivers is a standard setter when it comes to making throws in a tight pocket. Photo by Nathan Rupert.

One of my first blog posts was  Losing Your Football Innocence: 10 Things to Develop A More Critical Eye. It stresses the importance of studying NFL players and using them as a standard for evaluating college talent. Many of my peers who study games agree that while you’ll be hard pressed to find a college quarterback that performs just like an NFL veteran in his prime, it’s good to judge these prospects according to pro standards.

What you’re seeking isn’t an exact match technique for technique. You’re looking for enough moments Continue reading →

Talent and Production: The Great Emotional Divide

0 Comments read Matt Waldman
Brandon Marshall epitomizes the unpredictability of determining the mental-emotional makeup of a player making a successful transition to professional football. Photo by Geoffrey Beall.

This is my seventh year studying the on-field performance of football players. I can say unequivocally that I know more about the techniques and strategy of the game than I knew when I began. I’m also beginning to realize that I have learned just as much about player evaluation during the four months I have spent creating content for this blog. However, much of what I have learned from my interviews of colleagues has less to do with technique, strategy, or what to physically seek from a player and more to do with what none of us know.

Things that even NFL GMs and personnel directors will never know for sure:

How a player will manage the great emotional divide that must be crossed in order to transition from college talent to productive pro.

The process is something that my friend and colleague Sigmund Bloom describes as trying to gain a complete view of a scene when the vantage point is through a keyhole. We only have clues that help us determine whether a player is equipped to cross this break. Continue reading →

Dan Shonka Part I: Confidence and Competitiveness

0 Comments read Matt Waldman
Former long-time NFL Scout Dan Shonka tells a great story where he had an epiphany about Peyton Manning at Tennessee. Photo by Jeffrey Beall.

Theory and practice, the ivory tower and the battleground. People will tell you that one is more beneficial than the other. I believe there’s not only a place for both, but they complement each other.

I think NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell is one of the preeminent theorists of player evaluation. I call him a football theorist because he’s never played, coached, or scouted the game in an organization. Yet, this lack of practical experience doesn’t detract from his insights.

In many cases, it allows Cosell to step back and ask questions that NFL teams and personnel would like to think about. Chad Reuter is a similar kind of theorist. In fact he’s done research for NFL teams that lack the time or the knowledge to explore on their own. Thinkers have an important place in the world even if they purposely are doing work in quiet rooms away from the realities of the environments they study.

If Cosell and Reuter are football theorists, then I think it’s accurate to describe Ourlads’ Dan Shonka as one of the ultimate practitioners Continue reading →