Posts tagged Rookie Scouting Portfolio

Josh Gordon Analysis Coming Soon

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Baylor WR Kendall Wright is my third-rated receiver and 10th-rated skill position player from the 2012 NFL Draft class. His former teammate Josh Gordon has more potential, but a riskier pick both on and off the field. Find out why today and later this week.

“Flash” is a great descriptor for former Baylor wide receiver Josh “Flash” Gordon, who is entering the 2012 NFL Supplemental Draft. At least 6’3″ and 220 pounds, the wide receiver’s game is built upon explosive and dynamic physical attributes. If he were to participate at a Pro Day or an NFL Combine, I believe an in-shape Gordon would produce results that would place him in similar company with Jets wide receiver Stephen Hill.

I watched three games of Gordon and scored each of these performances with my Rookie Scouting Portfolio grading system. All three games Continue reading →

Quick Breakdown on Supplmental RB Ed Wesley, TCU

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TCU may miss RB Ed Wesley’s contributions to its three-man rotation, but he has a lot to learn before an NFL will feel the same way. Photo by Joe Duty.

I watched Ed Wesley this time last week, presuming he would be playing another year. A few days later, he applied for the NFL’s supplemental draft. Wesley was a rising senior at Texas Christian and in a committee situation with fellow runners Waymon James and Matthew Tucker. He’s a 5’9″, 200-pound runner with potential to develop into a better player at his position. In this final game versus Louisiana Tech, I saw more areas he needed to work on than areas where he shined.

As most of you following this blog know, all of my conclusions are based on play-by-play analysis. I may decide to give some play-by-play break down of Wesley before the draft, but in case I don’t here is a short summary of what I saw from the Horned Frogs runner. Continue reading →

RSP Writers Project Q&A: DraftBreakdown.com’s Eric Stoner

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From a stylistic and football smarts standpoint, there might not be a better model player for Denarius Moore to learn from than Randy Moss. Draft Breakdown’s Eric Stoner pairs the two on his depth chart. Photo by Wade Rackley.

There was a lot of quality football knowledge emanating from the roster presentations and interviews last week. Former All-Pac-10 offensive lineman and Football Outsider’s columnist Ben Muth gave a mini clinic on assembling and scheming a power running game when presenting his team. The Guardian’s Cian Fahey demonstrated the confidence to take on a reclamation project at quarterback and arm him with young talent at receiver, and complement the offensive with a dangerous defense. And Dynasty Rogues writer Nick Whalen, a former high school quarterback with stints at four colleges as a quarterbacks, wide receivers, and defensive backs assistant coach, delivered the ultimate change-up and opted to invoke Mary Schottenheimer’s physical, run-based offense.

I didn’t intend it to happen this way, but DraftBreakdown.com’s Eric Stoner begins the week of July Fourth with the most explosive offense we’ve seen at the RSP Writers Project to date. Ironically, Stoner wanted Continue reading →

RSP Writers Roster: DraftBreakdown’s Eric Stoner

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Eric Stoner’s RSP roster includes “the moveable chess piece,” Aaron Hernandez, who might be the team’s least dangerous receiving threat when it’s all said and done. Photo by Patriotworld.

Eric Stoner is a legal assistant by day, and a writer and video guy for DraftBreakdown.com for the remaining hours he’s awake. He specializes in quarterback evaluation. His YouTube videos are a quality service for football fans seeking more than the typical highlight packages that fans put together of college stars. Stoner’s videos are actually more like Continue reading →

Dynasty Rogues Writer Nick Whalen’s RSP Team Q&A

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Dynasty Rogues writer Nick Whalen, a former QB/WR/DB coach and assistant student coach at four colleges, gets props for going against the grain and invoking the awesome Marty Schottenheimer as a big influence for his offense. Photo by Smart Goofy Dog.

Nick Whalen unveiled a team that wants to beat you up on both side of the ball. I love it. As with all the teams we’ve see thus far, there are discernible holes that could derailthis freight train offense and big, bad defense. However, I love the approach Whalen takes – giving the middle finger to the trendy approach of spread offenses. Continue reading →

Writers Team: Nick Whalen’s RSP Squad, Dynasty Rogues

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Nick Whalen’s RSP Writers Team

Eric Berry, Earl Thomas, and Patrick Willis headline a young and athletic defense for Ryan Whalen’s Readers Team. Whalen has assistant coaching experience with four different college teams. Photo by Wade Rackley.

Nick Whalen is a regular at the Footballguys.com message board and a guy I’ve corresponded with frequently over the years. He’s a writer at Dynasty Rogues. Whalen has a variety of experiences in football and he’s person I’ve enjoyed trading info.

A former high school quarterback, Whalen also has experience on coaching staffs as an assistant student coach with Drake University, Carthage College, and Montana State. He also spent two years as an assistant student coach with Western Kentucky. He has been a quarterback, wide receiver, and defensive back coach for three different high school teams.

His RSP Writer’s Team has one of the more Continue reading →

The Guardian NFL Writer Cian Fahey’s RSP Writers Project Team

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“Revis, you’ve been traded to Fahey’s team. His defense might be better than mine personnel-wise. But I hope you can have 15 pick-sixes, because they might need it if his offense doesn’t step up.” Photo by Marianne O’Leary.

Cian Fahey covers the NFL for The Guardian and he also writes for Irish Central and at one time contributed for The Bleacher Report. Fahey is a Steelers fan and also contributes toSteelers Depot. If you’ve never read his work or followed him on Twitter, he’s not afraid to give his unfiltered opinion. You’ll see that as he reveals his roster below.

I like a lot of Fahey’s choices on defense. I opted for Darrelle Revis yesterday when I finally began my revised version of my team. The idea of shutting down an entire side of the field or plastering 95 percent of the league’s receivers into utter uselessness is appealing. Where we differ is that Fahey is opting for a 3-4 scheme and I’m a 4-3 guy. On offense, Fahey and I both took a chance on tackle Charles Brown, who was a second-round pick of the Saints two years ago but injuries derailed his developmental opportunity to flourish as a starter. His production for eight games in 2011 makes hm a player I agree is a bargain.

As for his take on Dwight Lowery? Well, I suspect there’s a lot of love at Bleacher Report for the Jaguars safety. It’s one of the follow up questions Continue reading →

Random News and Notes

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Brandon Lloyd is an artist when it comes to catching the football. See why he and Adrian Peterson kick of my Insanity Series at Footballguys.com Photo by Jeffery Beall.

Fantasy Football

At Footballguys.com, I kicked off my Gut Check column with what I’m calling the Insanity Series: Players that will drive you mad in 2012. You can find column at Footbalguys and I’ll also link to them on this page. The first two published pieces in the series are on Adrian Peterson and Brandon Lloyd.

2013 Rookies Continue reading →

Football Outsiders Columnist Ben Muth’s RSP Team

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Football Outsiders columnist and former All Pac-10 offensive lineman Ben Muth reveals his RSP Writers Project team and to my surprise, undrafted rookie Bobby Rainey is one of his primary backups. Photo by Daaka2.

Ben Muth is a former offensive lineman. He played at Stanford for five years, lettered for four years, started for two, and he was first-team All Pac-10 as a senior. But Muth is quick to point out – as any team-oriented player in a team-first sport that Stanford lost too many football games during his tenure. The Cardinals had three head coaches and four offensive coordinators.

After his college career, Muth was picked up by the San Diego Chargers. He was eventually released because according to Muth, “I was injured, and then not picked up again because I didn’t block that many people when I was healthy.” It’s this kind of humility that inspires fans to appreciate the game and those who played it.

Because he played in a lot of systems and recognizes a lot of difference schemes, it was an experience that Muth believes helps him with his Football Outsiders column Word of Muth. I’m fortunate that Muth was willing to lend his expertise to the RSP Writers Project both as a contributor and a consultant on offensive line player values.

Still want to know more? Continue reading →

RSP Writers Q&A of 5-ish’s Squad

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After defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, safety Patrick Chung might be one of the most pivotal players in 5-ish’s defensive scheme. This squad’s owner labels him the wildcard of his scheme. Photo by Beth Hart.

The RSP Writers Project is underway with an updated spreadsheet and I already have a team submitted by a reader that I thought was worth a read. Jeff, otherwise known as “5-ish,” among those of us at the Footballguys.com Shark Pool message boards, is a knowledgeable football fan with a clear passion for the game. He was kind enough to share his roster and answer the interview questions just after changing the player values of the spreadsheet, but before I lowered the cap from $160 million to $150 million.

While he got an extra $10 million compared to the participating writers, I think you’ll enjoy reading about his team.

  1. Describe your offensive system:
    1. Personnel formations
    2. Blocking schemes
    3. Bread and butter plays
    4. Some of the pivotal players in the scheme
    5. The coordinators and coach that you’d likely pick to run it

Continue reading →