Posts tagged Rookie Scouting Portfolio

Reads, Listens, Views 9/15

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Gene Upshaw at his best. 

Thank you to those of you who are making the Rookie Scouting Portfolio Blog a part of your regular reading schedule. As I’ve been saying weekly, if you like what you’ve seen thus far, please consider these three acts of kindness: 

  1. Subscribe to this blog. It’s free.
  2. Share this blog with your friends.
  3. Send me feedback.

And then consider performing one special act of kindness to yourself: Get my publication The Rookie Scouting Portfolio. Those who buy it love it.

The RSP is a 120-150 page rookie report loaded withanalysis, rankings, and player comparisons of over 150 offensive skill position prospects. And unlike any publication remotely of its type, I also show the reader my work with an appendix containing hundreds of pages of game study notes as well as my position-specific scoring checklists adopted from best-practice methods for performance evaluation.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting more prospect analysis that you’ll likely see in the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio, which will be available here for purchase in the early spring.

Back issues of the RSP (2006-2010) are available for purchase by emailing me.

Reads, Listens, Views

It’s this time of the week where I share what I’ve been reading, listening, and viewing each week – football, fantasy football, and non-football.

Football – Two Links from writer Alen Dumonjic, who does an excellent job of analyzing the game. 

Goal-Line Stand – This is a part of the website The Score. I strongly recommend Alen’s contributions. He does a fantastic job with X’s and O’s and explaining football technique.

Inside the matchup: Patriots vs. Dolphins by Alen Dumonjic courtesy of Boston.com – I know this is last week’s game but the analysis is insightful and explains concepts that go beyond this game.

Non-Football

Sewing her way out of poverty By Nicholas D. Kristof – The inspiring story of a married mother in Kenya who resorted to prostitution to support her children after they pushed out of her house by her husband who brought in a new wife. The mother learns to sew, creates a business, and with the help of a microsavings program earns enough to work her way out of poverty.

Super-Earth: Newly discovered planet could potentially support life  By Denise Chow

Tidal Turbines: New sparks of hope for green energy from beneath the waves by Colin Woodward – A town on the Maine coast is the Kitty Hawk for green energy.

A Photo Essay on the Great Depression

Entertainment

El Nino performed by the late, great Michael Brecker – perhaps the one saxophonist who built on what John Coltrane did (while also performing with the likes of Aerosmith, Cameo, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and over 900 albums of music of every genre).

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Dan Shonka Part V: Scouting Gigs

0 Comments read Matt Waldman
Former NFL Scout Dan Shonka talks about his tenure in the profession of talent evaluation. Photo by TipsterHog.

I think it’s accurate to describe Ourlads’ Dan Shonka as one of the ultimate practitioners of football evaluation. Shonka has 39 years of football experience as a player, college recruiter, college coach, and a combined 16 years as a NFL scout for National Scouting Service, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Washington Redskins, and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Last week, Shonka agreed to speak with me about scouting, players, and the NFL. The scheduled 60 minutes became two hours of football talk that flew by. Dan was afraid I got more than I bargained for, but I told him that I got exactly what I wanted – just more than I could have expected.

In this final installment of our conversation, Shonka tells how he became an NFL Scout and shares some of his experiences in the field. Continue reading →

Dan Shonka Part IV: Prospects Past and Present

0 Comments read Matt Waldman
Joey Harrington's NFL story was a sad one according to former NFL Scout Dan Shonka. Photo by Dharmabumx.

I think it’s accurate to describe Ourlads’ Dan Shonka as one of the ultimate practitioners of football evaluation. Shonka has 39 years of football experience as a player, college recruiter, college coach, and a combined 16 years as a NFL scout for National Scouting Service, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Washington Redskins, and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Last week, Shonka agreed to speak with me about scouting, players, and the NFL. The scheduled 60 minutes became two hours of football talk that flew by. Dan was afraid I got more than I bargained for, but I told him that I got exactly what I wanted – just more than I could have expected.

In this segment of the conversation, Shonka talks about pro prospects from the past and present, including two players he thought would be great who didn’t pan out, a sneaky-good runner he and Wes Bunting both like, and his take on Andrew Luck. Continue reading →

Dan Shonka Part III: Positional School

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Dan Shonka explains why former Arkansas safety Steve Atwater is a great example of how technique that was once lacking can be honed to a point that it brings forth other great skills lying beneath the surface.

I think it’s accurate to describe Ourlads’ Dan Shonka as one of the ultimate practitioners of football evaluation. Shonka has 39 years of football experience as a player, college recruiter, college coach, and a combined 16 years as a NFL scout for National Scouting Service, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Washington Redskins, and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Last week, Shonka agreed to speak with me about scouting, players, and the NFL. The scheduled 60 minutes became two hours of football talk that flew by. Dan was afraid I got more than I bargained for, but I told him that I got exactly what I wanted – just more than I could have expected.

I asked Shonka to indulge me in a game where I named a position on the field and he talked about skills he looked for that could or couldn’t be learned if the player didn’t exhibit them in the college game. Continue reading →

Dan Shonka Part II: War Room Stories

0 Comments read Matt Waldman
Even a player like Ray Lewis sometimes requires a scout like Dan Shonka to stand on the table for him. Photo by rubendn.

I think it’s accurate to describe Ourlads’ Dan Shonka as one of the ultimate practitioners of football evaluation. Shonka has 39 years of football experience as a player, college recruiter, college coach, and a combined 16 years as a NFL scout for National Scouting Service, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Washington Redskins, and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Last week, Shonka agreed to speak with me about scouting, players, and the NFL. The scheduled 60 minutes became two hours of football talk that flew by. Dan was afraid I got more than I bargained for, but I told him that I got exactly what I wanted – just more than I could have expected.

This segment of our conversation included war room stories about perhaps the greatest linebacker of a generation, a cornerback who had some great battles with Michael Irvin, a disruptive defensive tackle, and a backup running back from the University Texas whose first name is Anthony but went by a more holy moniker. 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 →

Jene Bramel: Play Defense, not defenses

0 Comments read Matt Waldman
Will the Pats be using a 4-3 or a 3-4? Bill Belichick bristles at the desire to label. Jene Bramel explains why. Photo by Sean O'Brien.

[Editor’s note: Jene Bramel is an excellent football writer best known for his expertise with individual defensive players at Footballguys.com. One of the reasons he’s so good in this area (as well as the offensive side of the ball) is that he analyzes the game. He enjoys watching games and breaking down what he sees. Jene asked me if he could occasionally contribute to The Rookie Scouting Portfolio blog when he had something he felt like writing. How could I refuse?]

Much was made of the New England Patriots’ defensive scheme this preseason.  The signing of Albert Haynesworth and the release of Ty Warren prompted lots of discussion about whether the Pats would move away from what has been their traditional base 3-4 front in recent seasons.  Continue reading →

Quick Announcement

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If you enjoyed my series with NFL Films’ senior producer Greg Cosell, you’re going to love next week’s conversation series with 16-year veteran scout and former college coach Dan Shonka of Ourlads’ NFL Scouting Services.

Shonka spent 7 years with National (National Football Scouting) and then another nine years with the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, and Kansas City Chiefs.

Shonka, who is featured in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, gave me nearly two and a half hours of his time to talk shop.

While I won’t say this tops the Cosell series, I think it might be as good in a different vein.

Expect the first segment on Monday.

Discerning Errors From Deficiencies: A WR’s Hands

0 Comments read Players, Wide Receiver
This is the third time I've used this photo, but it so underscores the point I'll be making in this post about good hands technique (and you know you like it). Photo by Tennessee Journalist Wade Rackley.

No prospect is perfect. Although I can hear some of you thinking Andrew Luck’s name (or maybe that’s the voice in my head and I just don’t want to admit it), this isn’t a post about the Stanford quarterback. It’s about learning to project a player’s potential by his errors.

Failures often reveal more about a prospect’s upside than his successes. Fans and evaluators alike (present company included) often fail to discern the difference between a correctable error and a deficiency that requires more serious work and may never improve. Based on my six years of extensive film study, I’m going to share with you lessons I’ve begun to learn that will help you develop a more critical eye. Continue reading →