In-depth film analysis of NFL Draft Prospects With a Fantasy Football Lens - by Matt Waldman ©2025
I’m just a regular guy who has chosen to lead an irregular life.
And occasionally, there are people with websites and blogs that want to ask me questions about football and sometimes, how football contributes to my irregular life. If you’re curious, I have a short page of links to these Q&A interviews. (Link fixed, BTW)
At the top of this short page of interviews is a link to Dynasty League Football’s November 5 interview conducted by Eric Dickens.
Tom Moore, one of my Twitter followers, asked me to rank Alabama’s Trent Richardson within the scope of the top RB prospects during the last 10 years of drafts. I thought it was a good idea, but I simply haven’t finished my due diligence on the 2012 draft class to feel comfortable compiling that kind of ranking. However I can do a series where I rank the top 10 prospects at each skill position for the duration I’ve been writing the Rookie Scouting Portfolio.
Expect this series to begin at the end of the week.
I’m still determining whether I will rank my players based on the potential I saw in them or a combo of potential and hindsight analysis based on their actual pro performance, but I hope this will be an entertaining series. It’s going to be fun to write, that’s for sure.
I’m also hoping to land an interview with Chris Brown and/or former Scout Dave Razzano for you guys, but I’ve had some trouble getting them to respond after initially expressing interest. Maybe those of you on Twitter can give them a nudge and tell them that you’d be interested in reading about them in a Q&A at the Rookie Scouting Portfolio (you know, “Power to the People” and all that good stuff).
If not, that’s okay. I’m good buddies with this certain S.O.B. who I’ve been waiting to interview, but biding my time to make the request of him. I think he’ll make time though.
If you follow me on Twitter then you might have seen that I was looking for people to play me in a game of one-on-one fantasy football. The game is FantasyThrowdown. It’s a one-on-one fantasy football game that is simple, but strategic and addictive. Drafts can take as little as 5-10 minutes and you can play as much as you like each week.
Here’s how it works:
Fantasy Throwdown offers traditional offense + team defense or offense + IDP options as well as PPR and Non-PPR scoring.
The site is still in testing (BETA) mode, but I’ve participated in numerous drafts and it works well. Go to the site and create a login, accept (or create) a public challenge, or send me a private challenge by using my email: thegutcheck@gmail.com. Send me any feedback about the game as well.
“Throw down” with me and let’s see what you got.
If you’ve only been following this blog recently, you might have missed my post on John Beck. The Redskins quarterback was named the starter this morning. If you want to learn more about him check out my take. It has been my belief that one of the reasons Mike Shanahan opted for Rex Grossman to open the season was that it would give Beck a longer leash to grow into the starting role if Grossman failed to do the job first. If he had gone with Beck and the inexperienced pro QB struggled, his team and the fans would have been more impatient and demanded to get Grossman on the field.
Watching Cam Newton this weekend move around the pocket with poise, deliver lasers off balance, and run with the speed of a tailback and the toughness of a fullback reminded me of my all-time favorite NFL player, Steve McNair. The similarities are striking to me. I just hope Newton is willing to work and deal with adversity on the field the way McNair did. If so, there’s no reason he can’t match some of McNair’s accomplishments.
If you never saw McNair play when he was still a young and healthy quarterback, or you simply forgot what he looked like before his numerous surgeries had its cumulative effect, check out these videos. Give McNair the receivers and running game that Michael Vick has now and there wouldn’t need be a desperation week against the Redskins. Put McNair in Indianapolis and the Colts would at least be .500. If the Bears had McNair on Monday night versus the Lions, Chicago wins.
Okay, maybe all that isn’t true but indulge a fan on his blog, will ya?
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[youtube=http://youtu.be/fkSWbJUuttE]
If you’re not familiar with running back Chad Spann or you are relatively new to this blog then you might not have seen the film study series that the 2010 college football touchdowns leader did with me. Beginning Monday, I’ll be posting the first of a three-part series where Spann provides RSP readers a glimpse into the Indianapolis Colts training camp and preseason. It’s an enlightening look into the small, but highly regarded (despite the Colts current record) corner of professional football.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/nL6Sfy6pbCo]
1973 Week 7 Chargers vs. Browns
A lot has been going on behind the scenes for me. Illness, additional work requirements (and new opportunities), and my home office PC on its last legs have all contributed to fewer posts than the dog days of August. However, I offer a sincerest thanks for the continued support from my Rookie Scouting Portfolio readers during a hectic September that has bled into mid-October.
If you’re new to this blog, thank you for checking out the digs. Even more thanks if you liked enough of what you’ve seen to subscribe.
The reasons I provide this content are simple. Continue reading
Warning: This blog post isn’t for the corporate mindset. It’s safe to read at work except for the first link you come across. However, if you’re the kind of idiot (and I use the term affectionately – we all act like idiots from time to time. It’s part of the human condition) that feels the need to share everything with co-workers because you think you know their sense of humor better than you actually do, then it’s not safe for work. In fact, if you’re that kind of idiot don’t read this post until you get home.
If you get canned it’s because your listening skills suck. Continue reading
I finished studying Maryland RB Davin Meggett’s performance against the Miami Hurricanes and I discovered that someone posted all of Meggett’s touches from this game. So I’m providing my analysis of Meggett’s performance with these highlights.
When it comes to the son of the former New York Giants star, four things stand out:
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0:05 – Meggett’s first target came on this 1st and 10 with 14:40 in the first quarter as the single back flanking the QB’s left in the shotgun Continue reading
Continuous improvement is an ingrained part of what I try to do here at the Rookie Scouting Portfolio. Although I haven’t been adding new posts for the last week I have been creating a new menu to find my 99 other posts from the last four months. Many of you are new to the blog and a lot of what I write isn’t just about news that becomes old after a day or a week. You can find this Blog-Article Menu along the top menu bar of the site and it should provide a drop down menu to view articles grouped into these categories.
Scouts and Scouting – Here you can find essays on a variety of aspects about the player evaluation process and interviews of former scouts and current talent evaluators including NFL Films executive producer Greg Cosell, ESPN blogger and former Cleveland Browns scout Matt Williamson, NFL Draft Scout’s Chad Reuter, and National Football Post’s Wes Bunting.
Technique and X’s and O’s – Learn more about the technique behind what makes a good NFL skill player. This includes instructional analysis with video and even a film study interview series with the leading touchdown producer in the FBS in 2010. There are also essays and interviews about specific offensive schemes and personnel trends.
Reads, Listens, Views – Check out my weekly recommendations when it comes to online reading for football, fantasy football, and non-football. This section also includes my Audible segments A Walk on the Wild Side and miscellaneous football opinion pieces.