Posts tagged Sigmund Bloom

Reads Listens Views 8/3/2012

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Falcons receiver Julio Jones is a world-class physical talent as a football player. However, until he can make the plays you see in the video above, he’s still playing a “B-game.” Jones is a good player with flashes of excellence and this is the component of his craft to monitor in order to see if he takes the next step in 2012.

This Weekend

If Texas receiver Marquise Goodwin learns how to consistently gain and maintain position like he does on this catch, he has a future as a vertical threat in the NFL. Learn more from Sterling Sharpe in the link to a coaching video below. Photo by Aaronisnotcool.

More on the craft of gaining separation from the line of scrimmage, with a play-by-play example of Texas speedster Marquise Goodwin.

Coming Soon: Cecil Lammey Q&A

Finally, Lammey and I had a chance to spend an hour with a digital recorder running. The newly syndicated host of “Riding Shotgun” is an aficionado of cattle roping, boars, and running backs. I’ll let him tell you about the chaps – I’m still getting treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. Expect to see this posted at the eve of the regular season.

New Project on the Horizon: NSFW Week

Watch out now, I’m about to let it fly. Details below.

If you listen to The Thursday Night Audible Roundtable, I sometimes let my irreverent side out for a walk (with a choke collar and a sturdy leash). Somtimes I also do it here.  I don’t know when, and I’m not sure what form it will take just yet, but I have a feeling sometime this fall, I’m going to have a “Wildman Uncensored: Not Safe For Work Week at the RSP.”

Pretty much anything and everything I wouldn’t share and laying it down unfiltered. I’ll provide Continue reading →

Skill Players to Monitor in August: Reads Listens Views 7/27/2012

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The Template for Modern Quarterbacking

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Four Skill Players to Monitor In August

Arizona WR Juron Criner is a “Trust Me” player. See below (trust me).

One of the things we discuss regularly on the Thursday night Audible podcast is the importance of following the reports that the media files on players. These stories provide a brick-by-brick foundation about these players. Although these reports aren’t infallible, learning to filter truth from perception can have value. Below are players I’m monitoring this off season. Continue reading →

Reads Listens Views 7/6/2012

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Busts of (diagonal from l-r) Jim Brown, Vince Lombardi, and Bronko Nagurski at the Pro Football Hall of Fame last summer.
Happy Birthday Sigmund Bloom

If you are a Footballguys subscriber, an Audible listener, Bleacher Report reader, or a frequenter of Twitter, then odds are you know the peripatetic football intellectual that is Sigmund Bloom. Happy birthday to my colleague, football muse, and friend and thank you for what you contribute to this community – substantial is too bland of a word for what you do. I think if Bloom could have the equivalent of a Parisian salon and be the Gertrude Stein of football, he’d be hosting writers yesterday. In a sense, I have a feeling he already is doing so in the virtual sense. Continue reading →

Reads Listens Views 4/13/2012

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For Maximum Effect: Mute the sound on this Cliff Branch highlight and open a second window on your browser and check out my link to the Gap Band’s “You Dropped a Bomb On Me,” later in this post.

Thank you

The response to the publication of the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio has been great. I appreciate the feedback from old and new readers alike. I’m already setting plans in motion to make 2013’s publication even better and I’m actually Continue reading →

Arkansas WR Greg Childs: Career Resurrection?

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Ryan Williams is working his way back from a Career Near-Death Experience. See what WR Greg Childs was like before his.

The Career Near-Death Experience. This is one of my favorite Bloomisms of football writing. A Bloomism is what I call the slang that Footballguys and Bleacher Report Draft Analyst Sigmund Bloom (who is also a medalist in some Writer-Olympiad) creates to encompass various football experiences, states of mind, or rights of passage in the sport.

The Career Near-Death Experience is an event where a player faces his career mortality. All players face it at some point. Those that don’t cross to the other side discover a new and better way to approach the game. Former wide receiver Cris Carter had a career near-death experience as drug addict when playing with the Philadelphia Eagles and Coach Buddy Ryan helped save the receiver with a southern fried reprise of the ghost of Christmas Future.

The career near-death experience can also manifest Continue reading →

Reads Listens Views 3/9/2012

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John Wooden on true success

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Ahead at the RSP Blog

The 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio will be available on April 1 via a link to my shopping cart site. Learn more about the RSP process and content here.

Pre-order the 2012 RSP and buy past RSPs (2006-2011) here.

Steelers RB Chad Spann and I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago (preview below) and he has agreed to spend time studying a game of Ray Rice’s with me. Expect transcripts of that session in mid-April or early May.

The RSP Writers Project is still on, but I decided to push back the process of picking players until May since most of us doing the work are busy covering the draft. Expect an unveiling of teams in July and August.

Preview of Next Week’s Q&A Sessions with Chad Spann

Chad Spann has been a Pittsburgh Steeler since late fall. He's a long-term sleeper to monitor. Learn more about what he's learning to compete at the highest level.

Q: You talked with me in the past about what your Steelers teammates shared about your game and the advice they gave this year. One of those things was when Will Allen told you about maintaining your drive phase longer. For my audience, can you explain what that means and why it helps a running back?

Spann: If you watch a sprinter run the 100 meters Continue reading →

RSP Writers Project Update: Basic Salary Structure

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What can I say? I like this photo. I also like A.J. Green. Enough to put him on my RSP Writers Project Squad? We'll see. Photo by Tennessee Journalist Wade Rackley.

Author’s Note: We’re at Stage II of our RSP Writers Project, which is creating the basic salary structure to build our teams. Footballguys.com staff writer and Bleacher Report Draft Analyst Sigmund Bloom has created the setup we’ll be using. Then we had Chase Stuart of Footballguys, NY Times Fifth Down Blog, and Smart Football fame give it a once over. I’m now revealing the same bones of this structure to you that we sent to our writers so you can get ready to see what it will take to create your own team. If you have any suggestions – feedback, feel free to comment here. I can’t guarantee we’ll incorporate it, but its nice to hear ideas.

Here’s the email I sent the writers…. Continue reading →

Reads Listens Views 2/10/2012

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More Tannehill? More coming. Just not today. Maybe late tonight.

Note: I had a late night with family in Atlanta and didn’t get home until 15 minutes ago. This means the additional RyanTannehill analysis won’t be posted today. I’ll have it up this weekend. But if you haven’t seen my analysis of David Wilson, Kendall Wright, and (apparently) one play of Terrance Williams, check them out here:

  1. David Wilson Series on Vision: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV
  2. Kendall Wright Analysis: Routes and The Money Catch
  3. RyanTannehill Series on Pocket Presence: Part I

I already have the rest of this Friday segment written so I’m posting this note with it to let you know that more Tannehill is on its way. Also expect to see some analysis from some of these players during the next 7-10 days: Arizona State QB Brock Osweiler, Oregon RB LaMichael James, Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden, and Georgia TE Orson Charles.

RSP Writers Project Update

Sigmund Bloom has delivered his preliminary salary cap-player rating structure and Continue reading →

2012 RSP Writers Project Update

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The RSP Football Writers Project is no fantasy league. You'll pay the price for taking a player the caliber of Tom Brady. Photo by Jeffrey Beall.

This project has generated a lot of positive feedback on the blog. Readers want to build teams with the guidelines we provide you and they have sent me questions to ask you (I have over 100 to choose from).

Just to refresh your memory, here’s the basics of the project:

The RSP Football Writers Project will include various football writers from around the country. They will each create a football team. They will be selecting these players from salary tiers provided for every player in football on a spreadsheet. Each football writer will have a salary cap. The job is to pick a team (starters and depth at each position) and then explain in writing the personnel decisions relative to salary, experience, talent, and system they plan to use on offense and defense. Think of it like one of those fantasy football games where you can pick any player (so no draft) but have to fit it in under the cap. The difference is more thought and care to an overall team concept is given and we’re not competing with the teams just presenting them and answering questions.

So far we have 24 participants – including the readers’ generated team – and there may be a few more before the month is over. Sigmund Bloom is developing the salary guidelines for the players and we have determined a basic schedule for the project: Continue reading →

RSP Football Writers Project: The Readers Team

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In fantasy football Adrian Peterson is a great player to build a team around. However if you had to build a real team from scratch with realistic fiscal constraints it's not as easy a decision. Photo by xoque.

Last week, I announced the RSP Football Writers Project, which is the collection of terrific football writers who will each be given 4-6 weeks to construct an NFL team from scratch within the constraints of a salary cap. Fellow Footballguys.com writer Sigmund Bloom and I will be developing the salary list, personnel requirements, and fundamental questions that the writers must answer.

We’ll also share the info and instructions here so anyone can download and construct a team. If I can arrange the right kind of panel to judge, I might even sponsor a contest for those of you playing at home. Stay tuned.

For the past two weeks, I’ve had several initial thoughts about the construction of my team. I’m sure many of my ideas will change dramatically as I get further into the process of building my NFL team, but I thought I’d share my thoughts. In fact, I’ll probably keep you guys posted with my progress and depending on the situation, ask for your feedback.

One idea I am going to implement is a Readers Team. Based on your votes, I’ll compile a team on your behalf. Today we’re going to begin voting on the Readers Team’s football philosophy.

Continue reading →