Monthly Archives: December 2015

WSW: Finding and Filling a Need

02 Wednesday Dec 2015

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Dan Hatman was in his 20s, working as a pro scout for the Eagles, a few short years after making $17,000 a year (with no benefits) as an intern, when he realized there was a need for The Scouting Academy.

“It was 2012, and we were in camp with the Eagles. We had seven interns in camp. One had worked for a football team, one was a college player, and one had a crazy story who’s now the Director of Player Personnel at a major university.

“The back end of the (90-man camp roster) was hammered with injuries, and we were having trouble keeping our defensive line healthy and working that third unit. We had exhausted the (undrafted free agent) pool, and we needed to scout the (Arena Football League) for guys, so we got AFL film and had to grind that. These seven had made it through the door, and they didn’t know what to look for in a defensive lineman. While they’re watching the film, they liked sacks and size, but (we) needed a guy who could look for the mechanics. We (the Eagles) wanted a guy that wouldn’t get other players injured. The mechanisms we were looking for . . . what kind of athletic ability did they need? What kind of size?

“(Most of the interns) didn’t have a baseline for comparison, and they brought me a list of 25 guys that they thought could make it.”

The fact that seven people working for an NFL team — people that were barely removed from the scouting department — identified 25 players from the AFL that they thought could play pro football was an epiphany for Hatman.

“We ended up finding one guy, and we brought him in,” Hatman said. “Anyway, it was illuminating to me. I had seven human beings at my disposal, and we needed one guy for a week or two, and we still almost couldn’t find any.

“So I started asking myself, how do you do this online? The more people I talked to, the more people jumped at the cause, and wanted people coming in to be better developed.”

It was just a few months later that Hatman founded The Scouting Academy. Today, the Academy boasts of several big NFL names (former Bears GM Jerry Angelo, Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and former Browns head coach Chris Palmer among them) that help the Academy’s students learn X’s and O’s from people who do it for a living.

In January, at the 2016 Senior Bowl, Hatman will take 30 Scouting Academy students to Mobile, Ala., to spend a week watching film, grading the players and networking. Fifteen of those in attendance will be from the Academy’s rolls, and 15 more will be former NFL players learning the ropes so they, too, can one day become part of an NFL team’s war room.

“Our hope is that we can take those guys that have that passion (for scouting), so that if they get that chance, they have the tools to do it well,” Hatman said.

 

Relating the Draft and League Success

01 Tuesday Dec 2015

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If you read this blog regularly, you know we’ve spent some time studying the correlation between a team’s total draftees active in the league (on their own roster or otherwise) and its year-to-year success. With the season about two-thirds done, let’s review the totals and try to match draft success with won-loss records.

We’ll analyze the teams in the top third, the middle third, and the bottom third.

Top third: 49ers (59); Packers (57); Steelers (52); Ravens, Bengals and Eagles (50); Vikings and Seahawks (49); and Chiefs (48).

Analysis: The Seahawks and Packers (who share a draft methodology, by the way) are known throughout the league for finding solid players throughout the draft and gems in the latter rounds, and that has been reflected in both teams’ consistent play over the last decade. The big surprise is that the Niners lead the league in this category, suggesting that though the team may move on from head coach Jim Tomsula after the season, GM Trent Baalke and his staff should remain safe. For what that’s worth. Meanwhile, the Vikings have obviously been taking care of business on draft day, and the emergence of Paul Zimmer as head coach, plus the return of A.P., have allowed the team to put it all together.

Middle third: Cardinals, Cowboys, Broncos, Texans and Titans (47); Bills and Patriots (46); Dolphins (45); and Panthers, Browns, Jets, Raiders and Rams (44).

Analysis: I’ve spoken to teams that have decried the Patriots’ drafts, though the team remains a constant Super Bowl contender; this probably shows the huge impact a top-flight QB can make on a team (and why teams are constantly chasing prospects at the position). Similarly, Cam Newton (and Luke Kuechly) have taken the Panthers upon their backs despite the team’s lack of talent on offense.

Bottom third: Lions (43); Saints and Chargers (40); Falcons (39); Bears and Jaguars (38); Bucs (37); Colts (35); Redskins (33); and Giants (30).

Analysis: The Lions made a change at GM (and made the surprising admission that the team hadn’t worked hard enough in evaluation) already this season. The Bears and Redskins made a change at GM before this season, and the Bucs before the ’14 season. Meanwhile, the Falcons stripped personnel responsibilities from GM Thomas Dimitroff before this season. The Jags’ David Caldwell and Colts’ Tom Telesco are in Year 3, and Colts’ Ryan Grigson is in Year 4.  Saints GM Mickey Loomis and Giants GM Jerry Reese have both been at their posts for a comparable eternity. It will be interesting to see if any of these teams make changes at the end of the month.