It’s only been since the week after Thanksgiving that Rodrik David, who was already running his own podcast, The Scouting Report, invited me to partner with him on it. Since then, we’ve rebranded it Scouting the League, and though it took a while to really establish a rhythm, I think we’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with what we want the podcast to be.

Based on the feedback I’ve gotten from friends in the scouting and agent communities, we’ve been able to establish a space where we dig into the finer points of player representation and evaluation on the NFL level. I’m certainly no expert on things, and I doubt Rodrik would call himself one, either, but we both bring enough to the table to, hopefully, make it a lively weekly show with interesting insights and opinions.

I feel like our shows have gotten better and better, and the guests we’ve been privileged to have always bring their ‘A’ games. At the same time, obviously, some shows are better than others. With that in mind, here are the seven best episodes of Scouting the League, in my humble opinion, along with links in which you can listen for yourself.

1.David Canter, President of Football, GSM Worldwide: David is colorful bordering on outrageous, and this episode is an hour-plus of pure adrenaline. From the story of the chance encounter that led to his start in the industry, to the decision to sell his firm, to his thoughts on several issues facing the industry, David spits fire the entire time. Fair warning — we aren’t at the point where we can bleep out language, and there’s some language in this edition. Aug. 7, 2024

2. Mike McCartney, Head of Football, Vayner Sports: Once again, we got real candor and all the behind-the-scenes intrigue — in a classy, high-road way — from Mike on the drafting of Washington’s Michael Penix after the team had already signed Mike’s client, Kirk Cousins, to start at QB. There’s much more to the hour, but Mike’s discussion of their shock at the pick, plus what happened afterwards, is a must-listen. July 10, 2024

3. Mark Gorscak, former National Scout, Steelers: Mark is a friend of nearly everyone in the scouting community because of his love for the game and for its people. Mark is a great story-teller and thinks about the industry 24-7, which is why his episode was not only insightful but entertaining, as well. This is a great episode if you’re an aspiring scout wanting to learn the fundamentals of the biz and how to get in. March 20, 2024

4. Tom McConnaughey, former National Scout, Chargers & Jaguars: Rodrik and I are still trying to hit our stride on digging into the players and the picks that each guest can discuss, and I think we did our best job yet in this edition. Tom was in the war room for some truly special players; in the last half-hour, we run through several top former Chargers and Tom gives his thoughts on their selection. It’s really, really good.

5. Tony Vilani, Owner, XPE Sports: Tony is one of the top 3-4 speed trainers in the combine prep space, but that’s not why this was such a great episode. He’s also convinced the NFL cooks the books on the official 40 times posted during NFL Combine broadcasts, and he’s very specific about why he thinks what he does. He doesn’t pull any punches in his session with us. April 3, 2024

6. Dru Grigson, former scouting executive, Cardinals: We asked Dru to join us because the Cardinals have been at the forefront in grading and rewarding their scouts for good work, and he gave us plenty of insight into their process. However, he also gave us great background on how the Cards have developed, assigned, and evaluated their own evaluators. July 17, 2024

7. T.J. McCreight, former scouting executive, multiple teams: Having worked for the Eagles, Colts, Ravens and Cardinals, T.J. has seen how a lot of successful teams do things, and he brought that know-how to the podcast. He addresses a lot of the issues associated with the changing game and how to react to them, from a scouting standpoint. July 31, 2024

This week’s Friday Wrap, which comes out tomorrow, will feature my podcast partner Rodrik’s five favorite episodes. Make sure to check it out. Haven’t registered for the Friday Wrap? You can do that here.