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A Look at the Saints’ Draft: Ex-Giants/Bears Exec Greg Gabriel

27 Wednesday Apr 2022

Posted by itlneil in NFL draft, Scouts

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This week, with the NFL Draft starting Thursday night, I thought it would be fun to ask three of my friends who used to run teams’ drafts to tell me how they’d approach the draft for one specific team. I asked them to look at the Saints, who are in an interesting position with plenty of needs and decent draft capital. After we led off the week with former Jets Director of College Scouting Jeff Bauer Tuesday, we continue with former Giants and Bears executive Greg Gabriel.

Before we even begin to look at what the Saints do, let’s look at the draft as a whole. I have been involved in the NFL Draft as a scout, scouting director, consultant or media member going back 40 years to 1982. I can honestly say that this is one of the most unique drafts I have ever seen. Why unique? Because there is no consensus anywhere in the draft, from the first pick on down.

We could go through every position and probably none of the 32 clubs would agree on even the order of the top five players in each group. I talk to people in the league daily and this is the one thing that stands out. Though it’s impossible, it would be fun to get the 32 NFL clubs to give us their top 32 players in order. I guarantee there would be about 42-45 different names, and it would be hilarious seeing the difference in how players are rated. That’s what makes the evaluation business so unique. We also have to look at the fact that each club has a different view as to what they look for at each position. 

In my estimation, the Saints need to come away with a tackle, wide receiver and quarterback with their first three picks.

Offensive tackle

The Saints are in a good situation with two picks in the middle of the first (Nos. 16 and 19) and a pick in the middle of the second round (No. 49). In my opinion, after losing OT Terron Armstead in free agency, they have to select a left tackle early, i.e., either at 16 or 19. The first round-caliber offensive tackles are very good, led by Alabama’s Evan Neal and NC State’s Ikem Ekwonu. The others well worth being selected in the first round are Mississippi State’s Charles Cross, Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning and Central Michigan’s Bernhard Raimann. Neal, Ekwonu and Cross will all be gone by the time the Saints pick at 16, but there is a chance Penning could still be there. If it was me, and Penning was available, it wouldn’t take me long to get the card turned in. Of course, it’s no sure thing Penning is available and the Saints may want to trade up a few slots to assure themselves of getting him. That scenario would be discussed in pre-draft meetings this week.

Wide receiver

If Penning is gone, 16 may be a bit too high for Raimann, but 19 would be ideal. If that’s the case, what do the Saints do at 16? Well, wide receiver is also a need. The Saints have a great receiver in oft-injured Michael Thomas and a solid compliment in Tre’Quan Smith. What they don’t have is a receiver who can take the top off the defense, and this draft has several receivers who can do that. Many should be available at 16.

One of the top names is Alabama’s Jameson Williams, who is the “burner”-type receiver the Saints need. The problem with Williams is he’s coming off ACL surgery and probably won’t be ready to play until midseason at best. Do the Saints pull the trigger on Williams, knowing he will miss time? That is a decision that only GM Mickey Loomis can make. Luckily for the Saints, there are other speed receivers in this draft that could be there in the middle of the first round. They include two from Ohio State in Chris Olave, who is a 4.38 guy, and teammate Garrett Wilson, who has similar speed. The other speed receiver who could be available at that point of the draft is Penn State’s Jahan Dotson, a 4.43 guy. Any of these three would upgrade the Saints’ receiver corps dramatically.

Quarterback

The quarterback position is also a question mark. With future hall of fame Drew Brees retired, Jameis Winston is the heir apparent, but is Jameis really the guy? The Saints signed former Bear, Cowboy and Bengal Andy Dalton during free agency, but at this point of his career, Dalton is an ideal backup, not a starter. 

The quarterback class in 2022 is not ideal. There are some good players, but no prospects like last year, when five quarterbacks were drafted in the top 15 picks. This year, like at every other position, there is no consensus No. 1 QB. Some may say the best quarterback prospect is Liberty’s Malik Willis, while others may say it’s Pitt’s Kenny Pickett and others Ole Miss’s Matt Corral or Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder. When there is no consensus, it’s hard to know who’s right. We won’t know the answer for several years, but each GM selecting a QB hopes that he got the right one, obviously.

While it may be risky for the Saints to select a QB in the opening round, it’s not out of the question. As I write this, the chances are very good that only one QB will be selected before the Saints pick at 16. The big question is, how highly rated are the top QBs in the eyes of Assistant GM Jeff Ireland and his staff? Is there one worthy of being selected in the middle of the first round?

If the Saints do in fact select a quarterback, and, say, an offensive tackle with their other first round pick, they could easily get a very good speed receiver in the second round. Burners like Cincinnati’s Alec Pierce, Western Michigan’s Skyy Moore, Memphis’ Calvin Austin and South Alabama’s Jalen Tolbert may still be available come pick No. 49.

One thing is certain: regardless of what direction the Saints decided to go, it will make for drama and a fun viewing Thursday and Friday night. 

A Look at the Saints’ Draft: Ex-Jets Exec Jeff Bauer

26 Tuesday Apr 2022

Posted by itlneil in NFL draft, Scouts

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This week, with the NFL Draft starting Thursday night, I thought it would be fun to ask three of my friends who used to run teams’ drafts to tell me how they’d approach the draft for one specific team. I asked them to look at the Saints, who are in an interesting position with plenty of needs and decent draft capital. We lead off the week with former Jets Director of College Scouting Jeff Bauer.

When your team finishes No. 32 (dead last) in passing, 30th in third-down conversions, 28th in total yards per game and 28th in average yards per rush (3.9), it’s no secret where your focus should be. Fortunately for the Saints, they are in position to get some much-needed help.

With the Nos. 16 and 19 picks in the opening round, along with No. 49 (the 17th pick in the second round), they’ve got some ammo. I believe that with those three picks, they’d love to get three players from four positions: quarterback, wide receiver, offensive tackle and tight end (though maybe not in that order).

The Saints will be tempted to draft a QB at 16 or 19, but I don’t see the value there. Willis is the only QB that I feel warrants a top-half-of-first-round grade, Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder, Ole Miss’ Matt Corral and North Carolina’s Sam Howell all should be there, but I feel any of them would be a big stretch that early. Our rule for the top half of the first round was that any pick would have to be an immediate starter who could develop into a highly productive NFL player. All those QBs have concerns, in my eyes, except for Willis, and even Willis has some questions.

So what should the Saints do at 16 and 19? The best value very well could be at tackle and wide receiver, two positions of need for the Saints. I see no way that Alabama’s Evan Neal or NC State’s Ikem Ekwonu make it to 16, and I would be shocked to see Mississippi State’s Charles Cross make it there, but if he does, it would be a great get. The other tackle I think the Saints would love at 16 would be Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning, a dominant, nasty guy at the Senior Bowl. If the Saints can walk away with either of these tackles at 16, that’s a major success.

With the other pick, the Saints could find good value at receiver. Alabama’s Jameson Williams was my top guy at that position prior to his ACL injury. While that’s a serious injury, today’s doctors do marvelous jobs with knees today. He might be restricted early, but to get this talent in the late teens is a no-brainer. If the team goes in a different direction, Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson, USC’s Drake London, Arkansas’ Treylon Burks and Ohio State’s Chris Olave all have value in that area. I also like Georgia’s George Pickens, maybe more than others. He’s physical and strong with great length, and has all the tools, but was a victim of a run-first offense and a limited quarterback while in Athens.

With the Saints’ second-round pick, the team could look at quarterback if any of those listed early fall to that spot. However, another player to watch would be Colorado State’s Trey McBride, who is, in my mind, the top tight end in the draft. Given that New Orleans would walk away with a top offensive tackle, a top-flight wide receiver and a three-down tight end, that would change the team’s offense immediately.

Wednesday: Former Giants and Bears executive Greg Gabriel

In Memoriam: Former Falcons scout Bob Harrison

22 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by itlneil in Uncategorized

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For the last several weeks, we’d been attempting to reach former Falcons scout Bob Harrison, but had been politely brushed off due to his failing health. We’d hoped to feature him in our Catching Up series on former scouts that we include in our weekly newsletter, the Friday Wrap. Then, on Saturday, we learned that he’d succumbed to his health struggles. We passed along the news later that morning. 

Since we never got to know Bob, we wanted to memorialize himself this week by reaching out to a few of his former colleagues in the scouting and coaching community. This is what they told us.

  • “He was a serious guy, hard worker and great evaluator. You knew where he stood on his players and there pro potential. Always had conviction for his evaluations, not a fence rider.” — former Falcons scout Mike Hagen
  • “As a gridiron coach and NFL scout, Bob took verse of John 15:16 and ran with it in our beloved profession. The verse is a working transformation to be active. Bob was like this: ‘A good gardener will do what it takes to help a vine bear fruit.’ May he rest in peace.“ — former Cardinals scout Jerry Hardaway

  • “He was always a personable guy, was well-read and on top of the game.”  — former NFL running back and assistant coach Johnny Roland

  • “Bob was a great guy and his experiences as a coach really carried over and made him an outstanding evaluator. He was a pleasure to work with and a hard worker that really enjoyed his profession. A true pro who had passion and a great respect for the game of football.” — former NFL executive Ron Hill 

  • “I worked with Bob for 10 years when I first got into scouting. I could always remember him saying, ‘believe what you see while looking at players and alway stay organized.’ Bob was a great guy and a super scout.” — former Falcons scout Bruce Plummer

  • “I worked with Bob Harrison with the Falcons for 12 years. Bob loved the game of football and was really fun to work with. We became really close and loved to rib each other and joke around. I really miss those days with Bob! — Rams executive Taylor Morton

You can read more about Bob in his obituary here and in this story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. If scouting and evaluation interest you, consider registering for our weekly newsletter, the Friday Wrap, here.

Excitement Growing for 2nd Annual Personnel/Recruiting Spring Clinic

15 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by itlneil in Uncategorized

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At Inside the League, we are always talking to people interested in the evaluation trade. We find there are few things in football that inspire passion so much as scouting and identifying talent. Problem is, it’s easy for aspiring NFL evaluators to lock themselves in front of a screen, watching film and spouting wisdom on social media, but never making the connections that are essential in climbing the ladder.

That’s why we’re pretty bullish on the work that Lucas Gauthier, Director of Player Personnel at Colorado State, and Gaiza Crowley, DPP at UNLV, have done to bring together the second annual Personnel and Recruiting Spring Clinic, which will be held Friday and Saturday, May 20-21, at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Friday’s activities will include a social at a local bar and restaurant, followed by a full day of discussions and presentations Saturday. Best of all, the event is totally free. Register here.

“I think the biggest thing is, it’s an event unlike any other for personnel and recruiting people,” Crowley said. “There’s (the) AFCA (Convention) that’s more on the coaching side, but there really isn’t anything that personnel and recruiting people can go to, to network and learn from each other, and that’s their sole focus.”

For that reason, Crowley and Gauthier have done everything possible to remove all roadblocks.

“There’s no cost and no registration fee,” Crowley said. “Just get to Las Vegas. It’s a one-night event, and we’ve got a room block that people are registering for.”

Crowley said he hopes the event can become a tradition and a way for people in the community to not just learn, but to climb the ladder.

“We’re trying to get as many together as we can to build the community like the coaching community has, which eventually will lead to more jobs and more opportunities in this industry,” he said. “As of right now, we have Power 5 and Group of 5 schools registered and FCS, too. We have about 15 FBS schools committed right now, including Iowa; Virginia Tech; Wisconsin; Utah; Florida Atlantic; UNLV, of course; Army; Colorado State; Hawaii, and others, so there’s a good mix.”

If you go, don’t plan to hang out with old friends and drink beer (or at least, not only that). This is a chance to make new relationships, learn and interact in a professional way.

“The basic setup is, we want the event to be as interactive as possible,” Crowley said. “We want everyone to get involved, so we will have multiple roundtable discussions that will allow people to sit with directors and assistant directors and talk about different challenges in the industry. When people register, they can submit topics.

“Some of the things we’ll be talking about will be transfer portal management, staff structuring, the big topics. There will be three roundtable discussions where you can sit and talk with different people, and the panel discussions are leaned more toward pro development. One is Mike Villagrana, the Senior Director of Player Personnel at Virginia Tech, and another is Butler Benton, the Executive Director of Recruiting and Player Personnel at Arkansas. They’ll be more focused on professional development, interviewing, jobs, and getting an opportunity for young people to have conversations with people that they might not normally have had.

There will be a chance to hear from NFL types, as well.

“Last year, we had Jack Gilmore, the scouting coordinator for the Raiders, and we’re reaching out to more NFL teams and scouts to get more of an NFL presence, as well,” he said. “We’ll have a guest speaker, somebody from the NFL. Jack did a great job last year breaking down the evaluation process.”

Though it’s all about learning, there will be time for fun, too, in an environment where everyone can feel camaraderie.

“The social Friday night allows everyone to get into town, and after that, there’s that comfort level,” he said “You will have done your intros and can hit the ground running.

“We have people not associated with teams that are just interested in coming, and we have college general managers and college directors who’ve already RSVP’d, as well. . .  We had about 60 last year from 17 schools, which is a good number for a first-time deal, and we have a little more juice this year, and the vendors will foot the bill for most of it. As long as you can come to Vegas, everything else is taken care of. We are really excited about it.”

Ask Blake: Analyzing This Week’s Big Trade Between the Eagles and Saints

07 Thursday Apr 2022

Posted by itlneil in Uncategorized

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While I normally use this space to discuss the issues related to player representation and evaluation, occasionally, I like to turn it over to friends well-qualified to discuss various issues. Today, former Titans team executive Blake Beddingfield analyzes this week’s big deal between New Orleans and Philadelphia.

The trade between the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints three weeks before the draft says a lot about each team. I love these trades because they show two teams and front offices that are confident in their respective team-building approaches and how they individually view this draft and how they can upgrade their teams.

First, the trade: the Saints received the Nos. 16 and 19 picks in the first round and the No. 194 pick in the 6th round of the 2022 draft. The Eagles received the No. 18 pick in the first round, along with the 101st pick in the 3rd round and 237th pick in the 7th round. Also, they were able to acquire New Orleans’ first-round pick in 2023 and their second-rounder in 2024. Let’s look at how the trade benefits each team.

SAINTS

The Saints part of the trade allows them to take two different avenues with those first two selections. First, the Saints now have the ammunition to trade up into the top 10 of the first round and take the young quarterback that can be a long-term replacement for future hall of famer Drew Brees. The Saints struggled down the stretch in 2021 after a serviceable Jameis Winston was lost for the season due to injury.   

Based on the offseason trades of Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson, along with a big new contract for Aaron Rodgers, NFL teams have realized they can’t win the Super Bowl without a top quarterback. To wit: Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford have won the last three Super Bowls. 

Most personnel people (including myself) do not see a quarterback in the 2022 draft worth the draft capital it would take to trade into the top 10. That is why I question the Saints acquiring the extra picks to move up to select a QB. Could they sit at pick 16 and get their future signal-caller while also having an extra selection to upgrade their roster? It’s possible. 

The second road the Saints can take is to use those first-rounders to acquire youth and upgrade a roster that has gotten older while replacing some long-term starters that left in free agency. Cameron Jordan, a Pro Bowl regular at defensive end, will be 33 this season. Wide receiver Michael Thomas is 29 and has back-to-back, injury-riddled seasons. Also, linebacker Demario Davis, another standout defensive player, is 33. With two first-rounders, the team could replace the left tackle they lost in free agency, Terron Armstead, and add a wide receiver or pass rusher. The 2022 draft has enough left tackles, wide receivers and pass rushers to give the team the confidence they could shore up two of those three positions with the 16th and 19th selections. This would allow Winston to continue to quarterback the team, add youth and also position the team for a future run in a division that doesn’t have a clear long-term leader presuming Brady doesn’t play for another decade.   

I feel the Saints are looking for sustainability, and replacing Armstead and adding another playmaker is the way to go. My guess is that the Saints are not looking to package the picks to take a rookie quarterback who may or may not be a franchise player.

Now the Eagles.

EAGLES

The Eagles side of the trade is obvious. The Eagles continue to acquire future draft choices to sustain roster-building and youth, because of the current draft capital they have. Trades with the Colts (they acquired a 2022 first-rounder for Carson Wentz) and the Dolphins (also giving them a 2022 first-rounder), they still have plenty of ammo in the ’22 draft with two first-rounders, one second, two third-rounders and a total of 10 selections. 

Eagles GM Howie Roseman has done a very good job of acquiring these current and future selections. Philly can upgrade its pass rush and offensive line and add another playmaker on offense with its first three selections.

Very rarely is a trade on paper good for both teams, but in this case I believe both teams benefit from the early draft-day trade.

Ask the Scouts: How Do I Enhance My ’22 Draft Prospect’s Chances?

01 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by itlneil in Agents, Scouts

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Last night, we welcomed two former NFL scouts, Rodrik David (Falcons) and Kevin Cohn (Jaguars) to our monthly Zoom sessions for new NFLPA contract advisors. It’s always fun to hear from people who are not speculating, but who actually helped put together draft boards for actual NFL teams. Rodrik, who works for Agent Live 360, has been a guest in the past, but this was Kevin’s first time with our guests.

Here are a few takeaways from the session.

  • If an agent pitches a player for a team’s local pro day, the team “applies” to accept the player with the league office. Within a couple days, the league lets the team know if the player is too distant from the team, geographically, to be invited. Rodrik said he’d seen players who played as far away as 90 miles from team headquarters get approved by the league office. Kevin said the Jags usually stayed within 60 miles for invitees, as a rule of thumb.
  • The most players Kevin or Rodrik had seen at a local pro day was 80. That’s pretty big. But the point is, if a team says it’s “full,” but you find out there are only 20-30 coming in, keep pushing. Tactfully, of course. 
  • Sometimes, a team who lacks confirmed numbers on a player who isn’t in their metropolitan area will ask the team that is in his metropolitan area to invite him to their local workout. I don’t know how often this happens; I just know that it does happen periodically. Therefore, if your client is eligible for (but not invited to) a local pro day, see if you can get another team to put in a good word for him.
  • Let’s say you have a player who’s completed his pro day and isn’t getting any nibbles from teams. Rodrik and Kevin recommended that the agent call teams and say, look, I know my client is strictly a tryout player. But could you consider him for a tryout? It’s not the preferred route, obviously, but at least the agent is working for his client, and maybe the player gets an opportunity he wouldn’t not otherwise have gotten.
  • If a player goes undrafted, unsigned and uninvited to a tryout, don’t sit around waiting for a team to call. Take it as the league saying he’s not good enough — yet. Your role as his agent is to find him more opportunities to grow, whether that’s the CFL, USFL, XFL or even indoor football. Don’t keep calling, emailing and praying. Accept that he’s still got to grow by league standards.

Our next Zoom session will take place in a couple weeks, and will focus on the post-draft UDFA signing process. It’s a weighty and multi-layered process for many teams, and there’s a lot to know. If you’re an ITL client, you’re already invited, and it’s free. If not, go here and rectify that. Hope to see you later this month. We also recommend you sign up for the Friday Wrap, which comes out this evening. It’s free. Sign up for it here.

Unpacking and Examining VaynerSports’ Big Move

24 Thursday Mar 2022

Posted by itlneil in Uncategorized

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At Inside the League, we focus on the representation and scouting side of the game. That’s why see the moves of Mike McCartney, Jaymeson Moten and Kyle Dolan (and their draft clients) from Chicago-based Priority Sports to New York City-based VaynerSports as pretty big.

We more than just broke the story; we devoted quite a bit of space to it at our main site. For garden variety NFL fans, it’s a blip on the screen, but for people who follow the business of the game, like yourself, it’s something much more. Here are a few questions, and our answers, in the wake of Vayner’s expansion.

Is this unusual?: Regarding the timing and the stature of the players, yes. Last year, Houston-based Nicole Lynn left Young Money APAA Sports for Klutch Sports Group the week of the draft, but she took only two players, and they were both Day 3 draftees (Alabama OG Deonte Brown went 6/193 to the Panthers, while North Carolina WO Dazz Newsome went 6/221 to the Bears). That’s the only transfer of agents and players between March 1 and draft day in at least the last 10 years.

What prompted this?: There are a lot of factors, but one of them has to be the social media expertise and bandwidth provided by the three agents’ new home. Though rival firms like Rosenhaus Sports, CAA and Steinberg Sports, among others, got into the name, image and likeness race immediately last July, Priority Sports wasn’t nearly as aggressive. The NIL era promises to change the face of player representation, and indeed, already has. Both of VaynerSports’ clients heading into the ’22 draft, Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder and Purdue WO David Bell, were their NIL clients starting last summer/fall.

What does this move say about the business of player representation?: That you’re either a big fish or your’s fish food, put very simply. Where once there was a solid cache of middle class agencies who could sign and manage a handful of mid-rounders each year, those firms are largely gone. The demands of the NIL era demand a larger commitment. In the past, an agency’s relationship with a player didn’t really begin until shortly before his draft year. Today, agencies are signing players barely out of high school, then expected to produce for 3-4 years. That’s a big ask for a smallish firm with meager resources.

What’s next for Priority Sports?: The cupboard isn’t entirely bare. Los Angeles-based Kenny Zuckerman, who has two projected mid-round picks in this draft (Virginia Tech OT Luke Tenuta and UCLA DT Otito Ogbonnia), has been an NFL contract advisor for three decades, and he remains with the firm. Zuckerman was tied for 56th in total clients in our latest count. What’s more, Priority’s Rick Smith represents 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and Lions head coach Dan Campbell as well as, on the college side, Tennessee’s Josh Heupel and UTSA’s Jeff Traylor, two of the hotter young coaches on the FBS level. Time will tell if Priority chooses to restock its lineup with new agents on the NFL side.

If the business of the game interests you, and you don’t already get our newsletter, the Friday Wrap, now’s a good time to start. Register for it here.

2022 NFL Agent Exam: Our Entire List of Exam Prep Materials

18 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by itlneil in Agents

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We often get questions about our agent exam prep course, which has been under way in some form or fashion since we debuted our first practice exam in 2012. Actually, it’s not a course, but a series of exam aids; we feel that if we give test-takers, who must have advanced degrees already, the tools they need, they’re smart enough to pass. And most of the time, they do. Agent hopefuls who use our materials pass at a rate about 20 percent higher than the rest.

Here’s a quick rundown of what we offer.

ITL Study Guide: This is where we encourage everyone to start, and it’s the foundation of all we do for exam prep. It’s a 70-page PDF that is emailed to you upon purchase, usually within a half-hour or so. There could be movement on the price point here, so if you’re waffling over whether or not to purchase the study guide, don’t wait too long.  

ITL practice exams: We have two, which must be purchased sequentially. Exam 1 ($200 plus tax for non-ITL clients, $150 plus tax for clients) and Exam 2 ($100/$75) are both 40-question, multiple choice test with the answer key and explanations at the end. We’ll be updating it soon; nothing major, just a few tweaks to make the dates more current. We hope to have that done by the end of the month, maybe sooner. We do not expect to raise prices on our exams this year. 

Monthly Zoom study sessions: This is something that’s new, and that we’re really excited about. We started these very late in the cycle last year, but due to their popularity, we had our second 2022 session last night. It’s led by Chicago-based Ian Greengross of Ultimate Sports Agency. Ian is more than just an accomplished agent (he’s negotiated multiple first-round deals and represents a combine pick this year); he’s encyclopedic in his knowledge of the CBA, and as someone who’s also a sports law professor, he has a teacher’s way of expressing some pretty complicated rules in a clear way. Right now, our plan is to have our next session April 14. We usually have them semi-late at night (9 p.m. ET) to accommodate people with demanding jobs and/or kids that need to be put to bed, and we go about an hour. Contact us for more information.

One-on-one lessons: If you want to dig into the CBA even more and have specific areas that confuse you, I recommend you use Ian. He offers reasonable hourly rates over Zoom or phone, and has been working with agent hopefuls for a couple of years now. Once again, contact us and we’ll be happy to connect you.

ITL membership: If you haven’t passed the exam yet, maybe becoming a member isn’t for you yet. On the other hand, if this business if your passion, you need to start learning about the industry in a way that simply preparing for the exam doesn’t do. Obviously, joining ITL also gets you a discount on both practice exams, so if that’s something you plan to do, you might as well sign up, if only to purchase the exams, then unsubscribe. You’re never obligated more than 30 days at ITL; you can cancel at any time.

Of course, the best way to know when our Zoom sessions are and what changes we are making to our exam prep program is to read our Friday Wrap, which is totally free and comes out at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can register for it here. Here’s last week’s edition.

Why Was 2022 Such a Fast Combine? (Pt. 1)

11 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by itlneil in Uncategorized

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Today, for the first time ever, we took our deepest dive ever into the individual results of everyone who ran the 40 and did drills at last week’s NFL Combine. We broke out all 324 participants by school and position, agency and training destination, as we’ve done for weeks now, but also much more. 

We also broke out (all behind the pay wall, sorry):

  • Combine participants by 40 time
  • Combine participants by Relative Athletic Score
  • Combine training facilities by their clients

Obviously, what it all told us was that this was a really, really fast combine. One trainer, Brent Callaway of EXOS’ Frisco training facility, said he had six sub-4.4 times in his first 15 years in the business, then had six more (Sam Houston State’s Zyon McCollum, South Dakota State’s Pierre Strong, Iowa State’s Breece Hall, Memphis’ Calvin Austin III, SMU’s Danny Gray and Nebraska’s Cam Taylor-Britt) this year alone. How could this be?

Sure, speed training is getting better at colleges these days; several trainers I spoke to pointed that out. Athletes are better, too. There’s no mistaking that nutrition, time on task (many athletes start training to run the 40 early in high school) and pure raw ability are all better than ever before. If all that were true, we’d see a gradual increase, but not a sudden explosion of sub-4.3 times and nine tackles running a sub-5.0 40. 

There were a lot of good observations made by the trainers we spoke to this week, and we pass along their thoughts today in our Friday Wrap, that comes out this evening (you can register for it here). However, there was one theme I heard from trainers that had nothing to do with track backgrounds, new surfaces, skipping the bench press or other factors. Instead, it had to do with the value the league places on the entertainment that comes from today’s combine. The NFL was planning on a lot of would-be draft gurus glued to their televisions, and they sought to give them a show.

“It’s made for TV now,” said one elite speed specialist. “(The league needs) you to run. If you don’t run, they will have to start paying (the players) to run, which they don’t want to do. If they start putting up bad times, it shuts down their TV show.

“(Agents, trainers and combine invitees) were about to shut down their TV show because of the Covid rule, so (the league) changed that in 12 hours. If they run slow on that official time, kids will stop running. It will ruin their show.”

It’s a valid point. The NFL — much to the chagrin of everyone I know, from agent to scout to trainer — moved all the workouts to primetime. That was done for one reason: ratings. There are a lot of good reasons that times were better this year, which we’ll discuss in today’s Wrap, but it’s impossible to discount the league’s desire to juice its show with splashy times as one factor.

This year’s speed times are something many have celebrated but few have questioned, at least as far as I’ve seen. There’s more to come tonight. I hope you check out the Wrap.

Ask the Scouts: A Look at 2022 Salaries and Compensation

04 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by itlneil in Scouts

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Wednesday, we held our 13th annual ITL Combine Seminar, this year presented by TEST Football Academy and Agent Live 360 (congrats, Broncos!). As part of our program, we provided an overview of our annual scouting salary survey.

We promised we’d put our findings in this week’s blog, however, for those who couldn’t make it. Here’s a look at the results.

  • 0-5 years in scouting: There’s good news for younger scouts: starting salaries are improving. Our 2020 results had most scouts in this experience tier in the $50,000-$65,000 range. That’s true for 2021 and 2022 as well, but we’ve seen the percentage of scouts at this experience tier who are making less than $50,000 almost been erased. At the same time, we’ve seen a growing number of scouts with five years or less in the league making north of $125,000. That’s good pay for a tough-but-highly-pursued job.
  • 6-10 years in scouting: There’s good news for scouts at this tier, as well. In 2020 and 2021, we saw about a fifth of the industry at this strata making less than $80,000/yr. According to our respondents, today, everyone at this experience level is making north of $80,000! That’s real progress. We’ve also seen a steady progression of scouts getting paid at the top level we measure ($125,000+). From about a fifth of scouts (2020) to about a third (2021) to now more than half are getting paid more than $125,000 annually. These results probably mean we will adjust our number upward after we get our results in ‘23. We hope so.
  • 11-15 years in scouting: This is the level where we struggle most to gather information, probably because a lot of evaluators don’t make it this far unless they are headed to being directors and VPs. Based on our numbers, it’s very simple: if you make it past a decade in the game, you need to be at or near $125,000 annually. We saw some scouts get paid in the $80,000-$99,999 range at this level last year, but this year, most are back to the $125,000 level. Maybe it’s because we’re past the financial restrictions associated with the Covid slowdown.
  • 16-plus years in scouting: We’ve seen about five percent of respondents in this range report making less than $125K/year, but the overwhelming majority are north of that. How far north? This is national scout/director/VP territory, so the upper range could be quite high. Bottom line, if you are at this level of experience, $125,000 should be your floor. We need to retool our survey to being measuring what scouts at this level are really getting paid. Maybe next year, we can figure that out.

There were some other interesting trends. We actually saw an uptick in the number of respondents who said their teams have pensions (about a 50-50 split); we think that’s due to our limited sample size. Also: a plurality are getting a 5 percent match on their 401(k), about 25 percent of respondents. Standard per diems are plus/minus $60 for teams. Finally, if you’re scout who’s buying gas, you’re getting reimbursed for your receipts (49 percent); you’re probably not getting a crack at buying Super Bowl tickets (55 percent); and you’re getting a 25 percent playoff share (39 percent).

For a deeper dive into the scouting and agent communities, as well as a look at our 13th annual seminar, check out our Friday Wrap. Register for it here.

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