Author Archives: itlneil

Getting to Know New Jets GM Darren Mougey

06 Thursday Feb 2025

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With pieces on new GMs Mike Borgonzi (Tennessee) and John Spytek (Las Vegas) completed the last two weeks, we turned to Darren Mougey, who’s taken over the same role with the Jets. It was easy to get takes (all of them positive) on Mougey, who’s been aggressively reshaping New York’s front office in his first few weeks on the job.

Here’s what his colleagues said about “Moug” this week:

  • “Really very smart. That’s one thing that really stands out, and he’s a good person. These guys are kinda hard to find sometimes, that have the personality and also a football mind. I knew right off the bat he’d be where he is, because I’ve been around so many GMs. I think he encompasses what you need in a GM. First of all, he’s a good guy to keep things together, he’s fair, he’s a pleasant guy, and he’s all football. Very likeable. He doesn’t say much, he’s kinda on the quite side, but he’s all football and he’ll definitely make the Jets a better program.” 
  • “Moug, as he is known across the League, is highly respected among scouts and coaches. He is an incredible evaluator with many years of experience scouting and playing. He is extremely detail-oriented, efficient and organized, and uses a very thorough process in all of his work. His leadership traits will make him a great GM and he has the personality to click with anyone and everyone. (I) have no doubt that he will be very successful in this next step of his career leading the Jets.”
  • “Always a good day to do a school call with Moug. Really sharp, good evaluator, has strong opinions on players, always positive with school staffs, easy guy to connect with. He’s always willing to help out another scout if they needed anything. Never afraid to roll up his sleeves to get a job done.”
  • “If you know Moug, no one is surprised he got the job. He’s a great person that is detailed and never afraid of the work that needs to get done. But what really separates Moug is he is really good person and he truly loves the game of football.
    Working with him for (almost a decade), you could always trust that the work would get done with Moug, and he is fun to just sit down and talk ball with because he  has the confidence to answer questions but still has a low ego.” 

  • “I would say that he is extremely bright, very smart, and has a good eye for talent. He is (also) very adaptable from the standpoint of being able to relate with different types of people, and I think that stems from just his experience in football and sports and being around just different guys in the locker room. So he’s very relatable. People gravitate towards him. Great personality. I would also say that he’s somebody that I think would be a collaborative type of guy where he would take input from different people and respect that, but yet at the very end of the day would be the guy that would make the decision . . . he does not come across to me as like an authoritarian-type leader where you know it’s his way and not really taking a lot of input. I could just see him being like a guy that would encourage that kind of culture, a collaborative culture . . . I think he’s gonna do really well in the job. I think he’s a guy that’s gonna be decisive when it comes to . . . making decisions. It looks like he and (head coach Aaron Glenn) are putting together a pretty nice coaching staff, a nice mix of young guys and veteran guys, so . . . I think he’s gonna do a really good job in New York. I’m excited for him, for sure.”

Before we go, a fun fact: the 2015 Broncos scouting staff featured Assistant Director of College Scouting Adam Peters, National Scout John Spytek, and Mougey, who was then an area scout covering the Southwest. Within 10 years, all three of them would ascend to the GM chair with NFL teams. 

Want to learn which other teams are “breeding” future GMs? Make sure you’re reading the Friday Wrap, which comes out Fridays (duh) at 7:30 p.m. EST. Register for it here.

Getting to Know New Raiders GM John Spytek

31 Friday Jan 2025

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When a new GM takes over, we try to get a feel for his personality and leadership style by asking those who know him, anonymously, to give us their respective takes. We’ve done that previously this cycle with Tennessee’s Mike Borgonzi, and in previous years with other hires. This week, our focus turns to new Raiders chief John Spytek, and despite perhaps the busiest week of the year when it comes to all-star play, we had several responses.

Before we get started, my own experience with John has been A+. I dealt with him when his Bucs won the 2020 Best Draft Award (the Wirfs/Winfield draft), and it seemed to me like Bucs GM Jason Licht wanted John to handle much of it, mainly because Jason believed in his work. Both Jason and John were professional and humbled, even though we had to work with really weird conditions (that year, the combine was canceled, so it was the only online ITL Seminar we’ve ever conducted). Check it out here, if you’re interested. You’ll hear John discuss the vagaries of having a draft from home, which I think is pretty interesting. 

But that’s enough from me. One source I reached in Mobile said the Raiders made a great choice because he’s “a hands-off manager” who “never micromanages” and “trusts them to do their jobs.” He also truly values what his scouts tell him, my friend told me.

Here are some other comments from people who’ve worked alongside John.

  • “Unique, avant-garde leadership approach. Not a micro manager. Will build through the draft and collect pieces in free agency.”
  • “He’s a very good listener. His door is always open to come in and talk about any concerns you may have. He does a good job stepping back and looking at the big picture. He’s strong in his convictions. He does a good job articulating what he sees.”
  • “John is a really good overall person and you know what you are getting with him each day, as he always has the same positive demeanor. He’s very appreciative and loyal to those around him. A very good evaluator who sees the big picture for players and what roles they can bring.”  

Given the nature of his leadership, based on what we were told about him, we’d expect him to make sure the Raiders staff has plenty of strong evaluators who can do their jobs without a lot of oversight. Generally speaking, that sounds like he’ll value veterans over the youth-is-king trend currently in fashion with a lot of teams. The Raiders did pretty good last April (they narrowly missed being a finalist for the Best Draft Award) and have plenty of holdovers from the previous regime that have lots of seasoning. That gives Spytek a real boost as he takes over and learns his staff. 

For more about front offices, hiring and the NFL offseason, make sure to read the Friday Wrap, which comes out this evening. You can register for it here.

 

 

Getting to Know New Titans GM Mike Borgonzi

22 Wednesday Jan 2025

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At Inside the League, we try to partner with the scouts, executives and administrators who do the evaluation of NFL players, both on their way up and while they’re in the league. Part of that is keeping a close eye on what’s going on in NFL front offices, especially when it comes to the GM seat.

We’ve previously polled our sources on NFL staffs about previous GM hires (here’s our report on Arizona’s Monti Ossenfort and Tennessee’s Ran Carthon, here’s our report on former Raiders GM Dave Ziegler, and here’s our post on the three GMs hired prior to the 2022 season), and with a new face in Tennessee, we asked around about new Titans GM Mike Borgonzi. The response was overwhelming and immediate, and he comes back as a little reserved but even-tempered, progressive when he needs to be, and hard-working. Here’s what people who’ve worked with him told us. 

  • “Mike Borgonzi has a high academic and football IQ, as you might expect from a Brown University graduate. (He’s) relatively calm and reserved, but has a feel for reading a scout’s view and separating facts from opinions. Has a scout’s eye when identifying a players traits but utilizes analytics to compliment, support, or confirm.”
  • “Nice guy. Pro (scouting) history, has never done college. Collaboration guy from the (former Packers GM) Ron Wolf system. Middle-of-the-road type dude. Speaks when spoken to type, with a small circle.”
  • “A grinder from the bottom up. Really worked and matured each step he made up the later. Respected and listened to inside the building. More (aligned with) traditional scouting. He’s a trust-his-gut (guy), but not afraid to be collaborative. I’d classify him as more introverted, but he will open up.” 
  • “Borgo as a person is very soft-spoken. In (almost two decades) working with him, I don’t think I ever heard him raise his voice to anyone. Really good person. (Also,) a great family man. Somewhat of an introvert with a close and small circle of friends. Old-school in his eval process, but does listen to analytics to a point. Really listens and trust his scouting/personnel department and will collaborate with them.”
  • “Mike is a highly detailed evaluator. Sees the big picture from a team-building standpoint, and has a clear vision on what plays at high levels in the NFL for each position. Has an old school, come-to-work mindset, but has a great grasp and feel for integrating the new trends in analytics/player tracking, etc. Is collaborative in getting a full grasp of what other scouts see and listens, but has his view as an evaluator. He is probably a blend of both old and new age scouting, and is a great communicator throughout the entire building. Will be a great partner for the head coach and assistant coaches.” 

  • “I would acknowledge how impressed I have been with him and his growth as a professional over the last decade. I’ve known him to be someone that is curious and approachable, as well a leader that recognizes that this is a people business first. He and I have had many conversations over the years around optimizing process and procedure and placing a premium on context when it comes to informed decision-making. I appreciate the tactical application to a well-vetted strategy has been a consistent element of our discussions.”

  • “Mike is a great person. He is smart and hard-working. He will be a great leader because he will set the standard, allow his people to work, and value their input. He ascended the right way, was authentic, and was not a self-promoter, just a good worker that took the right steps.”

  • “Mike is a high-level evaluator. On top of that, he is a relationship-builder. Guys will want to show up and work for him. I imagine he will implement a similar collaborative model like he had in KC. Mike has a lot of experience and knows what plays on a 53-man roster. I expect him to have success in Tennessee.”

Scouting the League Podcast: 10 More Questions for Nick Underhill

17 Friday Jan 2025

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If you’re passionate about the New Orleans Saints, stop reading this now and listen to this week’s Scouting the League Podcast. Rodrik and I welcomed Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, the leading service for Saints information, in my opinion. Nick and his team (including another longtime Saints beat writer, Jeff Triplett) have revolutionized how to cover an NFL team. It’s well worth the $89 annual subscription if you’re part of the Who Dat Nation. 

Anyway, we didn’t pull any punches with Nick and asked him to go on the record with his thoughts about how the team has been managed and coached, as well as his thoughts on who should be the next coach, the fate of several key Saints and other related topics. We don’t have beat writers on the podcast often, so when we do, we try to squeeze every ounce of information out of them that we can, as we’ve previously done with Fran Duffy (who covers the Eagles), Aaron Wilson (Texans), Ben Standig (Commanders) and others. As always, we’re not afraid to cover the tough topics, but if you’re looking for a podcast that rips into owners, executives and players, look elsewhere. 

Our hour with Nick felt more like ten minutes, and when we finished, I felt like I had a lot more questions I’d like to ask. Here are a few of them.

  • What position do the Saints address first in the draft?
  • You said you’ve “never seen (the fanbase) the way it is now.” Would Saints fans withstand a “get well” year with Spencer Rattler as the starter? What if it dragged into two years of real bottom-dwelling?
  • If Loomis had retired, would the team have stayed in the building for his replacement?
  • The team has always been aggressive about trading up. Do you expect that philosophy to change now that there are so many holes? Will the team ever have a “load up on picks” philosophy?
  • Cam Jordan didn’t seem to be on the same page with the team last offseason, losing weight to gain quickness, then being used inside at defensive tackle. What does this say about the organization? Was it more of a Dennis Allen situation?
  • Does Taysom Hill return?
  • Could Jon Gruden have fixed things?
  • What’s the first thing you’d do to fix the offensive line? The defensive line? 
  • Regardless of whether they keep or cut Derek Carr, should the Saints draft a QB in the first 100 picks? 
  • Is there even a comp for the current Saints, as they have a disastrous cap situation, a very old team, and a question mark at QB? Can you think of a team in recent history who came back from such a situation, and how long did it take? 

Hey, maybe we’ll bring Nick back and ask all these questions. But for now, one hour is all we had, and if you are interested in team-building in general and the Saints in particular, I encourage you to check out the podcast, as well as some of our other episodes. I think you’ll enjoy them. 

You’ll also enjoy our newsletter, which comes out Fridays at 7:30 p.m. EST. Register for it here.

CGSU 2025: A First Look at a Unique Opportunity for Aspiring NFL Scouts

10 Friday Jan 2025

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I’m really excited about our 14-man class at the CGSU, the scout school we hold annually at the College Gridiron Showcase. The class is the brainchild of CGS co-founder Jose Jefferson, and this is our fourth class (here’s our first).

The participants come from all around and have had excellent attitudes, which is extremely impressive given the travel challenges everyone faced getting here (as well as the scheduling challenges since they arrived). Here are a few notes on what’s happened so far, and what’s ahead. 

  • Last night, co-founder Jose Jefferson welcomed everyone with 15 minutes on the game, where they fit in, and how they could achieve their goals. When Jose speaks, I listen, and part of the reason is because it’s always entertaining. If you don’t believe me, listen (again?) to the Scouting the League Podcast when he was a guest.
  • After that, former Chiefs scout and current and current CFL scout John Bonaventura, who leads the program, gave a detailed discussion on the life of a scout, from travel to building relationships to getting your foot in the door. John had some good stories from his time in both leagues. 
  • Today, some of the 15 CGSU participants (two are still in transit as I write this) will head across town to assist with our workout for street free agents. They’ll be recording times and helping out as we conduct testing in Carrollton, about a half-hour from here. We had no problem getting volunteers, which speaks to their attitudes. 
  • By the way, we have participants from as far away as Buffalo, NY; Salt Lake City; Newark, Del.; Nashville; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; and even the state of Washington. These are not people who drove over from somewhere in the Metroplex. Again, that impresses me.
  • Among our success stories: Browns scouting assistants Hajriz Aliu and Tyler Habursky, Air Force Director of Football Operations Joe Caulfield, Memphis DPP Blake Moore, Michigan State Assistant Director of Scouting Syrus Amirian, Georgia personnel analyst Sales Pinckney and many others.
  • Another thing about this week: they’re already knitting together, feeling comfortable with everyone and learning each others’ names. That’s one of the cool things about this. They’re making friends that will help them in their careers. 
  • We’ve got 164 scouts registered to join us here this weekend. Are all of them NFL scouts? No (though the overwhelming majority are). Will some scouts stay home, given the cold, wet conditions in Fort Worth today? Maybe. Still, we’ve got football happening in a big way this weekend, and there will be dozens of helpful (and perhaps career-making) connections made over the next 72 hours. If you want to work in football, you simply have to go where it’s being played. Everyone at CGSU bet on themselves, and I think it’s gonna pay off.
  • There are 190 players inbound to Fort Worth today. Our guys will be ready. The big opportunity will come Saturday afternoon, when we have our (kinda famous) interview session from 3:30-10:30 p.m. tomorrow night. It will look a little like the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as our CGSU members facilitate interviews and serve as runners for NFL teams. It is, without question, the best way to get face time (and prove your value) to NFL scouts without actually working for a team. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of with respect to what we do here.

If you aspire to be a scout someday, put it on your calendar for next year. I assure you it’s worth it. 

Best Draft Award 2024: Who Are the Contenders?

02 Thursday Jan 2025

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On Friday, we’ll kick off voting for the Best Draft Award for 2024. It will be the eighth year we’ve presented the award (in order, the Saints, Colts, 49ers, Bucs, Broncos, Seahawks and Lions have won it, going back to the 2017 trophy), and it’s usually a tight vote.

While we at Inside the League don’t have a vote — only active NFL scouts get one — we do have to determine the finalists, and that’s not an easy task. It’s a cliche, but even getting selected as a finalist is a big deal, and we always go back and forth on the best five teams (we even took more than five finalists in 2021 and 2024).

Anyway, our job now is to determine which five teams did best last April, and we’re struggling with the choices. Here are 12 teams that we think have a pretty strong case, along with their best picks/UDFA signings.

Who should we pick? Obviously, there are some pretty strong choices here. It’s something we take seriously; we’d never want to omit a team that might have a case for winning it.

49ers Puni, Dominick (3/86) Mustapha, Malik (4/124) Guerendo, Isaac (4/129)
Buccaneers Barton, Graham (1/26) Smith, Tykee (3/89) Irving, Bucky (4/125)
Chargers Alt, Joe (1/5) McConkey, Ladd (2/34) Still, Tarheeb (5/137)
Colts Latu, Laiatu (1/15) Goncalves, Matt (3/79) Bortolini, Tanor (4/117)
Commanders Daniels, Jayden (1/2) Sainristil, Mike (2/50)  
Eagles Mitchell, Quinyon (1/22) DeJean, Cooper (2/40)  
Giants Nabers, Malik (1/6) Nubin, Tyler (2/47) Phillips, Dru (3/70)
Packers Morgan, Jordan (1/25) Cooper, Edgerrin (2/45) Bullard, Javon (2/58)
Panthers Legette, Xavier (1/32) Wallace, Trevin (3/72) Sanders, Ja’Tavion (4/101)
Raiders Bowers, Brock (1/13) Powers-Johnson, Jackson (2/44)  
Rams Verse, Jared (1/19) Fiske, Braden (2/39) Kinchens, Kam (3/99)
Steelers Frazier, Zach (2/51) Wilson, Payton (3/98) McCormick, Mason (4/119)

The conflict I struggle with every year is figuring out what’s better: one or two true impact players, or several players that contribute? My impression is that scouts value really hitting on Day 1 and Day 2, based on previous voting, though the award has been a funny thing. For example, the Jets had both the OROY (WO Garrett Wilson) and the DROY (DC Ahmad Gardner) in the 2022 draft, yet the Seahawks (who drafted starters at both tackle positions plus OH Kenneth Walker and DC Tariq Woolen) took home the trophy.

DMs are open at @insidetheleague. To find out who we chose, check out tomorrow’s Friday Wrap. If you aren’t registered yet, do that here.

December 2024 Portal Window: Reactions

27 Friday Dec 2024

Posted by in Agents, NIL, Transfer portal, Uncategorized

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Earlier this week, an old friend in player representation made an offhand comment about representing a player in the transfer portal. This is an agent who’s one of the top handful of contract negotiators in the game, but who’s become disillusioned by the cost of repping today’s players. It was refreshing to hear that he had entered NIL representation, because he’s been renewed. The story he told me sounded like a win for all involved — team, player and agent — and I don’t often get to hear such good news.

Curious if there were other positive stories out there, I reached out to several friends on both side of the portal (player representation and personnel/recruiting) to get their takes on the December window. Here’s what I was told.

DPP, G5 school: “There were a lot more players that entered (close to a few thousand in just the first day) and every one of them has an agent and is asking for a lot more money than in years past. It’s impossible to set a market and average price per player when average talented kids are getting offered more money than you think they’re worth. You also see certain schools like Oklahoma State going all in on NIL and portal when they weren’t before, I guess in an effort to save their jobs and bring back a winning culture.”

DPP, another G5 school: “For us, it wasn’t too crazy. We had minimal interaction and impact from agents or advisors and we didn’t get into the bidding war type of deal. We did offer reasonable but moderate amounts of NIL money to guys we anticipate having good opportunities to start for us, but our top guys on our roster are and will continue to get the bulk of, and the highest amounts of, the NIL budget. . . With that said, from what I’ve seen and heard from the portal market is pretty rough. We have always had a problem in college football of handler/street agent types taking advantage of players, and it’s only worse now with the combination of the transfer portal and NIL. There is a significant need in college football for some type of regulations in the ‘agent’ world. It will take time, but there’s a very real need for that. We’ve heard of multiple situations of ‘agents’ gathering the potential market value for players if they entered the portal so that they can then go to the player and tell them how much money they can get them if they go into the portal. As we all know, it’s a broken system that we’re living in just hoping it can end up being rebuilt into something that resembles fair competition with less (or ideally no) corruption.”

DPP, P4 school: “The overarching theme this cycle was a lot worse from the team standpoint than this time last year. Part of that is based on that there were fewer quality players that entered, and along with that, now that everyone has money, everyone costs a lot more. The players (are) getting way more, but from a team sense, there’s less quality. . . There are fewer good players in college football now because, when you look at the grand scheme of things, 2024 was the last year of Covid seniors. So this draft class had two-and-a-half senior classes in one. You had the high school class of 2021 that played four years without redshirting, the high school class of 2020 that played five years without redshirting, then the high school classes of 2018 and 2019 that had a redshirt plus Covid years. So, because of all that, there were so many seniors in college football with no eligibility and they’re all leaving (for the draft), so a lot of the other guys (remaining) haven’t played as much. There were fewer younger guys with meaningful stats. For the immediate time being . . . it’s gonna take some time to balance itself out (talent-wise) with younger players, but in the end, it will be relatively normal. We won’t see the kind of quality and depth that we saw in the 2023 class. With revenue sharing across college football, salaries have skyrocketed. We just won’t see the same depth that we’ve seen in the past.” 

NIL agent with established, NFLPA-certified firm: “Seeing more and more players with representation. Not surprising that this is the direction it’s headed. Agents are still clowns for the most part. Even legitimate NFL agents just don’t know what they’re doing. Still hearing a ton of complaints about that from teams. Player talent was about the same. I think G5/FCS kids think more concretely about the portal as a part of their college career plan. Most of them want to ‘level up.’ There was definitely another infusion of money with revenue share kicking in. The middle class P4s that couldn’t raise collective money competitively got a huge boost. If anything, NIL is creating more parity, at least for now.”

Top NIL agent, also with NFL certification: “From an agency perspective, I think it’s really important to highlight that there are some bigger NFL agencies that are taking NIL seriously and there are those that don’t. . . These (firms) are either hitting on the top guys, doing a ton of volume, or both. Seems like these were the names I heard from players on who had reached out. Last year, I was like one of the only shows in town. Now more medium-sized NFL agencies are getting involved in the portal. In high school, it’s more of the (top-five NFL firms) that are getting all of the top high school talent, mainly QB, skill, (pass rushers) and OT prospects. The point I want to make . . . is that if an NFL agency isn’t on the list, they are probably gonna get passed by in the next 3-5 (years). I know a lot of people are saying that players won’t stick that long, and to a degree they are correct, but I think if a player stays with his NIL guy for long enough, (the agency has) a better chance of landing them for the draft down the road.”

We’ll have more on the portal in today’s Friday Wrap. Register here.

2025 Next Wave Zoom Session: What We Learned

20 Friday Dec 2024

Posted by in Getting started, NFL draft, Scouts

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Last week in this space, we discussed the special event we had for all the aspiring NFL scouts who come in as part of our “Next Wave” program. Since it was really great, I wanted to use the space this week to pass along a few highlights. As always, we have preserved the privacy of the participants as some of them didn’t ask permission before volunteering.

Speaker 1, an NFC GM: We spent a little more than 20 minutes with our first speaker, who was really generous with his philosophy and methods when it comes to identifying interns, as well as the process involved in promoting them up the ladder. Most of what he told me was not surprising: the team mostly pulls from the recruiting departments of FBS-level schools (particularly P4); the most important attribute in a potential hire is initiative and attitude, a willingness to go beyond the call of duty; there is no specific degree they seek, and having a “diploma” or “certification” from one of the various scouting schools has no value; and while having a general idea about football schematically is important, having a scouting “eye” is something the team teaches to its entry-level employees.

Speaker 2, an AFC executive: Our second speaker took the second 20 minutes of the hour and was completely different from his predecessor in that he talked more about his own journey of 20+ years with one team. His discussion was helpful because it showed the value of doing whatever it takes. He started off not in a scouting position, but in video for a different team, and after living at home for meager pay, working on cutups and splicing film, he finally got a chance to apply for a scouting position with a rival team. He got passed over for the role he wanted, but due to his video skills, landed in the film department, and from there, he was able to work his way into player evaluation at long last. Also important: he emphasized that building a network is key, and one way he does that is by saving a contact’s spouse’s name along with the contact in his phone so he can remember to ask about the contact’s family when he’s passing through a school. I thought that was genius.

Speaker 3, an NFL executive: Our third and final speaker is one of the most respected evaluators in the game. His team drafted a young, promising passer in the last few years, and he discussed the process involved, going back to in-person evaluation that took years. He also talked about how to develop an eye for determining talent (he said it took him five years, even though the depth of his football experience is rivaled by few people in the business), and even solicited everyone on the call to send in their resumes. That was a first in our four years doing this, and was a special treat for everyone involved. 

It was a special night, and if you hope to travel the roads for an NFL team one day, I’m sorry you missed it. I hope you can join us next year. 

Here’s How We’re Helping Aspiring NFL Scouts Get Opportunities

13 Friday Dec 2024

Posted by in Getting started, NFL draft, Scouts

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Breaking into scouting isn’t easy. At the same time, the question I get most often is, how do I get a job in scouting? It’s a question I’ve addressed here multiple times (and quite frankly, I don’t know the answer), and I sincerely want to help, but there’s one thing we do every year that I think is missed by a lot of people seeking to work in the game.

December is when our “Next Wave” subscribers sign up for the year at a discounted rate ($75 per year vs. $29.95/mo). They get access to the site through the end of November, but there are other benefits. Here’s a rundown of what we offer, if you happen to be interested:

  • We’ve never drilled into scouting assistant hiring, but we’re planning to do that this month. Not every team even hires (or at least lists on its website) scouting assistants. Sometimes, that’s because state law sets up employer rules that make it nearly impossible, but for some teams, it’s simply choice. That’s not a big deal, but it’s helpful to know who’s who when it comes to hiring.
  • It’s also important to be able to predict who might have openings. Most scouting assistants have two-year deals, so if you know which teams have hired in the last year or two (and which haven’t), you can better target the teams with openings.
  • At the end of the day, of course, it all hinges on relationships when it comes to getting hired since there’s no certification/degree/whatever that gives you a leg up on everyone else. That’s why we bring friends from around the league on Zoom to talk to our clients. Often, those people share their cells and express a willingness to help. In the last three years, we’ve had scouts and executives from eight teams (Chargers, Jags, Vikings, Raiders, Lions, Ravens, Saints and Giants) join us, and we’ll have three new teams represented next week. We think helping people build their respective networks is the best way to get them through the door. Putting good people together is one of the most rewarding things I do.
  • It goes without saying that we also provide more coverage of jobs and openings in the scouting world than anyone else (in fact, I don’t know of anyone else who even covers these things). Having that kind of information is critical.

Want in for next week’s session? If you are an aspiring scout, we’d love to have you. Contact me at @InsideTheLeague (DMs are open) or through our website if you’d like more information. 

 

Voting on the Best Scouts: Here’s How We’re Doing It

06 Friday Dec 2024

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How do you best decide who the top scouts and evaluators are in the NFL? It’s something we’ve been trying to do since 2022 with our BART List awards, which we’ve presented for three years running. While we’re happy with the acceptance of the awards across the league, we’re always striving to do things better.

We’ll start voting this weekend, and this year, there are two things I really want to improve:

  • More participation — We want every scout to vote. We’ve gotten a significant portion of the scouting community but we can do better. There are still a few teams whose firewalls seem to block us, but most teams are getting our emails. We’ve just gotta figure out how to motivate people to vote.
  • More objective results — We’ve seen a greater concentration of voting from some teams, which has led to more scouts from these teams being honored. This is not to say the scouts who’ve won previously weren’t worthy, but we want to make sure. To combat less-than-objective voting, this year, we’re asking scouts not to vote for anyone on their own teams. We don’t have a way to police this, so we’re hoping the honor system will be enough. 

We also don’t want to water down the awards, which is a constant concern with the scouts I’ve spoken to about this (it’s probably not surprising that professional evaluators are concerned about quality).

Now let’s look at the numbers and the divisions within the scouting community. If you take all the scouts on all 32 teams that aren’t GMs, you come up with 557 scouts, from VPs of Player Personnel down to the youngest coordinators and player personnel assistants (scouting assistants aren’t candidates for awards yet). I broke them into four strata:

  • All pro scouting professionals (from DPPs on the pro side down to the pro scouts themselves) — 110
  • All college scouting types at the executive level (from college directors on up to just below GM) — 182
  • All college “road” scouts (college/area scouts and national scouts with at least seven seasons visiting schools) — 197
  • All other scouting personnel with six or fewer seasons in the league, which I call the Next Wave (area scouts, coordinators, scouting assistants, etc.) — 68

Again, scouting assistants aren’t eligible for awards and don’t get to vote just yet. Now let’s look at the categories and the numbers of winners.

  • Best pro department (3 teams): In the past we’ve honored individual scouts in this category, but after talking to people across the league, it’s just too hard to know the best scouts in the industry when you work only with your own staff. So, instead, we’ll vote on entire staffs this year and and declare three winners.
  • College/Executive (3 per conference): This is pretty self-explanatory and will mirror what we’ve done since introducing it in 2023. 
  • College/Road (7 per conference): Once again, this is pretty self-explanatory. This year will be our fourth honoring seven “road” scouts in each conference.
  • Next Wave (3 total, regardless of conference): I’ve gotten some pushback from seasoned evaluators that the new folks don’t need an award yet, but I want to try it this year. 

I think dividing all scouts into four strata helps keep people voting on the people they know the best, or at least I hope so. Obviously, only pro scouts will vote on the best three pro scouting departments. However, when it comes to college scouting, the question is, are scouts from one strata familiar with the ones from other strata? Are “Next Wave” scouts knowledgeable of the best executive-level scouts? Are “road” scouts knowledgeable of the young ones? If we limit voting only within strata, will that give us more purity, but not numbers? I’m really chewing on this. 

I guess my questions are this: 

  • Is dividing into four strata the best way to separate the difference classifications of scouts?
  • If we limit voting to within the strata only, will there be enough votes cast to really have representative voting? Or is it better to have just one ballot and to let all four strata vote on the same one?
  • Should we even have awards for the “Next Wave” division? One scout suggested that it would be better for them to wait. I think that has merit, but I also like the idea of rewarding the best young people in the business.

So here’s what I decided. There will be four ballots, one for each strata. Pro scouts will only vote on the best three pro departments. College executives, college road scouts and young scouting personnel (next wave) will vote on the best within their own respective divisions. All three college divisions will also vote for superlatives (best running a pro day, best gathering contact/background info, best on a school visit) and for best strength coach, best pro liaison, and most improved visit. 

We’ll hope for the best. If it doesn’t work out, I guess we’ll try something different next year. We just hope we get the results that best represent the community.