Category Archives: Scouts

A Few Thoughts About Scout Season So Far

03 Friday May 2024

Posted by in Scouts

≈ Leave a comment

The period from after the draft until training camp is when teams rework their front offices. That’s among the busiest times of year for me, because it’s the period after the  GMs and executives have been hired and fired, and the fallout begins at the lower levels.

Here’s a look at the trends so far and a few thoughts on what’s happened and what’s ahead.

  • I’ve had a few people say something along the lines of, boy, it sure has been a slow season for scouting changes so far, and I have no idea what they mean. The Panthers wiped out almost their entire pro scouting department today. The Bears parted ways with two scouts, one of whom has won multiple awards (and who is widely respected in the community). The Cardinals are down two evaluators, one of whom was their college director. The Bucs said goodbye to two more staffers, one of whom won a Super Bowl (with the Colts) and went to the division championship game (with the Jaguars). Oh, by the way, we’re still not a week past the last day of the draft. It’s been an incredibly busy — and surprising — “scout season” so far.
  • So why is this happening? I’ve addressed this on Twitter, but in case you missed it, last summer was a very busy one for hiring and firing in analytics departments. Yes, NFL teams are always looking to get younger and cheaper at the national scout/area scout level, but there’s got to be a reason why so much experience has been thrown overboard so far this year. The only thing I can come up with is that teams are planning to reinvest that money in number-crunchers. 
  • I’ve been asked if colleges will start hiring these experienced scouts, and my guess is, not yet. One reason I think that is because I’ve tried (hard) to get a lot of ex-scouts jobs with schools with no luck. The other reason is that schools don’t need evaluators as much for the transfer portal — they’ve got a coaching staff and dozens of volunteers to help plow through film. But the real reason is that the portal is less like the draft and more like free agency. Actually, there’s a third reason — teams would rather pay coaches than evaluators, and there’s only so much money to go around.
  • So with so many vacancies, where will the new hires come from? My guess is that most come from within. We’ll see scouting assistants and scouting coordinators get promoted into the lion’s share of these jobs. Many of these seasoned, competent evaluators will stay on the street, unfortunately. I know a few scouts will resurface, but historically, those scouts aren’t rehired. I hope I’m wrong.

If you aspire to be an NFL scout and want to hear what’s next on front office openings, try out ITL. You might even be eligible for our Next Wave rate ($75 through the end of November instead of $29.95/mo.). For more information, DM me at @insidetheleague or email ITL here.

 

Former NFL Scouts Weigh in on Four Draft Prop Bets

25 Thursday Apr 2024

Posted by in NFL draft, Scouts

≈ Leave a comment

It’s draft week, so it’s time for some fun. I don’t gamble, but I asked four friends who are former scouts — Blake Beddingfield (Titans); Rodrik David (Titans, Falcons); Greg Gabriel (Giants, Bears); and Mark Gorscak (Steelers) — to give me their opinions on four prop bets for the 2024 draft.

Topics and their answers, with their comments — remember, this is just for fun — are below.

O/U 4.5 QBs selected in the first round
Beddingfield: “(Over). Too many QB-needy teams will push that number to at least five QB selected in the first round, possibility of six.”
David: “(Over). Almost no question we will see four quarterbacks in the first round, maybe in the top 10. Will Nix or Penix make it five or six? I will take the over.”
Gabriel: “Over. It’s a QB league.”
Gorscak: “Over. (Washington QB Michael) Penix will be the fifth.”
O/U 4.5 ACC players selected in the first round
Beddingfield: “This is a tough one; the ACC is down this year in top-level talent. Only (North Carolina QB) Drake Maye and (Florida St. DE) Jared Verse are guaranteed first-rounders. (Clemson DC) Nate Wiggins and (Duke OT) Graham Barton have potential but not guarantees. Even with those two, the number is under 4.5.”
David: “The ACC gets forgotten about with the SEC and Big Ten flexing this offseason. Will Drake Maye and Jared Verse find three more conference allies to get this one to the over? Give me the over.”
Gabriel: “Not sure.”
Gorscak: “Under. Can’t see more than four: North Carolina QB (Maye), Duke OL (Barton), FSU edge (Verse) and Clemson DB (Wiggins). ACC is a weak Power-5.”
O/U Oregon QB Bo Nix draft position 32.5
Beddingfield: “Nix will be taken in the first round, so under 32.5.”
David: “Did Bo Nix do enough at Oregon to lock up a first-round grade? Or is there enough “Auburn Bo Nix” out there to slide him to Day 2? I’ll take the over.”
Gabriel: “Under. Same as above. It’s a QB league. Six might end up going in first.”
Gorscak: “Over. Solid second. (Giants QB) Drew Lock 2.0 perhaps, but better version.”
O/U Georgia TE Brock Bowers draft position 12.5
Beddingfield: “Bowers is a top-five player in the draft, but with multiple QBs in the top 10, it will push him down. But I don’t see him getting past the Broncos at 12. (Under).”
David: “What was once a surefire top-10 pick, even flirting with the top five, is now in question in the top 15. Does the first round fall in a way to slide Brock Bower to the teens? Give me the under.”
Gabriel: “Under. Looks like Jets (at 10) or a team trading up to get in front of Jets.”
Gorscak: “Under.”

Now that you know their thoughts, place your bets!

Enjoy the draft. We certainly will. We’ll have all the breakdowns and interesting angles on Day 1 in our weekly newsletter Friday. Register for it here.

Five Thoughts About the Transfer Portal

19 Friday Apr 2024

Posted by in NIL, Scouts, Transfer portal

≈ Leave a comment

Here are a few thoughts based on conversations I’ve had with people around the industry during the first week of the April transfer portal window.

  • This is the first time in my two decades-plus running ITL that college personnel staffers have approached me about meeting NFL agents. Personnel directors see what’s happening and they’re getting aggressive. I’m happy to oblige. Honestly, what’s taken so long? I played a (small) role in one agency hiring a portal expert just this month. I hope to do that more often. That agency is now recruiting some of the better players who’ve entered during the April window. It just makes sense that more and more firms will do this.
  • The portal is not so much about who’s in, especially this time of year, as who could be in. This week, I’ve personally spoken to a contract advisor who is shopping a highly touted player who’s not in the portal — yet. He’s had several conversations with schools.
  • We’re at the beginning of the end for collectives. Sure, they’ll still be around as a funding arm — at least for a while — but as far as being a central part of the decision-making process for a key transfer, I see that ending. Once the Tennessee and Virginia AGs successfully sued the NCAA, allowing players to negotiate deals to transfer, personnel directors I’ve spoken to are far more aggressive about wanting to go directly to players (and/or their representatives) to talk numbers. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to monetize things on a grander scale to make up for the donor fatigue.
  • The latest rule change means most players should be looked at as being on one-year deals at all times. There are no longer any barriers (outside of academic eligibility) to player movement. 
  • I do not see a mass buildup of personnel departments involving former NFL scouts: The portal chase is not so much a draft as it is a free agent pursuit. The “haves” are full of money to sign players that might help them. For the most part, the only limit on the number of players they sign is their budgets (not usually a major consideration) and their roster openings. On top of this, there have never been more young, aspiring scouts willing to work for free in exchange for a shot at their big break. Maybe populating a scouting staff will be the next arms race in college football, but I think most teams will pump that money into their NIL budgets rather than into splashy former NFL scouts and executives. Time will tell.

There’s plenty more to discuss regarding the transfer portal, and we’ll be chopping it up in the Friday Wrap, which comes out at 7:30 p.m. Register for it here. 

Two Chances to Learn the Finer Points of Day 3

11 Thursday Apr 2024

Posted by in Agents, NFL draft, Scouts

≈ Leave a comment

As of today, we are exactly two weeks away from the 2024 NFL Draft. That means it’s white-knuckle time for the hundreds of draft prospects hoping to hear their names called over the three days of the draft. 

If you’re one of those players, or you represent one of them, you’re probably foraging for all the information you can find that might be helpful the last weekend in April. If so, I’ve got something for you. 

Tonight, former Panthers GM and Seahawks executive Scott Fitterer will join dozens of members of the ITL family for an hour, answering my questions and, maybe, even a few from the attendees. Here are the questions I’ll pose him tonight. 

  • Let’s talk about the month of April for an NFL team. Take us through, week-by-week, on what you’re doing as you finalize things for the draft.
  • If you could choose only one characteristic, would you choose traits, total playing experience, or most recent season’s production as the main reason you drafted or signed a player? 
  • About how many players each year get “draftable” grades? About how many wind up on your board as UDFAs? About how many does the staff “write,” typically?
  • What is your philosophy on Day 3? Are these picks normally players that had exceptional pro days? Are they players that “slipped” that you had rated much higher? Are you looking to fill out special teams in these rounds? 
  • Take us through your process for removing a player from your draft board, either for character or medicals. Was he really “removed,” or was he just moved to a much lower position?
  • What does Day 3 look like for you? How did you usually determine who got drafted and who got left for the UDFA chase?
  • What did your post-draft UDFA process look like? How did you integrate RMC/tryout invitations? 
  • Do you prefer rookie mini-camp the weekend after the draft or the second weekend, and why? How often did you take players who had been in a camp on Wkd 1, if you camped Wkd 2?
  • Can you ever recall “discovering” a player, or even getting information that led to you drafting/signing a player, from an agent-generated, mass email? 
  • For a player drafted in 2023/2024, when was the first time one of your scouts started evaluating him? 

If you’re an ITL client, you’re invited to join us at 9 p.m. ET for an hour-long session. Just contact us and we’ll send you the Zoom link. If you’re not part of the ITL family, it’s not too late to sign up. 

Now, let’s say you’re limited, budget-wise, but still need to get coached up on what scouts do (and agents should do as a result) related to Day 3 and the UDFA process. We got you covered. Wednesday’s edition of the Scouting the League podcast had me asking my podcast co-host, Rodrik David, several questions that are similar in nature to what I’ll be asking Scott tonight. Here’s what Rodrik, former area scout for the Falcons, handled in our podcast, which you can check out here: 

  • What is April like for an area scout? Is all the hay in the barn, pretty much?
  • Did you feel like you had a pretty good handle on all the players the team rated as draftable? Or did you mostly feel comfortable with guys from your region?
  • What were Top 30 visits like? What could players do/not do?
  • Do you ever remember a Top 30 visit that took a player off your board?
  • How much say did you have in moving players up/down during April?
  • When was your board totally “set?”
  • What was your role on local pro days? What about during the UDFA process?
  • How much power did you have during the UDFA process to really stand on a table for a guy?
  • When did you start looking to the following year’s draft class?

Either way, if you’re interested in professional development, you’ll benefit from one or both of these options. Need even more help? Make sure you’re signed up for our weekly newsletter. Do that here.

                    Why It’s So Hard to Measure Scouts’ Performance

                    08 Friday Mar 2024

                    Posted by in NFL draft, Scouts

                    ≈ Leave a comment

                    Last week, it was my pleasure to hand plaques to 27 NFL scouts who were voted by their peers last fall to the 2023 BART List, our honors system for the best evaluators working in the league these days. It’s the only way I know to recognize the best people in the scouting industry.

                    Some, however, may wish there was a more objective measure. I’m one of those people. I’ve even seen that some teams, apparently, do just that for their own scouts. I really like that teams are working to identify the best members of their staffs. 

                    I’ve often thought of how to measure the effectiveness of scouts across the league. People who believe in analytics feel you can put a number on anything, right? But I keep bumping up to the following reasons that evaluating the evaluators is next to impossible.

                    Each team scouts for its team, not the league: We would have to have complete records of the grades given by each scout to players drafted and signed, every year, to even get a baseline of his effectiveness. Even at that, we could only hope to determine the best scout for each team, not for the league. Until every team runs the same defense and same offense, this is impossible.

                    A player’s success is not solely based on where/when he was drafted: To some degree, a draftee is a lump of clay. That lump gets shaped by the team’s coaching staff once he’s drafted. Some teams develop players better than others, and some teams have more “rope” to develop them for various reasons (usually, prior success). Therefore, just because a player worked out doesn’t necessarily mean the scout did his job.

                    Hungry players play better: If Tom Brady gets drafted in the second round instead of the sixth round, does he still wind up the same player? Maybe. Still, it seems to me unmistakable that players selected lower than they expected tend to play harder, while sometimes, players drafted earlier take the game less seriously. Obviously, this is hard to measure, but seems evident, nonetheless. Either way, it has an effect on a player’s grade. 

                    Obviously, there are other factors. Teams that have great depth at a position might mean a good player never gets a chance to really prove himself. Players drafted higher than expected may nonetheless get multiple chances in the league due to their draft pedigree. I could go on. The point is, the NFL draft is hopelessly subjective. I guess that’s one reason it’s so fun.

                    Do you disagree? Feel like it’s easier than I’m making it look? Give me some ideas on Twitter/X at @insidetheleague. Make sure you’re also reading our newsletter to get more insights on scouting and how teams evaluate players. 

                    2024 NFL Combine Week: A Few Highlights

                    01 Friday Mar 2024

                    Posted by in ITL, Media, NFL draft, NIL, Scouts

                    ≈ Leave a comment

                    The NFL Combine is a major event for the entire football community and represents probably the biggest week of the year for us at ITL. Here are a few highlights and observations from the week.

                    • There were so many highlights of our 15th annual event (the 2024 USI Insurance Services ITL Combine Seminar Presented by The Tatnuck Group) at the Indiana Convention Center, but two stick out to me. One was very selfish: Lions GM Brad Holmes, who accepted the Best Draft Award for Detroit, cited Inside the League for its commitment to the scouting industry, especially crediting the Friday Wrap for its focus on the community. That was really, really humbling, and unexpected.
                    • Also humbling was the reaction of Broncos Senior Midwest Scout Scott DiStefano, who accepted the C.O. Brocato Memorial Award for lifetime service in NFL scouting. Scott had to pause to gather himself a couple time during his remarks. It’s awesome to recognize people in front of their peers. Equally awesome: Broncos GM George Paton and virtually the entire Broncos scouting staff showed up to cheer Scott on.
                    • Another highlight was spending a little time with the co-winners of the Pro Liaison of the Year Award, N.C. State’s D.D. Hoggard and Illinois’ Jay Kaiser. Both of them are humble men who are deserving of their acclaim. D.D. flew in on his own dime to accept the award in person, which was a “wow” moment for me when he could easily have appeared via video. 
                    • By the way, my partner in the presentation of the Eugene E. Parker Award for service to the agent industry, Peter Schaffer of Authentic Athletix, announced that he’s creating an online hall of fame for player representation Wednesday night. At this time, it’s not a brick-and-mortar place, but will live online. I will contribute to Peter’s efforts, and we’ve already got our first member chosen (to go along with the previous four winners of the award). We’ll have further communications about it soon. It’s a great idea and I’m pretty excited about it.
                    • Also of interest: our award winners are starting to get social media graphics made about them. Check out this one that Duke University made for David Feeley, who won the Strength Coach of the Year Award as voted on by active NFL scouts. 
                    • We also had our second annual NIL-oriented event Thursday. It was a pretty fast 90 minutes with guest speaker Oscar Monnier, who ran the transfer portal at Northwestern, Stanford, Oregon, Duke and Texas A&M. He spoke for an hour about his experiences and recommendations for exploiting this new part of the industry. We had about 80 guests, most of them from top NFL agencies and interested in learning how to get the most out of the portal process. What impressed me the most, however, is how 10-12 people lined up to talk to Oscar after his session, and none of them had questions about what he discussed. They all wanted to explore working with him. Oscar arrived to town a free agent, but there’s a good chance he won’t leave as one. I think the transfer portal is a space that has not been recognized for its potential in player representation, but I think it’s getting there. 
                    • One scout I spoke to went on and on about how impressive Ohio State WO Marvin Harrison Jr. was in interviews. His comments came as part of a discussion on how so many players are coached by their agents in interviews. It’s unknown if Harrison has undergone interview prep, but it sounds like his natural personality made it pretty academic if he did. 

                    For a complete rundown of all the winners and more highlights from the week, make sure to check out the Friday Wrap, which comes out this evening. Register for it here. 

                     

                     

                    Meet the Sponsors of Our 2024 Combine Events

                    16 Friday Feb 2024

                    Posted by in Agents, NIL, Scouts

                    ≈ Leave a comment

                    We’re less than two weeks away from the two biggest days of the year for Inside the League. They are Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 28-29, when we’ll hold our annual seminar and symposium, respectively, in Indianapolis. For all the details, click here. 

                    However, those dates would not even be possible if not for our partners in these events. We’re excited to work with three companies — USI Insurance Services, The Tatnuck Group, and Vestible — as we celebrate and educate the industry in less than two weeks. 

                    All three companies are doing exciting things in the football community that have distinct appeal to different facets of the business. I wanted to introduce them today.

                    USI Insurance Services

                    USI, which serves as our title sponsor Wednesday, is a national insurance brokerage and consulting firm. The company has approximately 200 local offices connected across the U.S., as well as a leading market position in all core businesses. The USI White Plains office has been serving the local community since 1928.

                    The company features more than 500 professionals with an average tenure of 25 years and specialists across a broad range of industries, as well as dedicated personal risk management and solutions from the collaborative effort of 200-plus personal risk specialists nationwide. Regional offices are located in Mount Laurel, NJ; New York, NY; Toms River, NJ; Uniondale, NY; Florham Park, NJ; and White Plains, NY. The White Plains office, alone, includes more than 50 insurance professionals specializing in healthcare, personal risk management, construction, real estate, surety and distribution and manufacturing.
                     
                    The USI One Network offers dedicated technical experts connected nationally and embedded in local offices, with over 6,000 professionals nationwide to build integrated client-centered account teams.
                     

                    USI recommends a holistic approach to personal risk management, including an annual review for changes and adjustment to coverages. USI’s representatives provide a summary of coverage while continuously monitoring risk exposure changes in a client’s profile and lifestyle. They also conduct annual pre-renewal reviews to identify areas for coverage changes and recommend specific terms or condition changes to client policies based on review results. 

                    Check out USI in more detail here.

                    The Tatnuck Group

                    Through pre-draft interviewing and consulting, The Tatnuck Group, the presenting sponsor for Wednesday’s ITL Seminar, helps dozens of NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NASCAR and La Liga Soccer teams select better performers and better people. Since 2019, NFL clubs have partnered with Tatnuck to interview prospects at the Senior Bowl, Combine, and post-combine via zoom. Tatnuck focuses on assessing character, cultural fit, leadership capacity, and the ability to handle the stressors and rigors of being a pro. 

                    In the 2023 draft, The Tatnuck Group interviewed over 200 prospects for NFL clients, including every player selected in the first round and 60 of the first 63 picks. The team at Tatnuck consists of AJ Scola, the former personnel director of the Atlanta Braves, and Ryan Maid, the former operational psychologist for Naval Special Warfare. For more information, visit The Tatnuck Group’s website.

                    Versible

                    Vestible, the title sponsor for Thursday’s ITL Symposium, is an investment platform allowing professional and college athletes to sell equity in their careers directly to their fans in a federally regulated marketplace. In exchange for an upfront sum from their investors, athletes on the platform pay investors a 1% distribution of their on-field income during their professional career.  
                     
                    As the athletes increase their income on the field, the amount distributed to shareholders increases alongside them. This has created a completely new market for select athletes to unlock revenue streams that have never been available to them before. 
                     
                    Founded by former professional and D1 college athletes Parker Graham and Yves Batoba, Vestible empowers athletes to take control of their brands and allows fans to unlock the next level of fandom. For more information, visit vestible.co. 
                     
                     

                    Responding to a Dumb Tweet About Draft Decisions

                    09 Friday Feb 2024

                    Posted by in NFL draft, Scouts

                    ≈ Leave a comment

                    This week, I tweeted positively about a Patriots executive, Eliot Wolf, who seems on track to become the GM in New England after years of paying dues in Green Bay and Cleveland. Though there were literally dozens of positive responses from scouts, agents and others, there was also one knucklehead who blamed him for QB Mac Jones’ struggles over the last two seasons.

                    I know you can’t take people seriously based on one off-the-cuff remark on social media, but this kind of comment really bugs me. I guess it springs from a fundamental misunderstanding of how the draft works by people whose main claim to fame is making the playoffs in their fantasy league.

                    Anyway, here’s why that’s a dumb tweet.

                    • Jones had a great rookie season. It’s not like Jones has never performed. In his first year, he threw for almost 4,000 yards with a 22-13 TD-to-INT ratio and a. 92.5 quarterback rating. He did that without a 1,000-yard receiver (Jakobi Meyers came closest with 866 yards). That’s pretty good for a first-year QB following a legend.
                    • How a player is developed after the draft is critical to his success. Josh McDaniels has had his ups and downs professionally, but there’s no arguing that his 2021 season as offensive coordinator in New England wasn’t a good one. Prior to McDaniels’ departure to be head coach of the Raiders, Jones was seen as a rising talent and worthy heir to the Brady throne. Since then, Jones’ offensive coordinators have been a weird combination of two defensive coordinators (Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia) in 2022 and Bill O’Brien this past season. I’d argue that Jones’ confidence was pretty much crushed entering the ’23 season, and from what I’ve read of O’Brien, “nurturing” is not a quality that’s in his makeup. The point is, the player Jones was on draft day is very different from who he is today, and that has everything to do with how the team around him has encouraged his progress and helped him evolve. That’s not just true of Jones, but of every player ever drafted. 
                    • There are no picks “made” by one scout or executive. This is the part that really drives me crazy. Yes, there has to be accountability on who picks whom, but how is Wolf responsible for the team’s picks that haven’t worked out? Wolf was no more than a consultant — a murky title, for sure — in the 2021 draft, but even if he was Jones’ champion, it doesn’t happen until all of the team’s braintrust has seen him play multiple games; has interviewed him multiple times; and has put him through various tests and evaluated his pro day. This doesn’t happen, and can’t happen, with just one guy making the pick. The Patriots’ decision to draft Jones (and every decision by every team) was collaborative. That’s an essential part of every draft for every team. 

                    I don’t know Eliot exceptionally well, but here’s what I can tell you: he is universally respected because he’s thorough and almost without an ego, but more importantly, he’s won everywhere he’s been. Now that he’s brought in one of the best pure talent evaluators in the league in Alonzo Highsmith, I’d be buying stock in New England’s future. 

                    For more on the draft, free agency, scouting, player representation and everything else that makes this a fun time of year, register for today’s Friday Wrap here.

                    Three Things I Noticed or Learned in Mobile

                    02 Friday Feb 2024

                    Posted by in Agents, NIL, Scouts

                    ≈ Leave a comment

                    It wasn’t that long ago that if you were a GM and you skipped the Senior Bowl, you had some serious FOMO and you might be accused of malpractice. That is no longer the case.

                    I personally saw only one in Mobile (SF’s John Lynch). After a quick survey of 7-8 people across the business that were there, the others on hand were (in no order) NYG’s Joe Schoen, Pittsburgh’s Omar Khan, Dallas’ Jerry Jones, Baltimore’s Eric DeCosta, Carolina’s Dan Morgan, New Orleans’ Mickey Loomis, Buffalo’s Brandon Beane, Jacksonville’s Trent Baalke, Indianapolis’ Chris Ballard, Houston’s Nick Caserio, Miami’s Chris Grier, Cleveland’s Andrew Berry, NYJ’s Joe Douglas, Arizona’s Monti Ossenfort, Chicago’s Ryan Poles, Green Bay’s Brian Gutekunst and Washington’s Adam Peters. These are not all confirmed — some were seen by only one person.

                    There could have been more that briefly popped in, and it’s harder to find them now that NFL personnel are segregated from everyone else at the stadium. Also, early-week weigh-ins used to give everyone a chance to see all the big names in one room, and weigh-ins aren’t held anymore. Still, GMs were a lot less visible, even if Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy said most were there, and I’m not calling Jim a liar.

                    There are reasons not to come, for sure, and as more people have found out about the Senior Bowl, I’m sure a lot of GMs just want to avoid the hassle and the job solicitations, especially when so much can be done from home. Still, it’s a big change to not see them anywhere and everywhere at the Senior Bowl, and kinda sad.

                    Here are a couple more things I learned about the ‘game behind the game’ in Mobile this week.

                    • Jim invited 138 players this year, which is eight more than last year. It’s a concession to the injuries that always happen, no doubt, but also probably has to do with the number of players that beg out of the game after practicing all week. In the old days, it was commonplace to see scouts/executives roll in for padded practices, then head home Thursday night, skipping the game. I heard of two teams who were planning to keep their scouts in town through the game this year, however, and there may have been others. This might also be a concession to the number of QBs that are getting Day 1/Day 2 consideration (teams always want to get an in-person look to see how passers relate to their teammates during game conditions), or could be because the Shrine Bowl encroaches into Senior Bowl week so much these days. However, I hope it curbs the number of players who “opt out” of the actual game. By the way, I asked two former scouts, Rodrik David and James Kirkland, how opt-outs affected their evaluations of players, and their answers are in this week’s Scouting the League podcast.
                    • You also used to see dozens of wealth managers around at the Senior Bowl, and to some degree, you still do, especially with Morgan Stanley a game sponsor and so many others trying to get an audience with a player. However, fewer players are using the week to vet financial advisors, and one such wealth manager said he thinks it’s because now that players are seeing six-figure incomes well before leaving college, they’re hiring people much earlier. They no longer wait until they’re on the verge of becoming pros. It makes a lot of sense, but it’s also a big change in the way players do business.

                    We’ll have more from the Senior Bowl, including Rodrik’s top performers this week, in the Friday Wrap. Register for it here.

                    2024 Hula Bowl: A Few Notes

                    11 Thursday Jan 2024

                    Posted by in Agents, NFL draft, Scouts, Uncategorized

                    ≈ 1 Comment

                    It’s been a great few days in Orlando for the 2024 Hula Bowl. Here are a few notes from the preparations for this year’s contest.

                    Foolproof scout lure: All-star games love to maximize the attendance of scouts because it gives them credibility, and the Hula Bowl has come up with a foolproof way to raise their numbers. Since I ran the game in 2008, the Hula Bowl has always run practices concurrently between the two teams rather than at separate times. This forces teams to send 6-8 representatives instead of 2-3 (or even one or two) just to make sure everything is covered. 

                    Today’s NIL craziness items: One of the best parts of going to all-star games is hearing the stories from the recruiting wars as well as the crazy NIL pitches. For example, this week, I was told of a player at a lower-tier SEC school who lost his starting spot midseason. He decided to enter the portal, but before he could, he found out the school’s collective would offer him $50,000 to stick around. They were offering him more than the median annual income for the average American just to make sure they had a quality second-stringer at his position.

                    On the other hand, I heard about an FCS wide receiver who was offered $250,000 to go to a Big Ten school, but who chose to pursue the NFL instead. I respect his passion, but I’m not sure I would have made the same choice.

                    One takeaway from hearing the NIL stories this week is that a loose, position-by-position “wage scale” is developing among schools and agents, especially the schools from the P5 conferences that have big budgets. I also heard that Memphis has been one of the most aggressive teams when it comes to adding players from the portal; apparently, the athletic director’s efforts to raise funds have been successful. 

                    Humbling: Another great facet of the all-star season is that I begin notifying the scouts who were voted as winners of the various awards we’ll present at our annual seminar in Indianapolis in about a month-and-a-half. The scout who will receive one of our bigger awards next month was obviously touched when he got the news. It was really cool to see.

                    What if?: The 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl is scheduled to begin workouts Saturday, Jan. 27, at the Star in Frisco, Texas. If the Cowboys win a home playoff game against Green Bay in the Super Wildcard round of the playoffs, then win the following weekend and advance to the NFC Championship, they’ll need their field and locker rooms. The scuttlebutt around the team hotel this week was that the nearby University of North Texas is the “rainy weather” site for the Shrine Bowl.

                    Clearing skies: When you have all-star games in Florida, the threat of rain is always there. A lengthy thunderstorm Tuesday night meant practices moved indoors today, which created serious consternation among agents who wanted to watch their clients (indoor practices usually mean scouts only). But there’s good news: practices will be outdoors again Thursday. Hopefully, Tuesday night’s rain won’t make for muddy conditions tomorrow.

                    Impressing: I’m always asked which players are rising and falling, and I rarely get enough feedback to have an intelligent answer. However, one player who seems to have won a few fans is Western Carolina WO David White. 

                    If you haven’t already, make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter to get more scoop on this busy (and exciting) time of year.