This week, with the NFL Draft starting tonight, 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 continued with former Giants and Bears executive Greg Gabriel Wednesday. We wrap the week with former Titans executive Blake Beddingfield.

 

The Saints are straddling the fence between rebuilding and going for it. The question is, does their lack of a top-level QB in today’s game dictate that they go into 2022 with guns blazing, or do they play more conservatively? 

Clearly, in a division with the ageless Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers but a new head coach, as well as the rebuilding Falcons and Panthers, New Orleans’ braintrust has decided the time is (still) now. That means GM Mickey Loomis and Assistant GM Jeff Ireland will be looking to build with new talent and hope their selectees are all fast learners. 

Key losses include left tackle Terron Armstead (Dolphins) and safeties Marcus Williams (Ravens) and Malcolm Jenkins (retirement). To compensate, the club signed safeties Marcus Maye from the Jets and Daniel Sorensen from the Chiefs, along with backup QB Andy Dalton from the Bears. The Saints also get WO Michael Thomas and QB Jameis Winston (whom they re-signed) back from injury. The returns of Thomas and Winston are almost like adding free agents given the amount of time each missed in ’21. The club also returns 80% of its offensive line.

The Saints have spent a lot of draft capital on their offensive and defensive line since 2017, acquiring three first-round and one second-round offensive lineman as well as two first-round defensive ends to go with perennial pro bowler Cameron Jordan.  

The Saints picks tonight include two picks in the first round (16 and 19), a second-rounder (49), a third (98), a fourth (120), a fifth (161) and a sixth (194). These selections give the team the ability to acquire quality players at need positions with four picks in the top 100. 

Now, let’s talk about team needs. The Saints have a big hole at left tackle, but also need a wide receiver to compliment Thomas and protect the team in case of another injury by the once ultra-productive veteran. Other positions of need are quarterback, tight end and defensive tackle.

In the first round I expect the Saints to go after a left tackle and wide receiver if the right players are there at each position. The top three offensive tackles — Alabama’s Evan Neal, Mississippi State’s Charles Cross and NC State’s Ikem Ekwonu — would be ideal, and would each be immediate starters, but would require a trade given that none will still be around at 16. That leaves Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning. Penning is better-suited long-term on the right side, but that position is already taken by pro bowler Ryan Ramczyk. Penning would be an upgrade over what they currently have on the roster at left tackle, but he is not the same prospect as Neal, Cross and Ekwonu. At the same time, there have been whispers in the past that Ramczyk could slot in on the left side when Armstead’s days in New Orleans came to an end. One way or another, Penning makes a lot of sense at 16.

On the other hand, the Saints could package their third-round selection (No. 98) with their first first-rounder (No. 16) to move up and secure one of the top three left tackles. This still leaves them with the 19th pick, along with their second-rounder. Keep in mind that drafting offensive linemen with premium picks is part of the Saints’ DNA. In the past decade, they’ve taken Stanford OG Andrus Peat (No. 13 in 2015), Michigan OG Cesar Ruiz (No. 24 in 2020) and Ramczyk (No. 32 in 2017) in the first round along with Texas A&M OC Erik McCoy (No. 48 in 2019) in the second round.  

The wide receiver position is strong in the first round this year, and multiple players could be options when the Saints are on the clock at 19.  Ohio States wideouts Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave would add speed and immediate help to go along with the team’s current receivers, including Marquez Callaway, Tre’Quan Smith and Thomas. Alabama’s Jameson Williams is another speedster and vertical threat option, but will not be able to help the team until midway through his rookie season after tearing his ACL in January. That might remove Williams from consideration; I would think the Saints are looking for an immediate contributor in 2022 and not someone that will be at his best in 2023. Arkansas’ Treylon Burks is another possibility. He’s a big physical, versatile player that gives the Saints a better version of what they had in Ty Montgomery, but he’s not the pure burner the team needs to round out their receiver corps. Southern Cal’s Drake London is another big, athletic receiver that should be playing his best football in the NFL, though 19 figures to be a little early for him.    

On the other hand, it all starts under center in today’s game. It’s possible the team rolls the dice at 19, or in the second round, to take a quarterback to sit and learn behind Winston. Ole Miss’ Matt Corral is an athletic QB with a quick release, toughness, leadership, and the ability to be a very productive NFL quarterback. Corral could even compete with Winston this season or eventually take over the position in 2023. Liberty’s Malik Willis, who likely won’t make it to 16, is a boom-or-bust prospect that needs a year in the NFL before he can be pushed into starting role. Similarly, Pitt’s Kenny Pickett is solid but not the kind of prospect that you expect to step in and star from the beginning. Overall, the quarterbacks in this draft are solid players, but this crop lacks elite, franchise signal-callers.  

Bottom line, the Saints have many options with their first two selections but also have enough quality players on their current roster to not only enhance the 2022 roster but also prepare for the future at quarterback and left tackle and start to get younger at wide receiver. While the team has needs at tight end and defensive tackle, they’ll have to wait until later to address them. I believe this draft sets the Saints up very well with the ability to acquire need positions but also get the quality starters that they seek.

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.

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.”

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 16^th and 19^th 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.

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.

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.

Many people aspire to represent NFL players and live the fast-paced life of an NFL contract advisor. I can tell you that the jobs of NFL agents are not easy, and these days, their jobs are harder than ever.

Last night, we hosted a Zoom with about 30 NFL contract advisors, most of them certified last summer. Hosting the Zoom, along with myself, was Rodrik David of Agent Live 360. Rodrik was an NFL scout with the Falcons until last fall.

After an hour-long session that turned out to be pretty far-reaching, here are the issues on agents’ minds with the USFL draft next week, the combine the week after, and pro days kicking off immediately following the events in Indianapolis.

USFL: Most people last night remained frustrated for a number of reasons with the new league. Frustrations are related to the following:

• Lack of consistent communication and answers to questions on the league.
• Lack of transparency on who’s in the player pool and how to get a yes/no on players under consideration.
• Questions on how to get acknowledgment that a player has been correctly submitted for consideration in the player pool.
• Lack of clear direction on whether or not players can attend their pro day, an NFL training camp, or an XFL tryout over the next two years if he signs a USFL contract.

Pro Days: Given that so many players took their Covid “bonus” year last year, it’s a crowded draft class this year. That’s one reason why so many FBS schools have gone from requiring two referrals from NFL scouts to gain entry to a pro day to three scouts. I was even told today that one Big Ten school is requiring 10 scout referrals. Obviously, that’s tantamount to saying their pro day is closed.

Combine: The last combine in Indianapolis is setting up as a downer. Though Covid protocols are being loosened across the nation, the NFL is still acting like it’s the latter months of 2020. Players will be restricted in their movements, and while some trainers will still have full access to them, others won’t. Combine that with the NFLPA’s decision to make this year’s agent seminar virtual and the NFL’s decision to have players work out at night, during primetime, and it could be a much quieter and less busy downtown Indianapolis this year. That would be a disappointing end to two-plus decades in Indiana.

We’ll have a lot more answers by the time March rolls around. Make sure you’re following us at the Friday Wrap so you can keep up. Register for it here.

Starting Saturday, 21 aspiring NFL scouts will join us in Fort Worth for the 2022 College Gridiron Showcase. Here’s a rundown of what they can expect.

SATURDAY: This is our ‘orientation’ day, and the day we hope to set the tone for the weekend and make clear our expectations for the next three days. We’ll primarily get ready for what’s ahead.

CGSU scout workshop orientation (4-5 p.m., Magnolia V room of the Fort Worth Sheraton): CGS co-Founder Jose Jefferson, CGS Director of Scouting and Personnel Mike Rittelman and myself will introduce the week and talk about expectations.

SUNDAY: It’s showtime. Sunday is the biggest day for interns given that it’s the main interview day for NFL scouts, and many of our previous interns have earned the respect of NFL personnel with their work on Sunday alone.

• CGSU breakfast (6:30-7:30 a.m. at a restaurant TBA), followed by a scouting meeting (7:30-8 a.m., Magnolia VI of the Sheraton): We will discuss the Marshals workout and roles for interns.
• Marshals scrimmage (9-10:30 a.m.) at Farrington Field: We’ll ferry interns to the field, where they’ll assist with practices and solicit opinions from scouts on which players deserve to move up to the Desperadoes roster.
• CGSU scouting seminar (11 a.m.-noon, Oak I-III): CFL scout John Bonaventura, former NFL scout and agent Marc Lillibridge and former Giants scout Chris Watts will  participate in a panel discussion with the interns moderated by myself.
• CGSU lunch (noon-1 p.m., Magnolia I-IV) and scouting workshop meeting (noon to 12:30 p.m., Oak I-III): Mike Rittelman will join us to make assignments and break down scout-player interviews and how interns will assist in bringing players to the interview room. We’ll also take volunteers to help with the NFL measurements sessions.
• Player interviews (1-9 p.m., Magnolia I-IV): Interns will work with NFL teams to facilitate interviews.
• NFL measurements (offense and defense, 9-10:30 p.m., offense in Magnolia V, defense in Magnolia VI): Once again, interns will assist in arm and hand measurements.
• CGSU scouting debrief (10:30-11 p.m., Oak I-III): We’ll review Sunday and assign roles for Monday’s weigh-ins).

MONDAY: This is another big day and it starts early with weigh-ins, another key part of the weekend, then wraps up with another night of education.

• CGSU breakfast and meeting (6:15-7 a.m., Oak I-III of the Sheraton), followed by Desperadoes (7:30-9 a.m., Magnolia I-IV of the Sheraton) and Wrangers (9:15-10:45 a.m., Magnolia I-IV) weigh-ins: After a brief meeting, interns will help as we hand out roster sheets to scouts, align players alphabetically, contact and locate players who are late arriving, and call out heights and weights.
• Desperadoes (12:15-2 p.m.) and Wranglers (2:15-4 p.m.) practices at Farrington Field: We’ll ferry interns to the field, where they’ll assist with practices.
• CGSU scouting meeting (9:30-10 p.m., Magnolia V of the Sheraton): We’ll have one or two active NFL scouts who’ll discuss how they got their jobs, what they look for in interns and potential interviewees, and what they like best about being NFL evaluators.

TUESDAY: We say goodbye to our team and convene one last time.

• CGSU breakfast, followed by scouting meeting (6-7:30 a.m. breakfast at a nearby restaurant, followed by meeting 7-9 a.m. at Oak I-III): We’ll tally up the winners of the week, present awards, discuss what we did right and what we did wrong, and say goodbye to everyone.

If you’re one of our 21 interns, I look forward to meeting and working with you this weekend. If not, please consider applying to join us in 2023.

We’ll talk more about the CGS and our scouting intern program in our Friday Wrap. Register for it here.

This time of year, I get a handful of members of the current NFL Draft Class who are referred to me, and they have questions about the entire process. It’s for this reason that I wrote my first book, but most want bullet points.

Well, today, I have six. If you or your son have questions about the process, maybe the following will help.

• Regarding NFL Combine selection, the short story is, NFS (National Football Scouting) conducts a player-by-player vote of about 1,000-2,000 players, and the top 350-odd players by vote get an invite. They are disproportionately from FBS, obviously. If a player has a record-setting bowl game, it might tilt things in his way a bit. However, for the most part, the odds of getting an invite are equal parts raw athleticism, college production, and measurables. For example, if you are a four-year 1,000-yard receiver at an FBS school, but you’re 5-8/180/4.6, the odds will be against you. To a great degree, the NFL Draft is a beauty pageant. For the most part, NFL teams are looking for difference-makers, not good football players. They are seeking freakish athletic talents they can craft into stars (perhaps). This is why so many good college football players without eye-popping athletic skills go undrafted.
• As far as all-star play, the organizers of these bowls select the players, though agents can have a major impact on who gets invited. After the Senior Bowl and, to some degree, the Shrine Bowl, the remaining games are excellent platforms which will be populated largely by fringe draft prospects who will be late-rounders or UDFAs (or who won’t go to camps). As far as how these games are populated, there is a “domino” process among the games whereby a player at the top game (SR) declines an invitation, and that player is replaced by a lower game, and that continues on down the line. In my opinion, there is a limited difference between the first player drafted in the fourth round and most UDFAs, and a good all-star game can move a player up in that Day 3 crop. At the same time, an all-star game won’t get a player from the seventh to the first round. No way, no how.
• When it comes to selecting an agent, the most important factor should be (a) a player’s personal relationship with the agent and (b) the agent’s experience level. During the vetting process, players should ask in-depth questions about how the agent has handled players, when he was fired and why, how he can make a difference for the player, what the agent’s plan is for the next four months, etc. The player should ask if he’s ever represented anyone like himself and how that player turned out. The player should ask the agent why he wants to represent him. Money should be a low-level consideration, though if a player asks his agent to cover training, etc., he should pay three percent. Fee cuts are for first-rounders. Also, Day 3 prospects (especially) should forget about marketing. They need someone who will clear away all obstacles for them to make a 53-man roster.
• When choosing a trainer, players should make sure they choose a place that cares about them and that will comprehensively train them for speed, but also drills.
• The post-pro day period will be the longest time of a draft prospect’s life. Players should discuss the post-draft plan with their agents as part of your selection process.
• I know draft prospects are desperate to hear what scouts think about them, and I know it’s hard to resist the pull of the Internet, but a player only knows how all 32 teams feel about him if he goes undrafted. If a player is drafted, he really only knows how the team that drafted him thinks. Unless you continually see your name in first-round mock drafts, it’s best to presume that you are somewhere in that Day 3 mix, and every day you train, you’re trying to move up that list just a little bit. 

Still have questions? Sign up for our Friday Wrap newsletter, in which we talk about all things NFL draft and the business of the game each week. Merry Christmas!

Wednesday night, Trevor Swenson of Dynamic Talent joined about 30 NFL agents on Zoom to talk about his area of expertise: name, image and likeness (NIL). Trevor’s company represents more than 400 bands, entertainers and influencers, and he’s seen the rise of social media and figured out how to exploit it for his clients’ benefit.

Here are just a few tips I picked up from listening to him Wednesday.

• Even though football is our sole focus at Inside the League, it doesn’t mean it has to be an NIL agent’s sole focus. In fact, Trevor said track athletes “always sell,” partially because track is more individual in nature and therefore athletes are easier to identify with for potential customers.
• Social media is very visual, so you’re going to have to identify clients that are pleasing to the camera. “Turn them into models,” Trevor recommends.
• Facebook is one of the greatest commerce engines our nation has ever known, but it’s almost completely irrelevant to today’s athlete. Instead, get used to Google Ads as well as every vagary of each of the different platforms (especially Instagram).
• If you’re going to get active representing players on NIL matters, get familiar with Shopify. Trevor calls Shopify “a huge tool” when it comes to marketing merchandise for his clients. 
• If your client has a YouTube account, and hopes to make a few bucks with goofy videos or instructions on how to throw the ‘out’ route, he’s going to have to log 10,000 hours and gather 1,000 subscribers before his channel is monetized. 
  
• Before a company is willing to spend money on your client, the industry standard is an expected return of three dollars returned on investment (ROI) for every dollar pledged in sponsorship.
• If your client is a little low on followers, he can probably gain about 1,000 new ones per month if he’s aggressive about engaging with his followers and providing fresh content.
• Before he can expect to have any sponsors, he’s going to need at least 10,000 followers on at least one social media platform.  
• Trevor does not believe in deleting controversial posts. One reason is that no publicity is bad publicity. Another reason is that he believes his clients should own their posts and not run from them. 
• He said the only reason he’d dump a client is not because of poor performance, but because of no performance. For example, if he represents a band that doesn’t tour for a year or more, he goes in another direction. Though they aren’t musicians, you should encourage your clients to have the same mindset. 

If you want even more, consider joining us at 8 p.m. ET next Wednesday, Nov. 17. For $100 plus tax, Trevor will present a case study on how to turn a garden variety college football into an NIL machine on a step-by-step basis. He’ll also provide the basic documents you’ll need to sign an agreement, to pitch a client to a vendor, and more. 

We’ll discuss it further in today’s Friday Wrap, which you can register for here. Ready to sign up now? Here’s the link.