Last night, my longtime friend Danton Barto joined more than 50 people on a Zoom call to talk football. We spent more than an hour talking about his experiences in scouting while with the Rams; what makes a good evaluator; what to do (and not do) to get a job in the NFL; the times he was right and wrong on players; and plenty more. We also discussed his recollections of the 2016 NFL Draft, a most unique one, to be sure.

Here are seven things I learned in just the first 20 minutes.

• Danton grew up with Taylor Morton, Senior Personnel Advisor with the Rams. Morton was instrumental in getting Danton a scouting job with the Rams.
• Danton was hired because the Rams needed a linebacker and, as a former college linebacker (at Memphis), Morton and Rams GM Les Snead trusted his ability to evaluate them. 
• Danton estimated he used to write reports on 400 players per year in his five-state mid-South region, and “you better know ’em” if one the team’s officials asked his opinion of them.
• He admits that he’s seen people get a chance in scouting based on reports they’ve written, sometimes with limited formal football experience. “I’ve seen guys get opportunities because they sent in reports, and they were very good,” he said.
• Persistence is important in getting a job, but don’t be irritating. Danton said he remembers a scouting hopeful who became a thorn in the side of members of the Rams staff. His lack of judgement wound up costing him a chance with the team.
• The Rams actually had an analytics system that judged scouts on their reports; I’m not aware if they still do this, but if they do, it’s definitely unique. By the way, Danton came out pretty well on their grading system. 
• I guess it’s no surprise, but the failure of first-round pick Greg Robinson, a tackle out of Auburn who was the second pick in the 2014 draft, led to a lot of soul-searching among the Rams evaluators. I got the sense that Robinson’s struggles made the Rams insecure about moving up to take Ole Miss’ Laremy Tunsil when he slid in the ’16 draft. Of course, they didn’t have a lot of ammo left after trading up to get the No. 1 pick from the Titans.

Danton talked for about an hour and 20 minutes. Want to hear the next hour? Let me know here. DMs open. 

We’ll talk more about Danton’s Zoom session in the Friday Wrap, which comes out this evening (7:30 p.m. EDT). Don’t get it? Register here.

Each year for most of the last decade, we’ve spent the fall months looking at each of the 32 scouting departments at Inside the League. We call it our Know Your Scouts series. Given that not all teams publicize their hiring and firing, our review always turns up changes we didn’t know about.

What’s more, however, we take a snapshot of every team’s scouts and executives, looking at their length of service with the team, how long they’ve been in scouting, etc. We also include a note about each one’s entry into scouting, relationship to others in the department, or anything else of interest. For people seeking to break into the industry, I think this is invaluable information because it provides context for how others have made it to the NFL.

So far, we’ve profiled 10 teams. Already, we’ve passed along some interesting tidbits on the scouts who evaluate talent and how they got their jobs.

• I’d say only a third of the scouts and executives we’ve featured so far have NFL playing experience, and that’s down quite a bit from 10 years ago, when we started. The idea that today’s evaluator needs to be an ex-NFL players — or even played the game at all — is definitely changing.
• Three current or former members of the Chiefs scouting staff (Assistant Director of Player Personnel Ryan Poles, Area Scout Trey Koziol and former NFS scout Rob Francois) played together at Boston College.
• Current Chiefs NFS scout Cassidy Kaminski really took the road less traveled to Kansas City, serving as a personnel assistant with the Shrine Bowl while simultaneously writing for Ourlad’s, a draft service, from 2015-18. He even worked for an Australian team in 2016.
• I’d estimate that 20-30 percent of each scouting staff has members who are directly related to someone in the organization. There’s no denying that family is a major consideration when staffing departments.
• Maybe it’s because of analytics’ rise, but there are a handful of scouts who either played baseball at some level or worked for a Major League Baseball team before crossing over. For example, Bears National Scout Chris Prescott got started working in minor league baseball, while Broncos pro personnel director A.J. Durso played in college and Browns V.P. of Player Personnel Glenn Cook was even drafted by the Cubs. 
• It’s interesting how many scouts worked for MLB or NBA teams in some role, while others worked for NFL agencies or were agents themselves. It’s just a reminder that relationships are key to breaking in, and you can find those relationships anywhere.
• There are numerous examples of scouts who started out publishing their own scouting insights. They include Brian Fisher (Bills) as well as Kaminski.
• Scouts with two teams worked in different capacities for Inside the League before being hired by NFL teams.

If you aspire to be an NFL scout someday, I encourage you to see for yourself where scouts came from by checking out our Know Your Scouts series. I guarantee you’ll gain valuable insights.

Also, make sure you check out today’s Friday Wrap, in which we discuss the backgrounds of today’s general managers. It’s valuable information if you’re interested in climbing the NFL evaluation mountain. You can register for it here. 

Tuesday night, a longtime friend, Matt Boockmeier, joined me as we hosted a dozen aspiring NFL scouts on a Zoom call (check it out here). The participants had different backgrounds. Some have college recruiting and personnel jobs; some are from the analytics world; some are mainly putting their takes out on social media. Ultimately, they all have one goal, and that is to become NFL evaluators.

Matt and I tried to dispense our wisdom on how to get a shot, and our main push coalesced around a few main points. However, upon reflection, there are a few more I wish I’d made during the nearly 90-minute session. I decided to share them here.

• Twitter is your instrument. Use it wisely: I can’t tell you how many people I’ve muted whose takes on the 2021 draft class I’d love to be reading regularly. I don’t know if I’ll even vote in a month — it would be the first time I haven’t voted since I was legally able to — but one thing I don’t need is a bunch of condescending Twitter takes, no matter what side you’re on. Still not convinced? Well, believe this: unless your last name is Kraft, Jones, Rooney, etc., how much someone likes you is gonna be a big part of whether or not you get a chance to work in the NFL. The first step in hiring ANYONE these days is reviewing their social media accounts. There’s no reason in the world why you should cut your already-slim chances in half just so you can indulge selfish urges and get a fleeting dopamine shot.
• Look for the win-win: This is a corollary to one of the principles we discussed last night, which is, be willing to volunteer and give your work away, at least for a while.  Having professional rivals makes you better, no doubt, but if you can figure out a way to find detente with your competition, do so. Last night, I spoke to about a dozen aspiring scouts. More than half of them have banded together to assemble a manuscript that they are submitting to NFL teams later this year. I think that’s a fabulous idea, especially given that they share a common background. They all get to be part of something that will be incomparably better due to the shared workload, and now they all get to go out and sell themselves on the strength of a more polished, comprehensive work. If you make this a theme of your work life, you’ll find you give and get more good vibes.
• Look for alternate paths: Like everyone on the call last night, I once wanted to be a scout. However, ultimately, I realized my real goal was to work in football. You may find you hit a continual brick wall in trying to work in the league, but you might find another path. If you do, run, don’t walk, down that road. You might have found a different way in, and you better get through it before the door closes.

We’ll talk about scouting and lots more in our Friday Wrap, which comes out (surprise) on Friday. If scouting intrigues you, you’ll dig it. Register for it here. Also, make sure to check out Up Close in Personnel, the awesome podcast hosted by my friend Alex Brown, the Director of Football Recruiting at Rice University. I guested on the show this week, and it comes out Saturday.

If you are a fan of the draft, the business of football and or NFL scouting, and you weren’t one of the 70-odd people on the guest list for Tuesday’s Zoom call with former Titans executive Blake Beddingfield and ex-49ers scout Bob Morris, I’m so sorry. You missed an unforgettable night, as so many of the participants tweeted immediately after it.

Here are a few quotes and observations from the call.

• Morris on a surprising interview he had: “We had (one of the top-rated wide receivers) off of our board. . . This is one of those stories about what you find out at combine and stuff. I was interviewing (this receiver) at the Senior Bowl, along with another scout, and we’re just sitting there in the ballroom and he just mentions that, yeah, he likes to go home and smoke pot with his buddies on weekends. And we didn’t ask him, we didn’t say anything. People at (his school) told you that he never tested positive. So he just kind of off-the-cuff said that, and plus, I knew his head coach real well at (his school) and he didn’t have a lot of good things to say about him, either. He was a guy that had all the production, and you watch the tape and you could put together a really good highlight tape, but just as a guy on our team, we didn’t want (him) on our team. . .  Being that it was (that school), it (happened) pretty frequently, so it wasn’t surprising at all. That was just the culture around them at the time.”
• Neither Blake or Bob said their teams had any interest in Saints QB Taysom Hill, who looks like he’ll be New Orleans’ starter next year.
• Which player was rated as the top player not the board for the Titans? Florida State DC Jalen Ramsey. For the 49ers? Same player.
• The Titans got back a first-round grade for Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott from their area scout, but had no interest in him with Marcus Mariota already in the fold. As you know, Prescott slid to the fourth round.
• The Titans already had DeMarco Murray at running back when they drafted Alabama’s Derrick Henry in the second round. Blake, who really liked Henry, spent three hours “standing on the table” for Henry until he won GM Jon Robinson over.

There’s WAY more in the 82 minutes Blake and Bob spent with us. If you purchased my latest book, Scout Speak, and you tweet about it, let me know (@InsideTheLeague) and I’ll send you the link.

If this isn’t your first time reading my blog, you already know I recently wrote a book about the NFL scouting business called Scout Speak. However, you may not know what we’ve got going on a week from today for everyone who’s bought a copy and tweeted about it (more on that later).

Tuesday night at 8 p.m. EST, my friend Blake Beddingfield, former Director of College Scouting for the Titans, will join me and everyone who tweets a picture of their copy of Scout Speak and includes the hashtag #ScoutSpeak before Monday on a Zoom call. It takes five years to properly judge a draft class, right? Well, on Tuesday, we’ll talk about the 2016 draft, one in which Blake (and the Titans) figured prominently.

Let’s set the scene. The team was coming off a 3-13 record in QB Marcus Mariota’s first season as a starter and had elevated Mike Mularkey from interim to full-time head coach. The team was lacking in playmakers on offense and wanted to go to more of a power offense. Meanwhile, on defense, the pass rush was solid with Brian Orakpo and Jurrell Casey but looking for talent in the secondary.

Here’s a rundown of the questions Blake will address.

• The draft had franchise QBs at the top two picks and an impact defensive end at No. 3, plus several big stars sprinkled throughout Round 1. Who were the top five players on the Titans’ board, regardless of position?
• The 2016 draft was a big one for passers. Given that you were in Year 2 with Marcus Mariota, how did you size up the quarterbacks that year?
• No one who watched the draft will forget 12 teams passing on Ole Miss OT Laremy Tunsil after an embarrassing video of him surfaced immediately before the draft. How could one quick video have resulted in so many teams passing up the best left tackle in the draft? Did the Titans really have Michigan State’s Jack Conklin, whom they drafted at 8, higher than Tunsil? How could the fear of facing an uncomfortable press conference have scared so many teams off the No. 1 blindside protector in the draft? Is there something teams knew that fans and the media didn’t.
• The Titans selected Clemson OB Kevin Dodd with the first pick of the second round. He had one sack in his two NFL seasons. What went wrong?
• Tennessee drafted Alabama OH Derrick Henry midway through the second round when the popular narrative was that running backs were mostly interchangeable. What prompted you to ignore the narrative and take him? How close did you come to taking him higher? Lower?
• There were several great safeties in the 2016 draft (Florida’s Keanu Neal, Maryland’s Sean Davis and Ohio State’s Vonn Bell among them), but you might have gotten the best one in Middle Tennessee’s Kevin Byard at 64. Was he your No. 1 safety?
• One of the most exciting players in the game, Saints QB Taysom Hill, went undrafted. What was “the book” on Hill that resulted in Kevin Hogan, Brandon Doughty and Jeff Driskel getting drafted but not Hill?
• What was “the book” on Ohio State’s Michael Thomas that prompted five wide receivers — most of whom are now out of the league — to be drafted before the Saints selected him in the second round?
• Who is the player you nearly took, but didn’t, and regret the most?
• Did you have any “now it can be told” interviews or experiences during pro days or Top 30 visits that spring?

I can’t wait till Tuesday. It’s gonna be a blast! If you haven’t already, make sure you pick up your copy of Scout Speak and tweet a picture of it with the #ScoutSpeak hashtag (like this one) by Sunday night. I want you on this Zoom call. Hope to see you soon!

This week, dozens of NFL agents and a handful of people taking the exam this summer (hopefully) joined me on a Zoom call with Will Lewis, who is the former Director of Pro Scouting for the Chiefs. Will has a wealth of experience, having played in the league as well as serving on both the college and pro side with the Packers and Seahawks.

Most recently, Will was the Assistant Director of Personnel with Houston’s XFL franchise. The Roughnecks were regarded as the league’s finest team before operations were suspended this spring. He even spent time as the GM of the Memphis Express in the Alliance of American Football, and is the father of third-year NFL  cornerback Ryan Lewis, who’s with the Giants after stints with the Bills and Dolphins.

Will talked extensively about how a pro director decides who’s getting the call when injuries strike. It’s an especially poignant topic given the difficulties associated with the quarantines and the reactions to the virus. Here are a few of his best insights.

On agents calling too much: “Sometimes, maybe you think, ‘I think I’ve worn (the pro director) out,’ but I think that’s part of the deal. Sometimes I don’t want to talk to (an agent), I’ve heard from him twice this week, but in reality, (I have) to hear from (him). Now you have a chance to set the record straight. That personal touch, the phone call, is big. Some guys aren’t comfortable with the phone call, but you have the option of emailing the pro director every week, and saying, ‘these are my practice squad-eligible guys, these are my street guys, these are my guys on other teams that have potential for trade.’ You’re just updating anybody you want to update.”

On how to develop a relationship with an NFL executive: “I’d say the main thing, and it’s probably not length of time, it’s number of interactions. For me, it was easy talking to certain agents when the packages they were selling me were not what I was looking for, but it was exactly what they said it was. If you brought in a guy and it didn’t pan out, and he was not what the team thought he was, and you’ve presented him to the GM/HC as someone else, it doesn’t bode well for you.”

On the ebbs and flows of roster replacement: “First 2-3 weeks of the season, teams lose players, and it always seems like there’s a run on one position, and then you go from one DB hurt to three others hurt. For the most part, you try to encourage guys, whether street free agent or whether they’re in camp with you, to make sure they’re ready to go. Lot of things will happen and there will be big changes. And then a lull during the second or third week in October, then closer to Week 10, they happen again, partly because it’s been a long season, and some guys are fatigued and get hurt because of that. Then the other time to tell guys is toward the end of the season when teams start signing futures deals.”

If you’re an agent, or if you plan to be someday, I highly recommend you listen to Will’s full 90 minutes with us. Just register here and we’ll send the link. Will had lots of insights and thoughts on the game that you just don’t get in the general media.

For more on the business of the game and where it’s headed, make sure to register for the Friday Wrap, which comes out Friday afternoon at 7:30 p.m. EST every week.

I’m getting a lot of questions about how much to spend on players who choose to opt out of the 2020 fall football season. Rather than answer every question individually, I thought I’d break it all out in a blog post.

Understand that these are best guesses based on what I’ve heard of the packages so far. These numbers are liable to move as more and more opt out and the market comes to balance.

First half of first round (1-20): Based on what scouts have told me, these are the players that probably can safely opt out. That means their market probably doesn’t slide much.

• Estimated stipend/marketing guarantee and per diem: Depending on how close they are to No. 1, you’re looking at $7,000-$8,000 per month through the draft and a marketing guarantee that’s in the $150,000-$300,000 range.
• Also: Training of player’s choice (probably about $30,000 all in, maybe $10,000 higher if he starts training now), rental car, housing, etc.

Late first to early second (21-50): These are the names you’re seeing populate multiple mock drafts in the 15-32 range. Some of these players will slide, but they seem safe to fall no farther than the end of Day 2.

• Estimated stipend/marketing guarantee and per diem: I’ve heard of some hefty marketing guarantees for players in this range already, but it’s risky. I’d say you’re safest in the $50,000-$30,000 range. As far as stipend, probably around $5,000/month through the draft should get it done.
• Also: Same as above on training and other amenities.

Late second to end of third: This is a tricky area, because players will think they can opt out and maybe slide into first-round territory, when really they’re in danger of sliding into Day 3. If you’re an agent, that’s not an easy message to convey.

• Estimated stipend/marketing guarantee and per diem: You’re in trouble if you overpay on per diem for eight months here. My guess is you want to stay in the same range that you would have paid for four months ($20,000-$25,000), but spread it over eight. You probably want to stay south of $4,000/month here. Marketing guarantee would have to be no more than $10,000-$15,000, depending on how high you have to go on the per diem. You’ll get that back on the trading card deal anyway, presuming he doesn’t have a marketing guy.
• Also: Same as above on training and other amenities, but maybe you can get away with a slightly smaller package for a player at a non-sexy position (interior o-line, inside linebacker, maybe safety). But probably not.

Bubble Day 3/ to end of fifth round: This is where you’re hoping you can show the player a nice training package and that’s enough. Stipends have to be in the $1,500/month area, no more than $2,000/month through the draft. These are the players that are really in danger of falling out of the draft if they’re not playing.

• Estimated stipend/marketing guarantee and per diem: You have to have a Day 3 mindset for these players. Stipend/MG has to be $10,000 or less. Per diem can’t be over $1,500/month thru draft or you’re really gambling.
• Also: This is where you push your trainer who’ll make you a deal, or maybe who is really aching to train a guy who could go Day 2. If you’re lucky, you stash the kid at a trainer who’s not in the Sun Belt, which also saves you money. The problem is that it’s gonna be hard to talk him out of the blue-chip training facilities, and if you have to go $30,000 to train him, you gotta make cuts elsewhere. This is where the middle-class agencies are hitting the rocks these days.

I wouldn’t recommend signing anyone rated below third round who’s opting out. Anyone below here is more likely to fall out of the draft than to “fall upward.” It’s out of sight, out of mind in the NFL.

We’ll discuss this more in this week’s Friday Wrap. You can register for it here.

This week, my second book, Scout Speak: Thinking & Talking About Being an NFL Evaluator, was published on Amazon. Given that it’s only been out a week, you won’t find any reviews yet, but I wanted to give you a fair shot at learning more about it. Though you might be interested, even at $12.95, I don’t want you to buy a proverbial ‘pig in a poke.’

Because a lot of friends of mine have helped me talk about the book, I wanted to turn the spotlight back on them and tout their platforms.

The State of Football Show with Ric Serritella: Monday, I was a guest with Ric along with John Murphy, Toronto Argonauts VP of Player Personnel, and Ralph Ventre, the Assistant Commissioner of the Northeast Conference. If you move to the 52nd minute of the broadcast, I discuss how and why I wrote the book, why I think it’s inspiring to anyone who is considering working in football, and what I hope to accomplish with the book. There are also a lot of great insights on football during lockdowns from John and Ralph. By the way — Ric is giving away the book next week, so make sure to tune in (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. ET) to get your free copy.

The Beer Garden with RebelGrove.com’s Neal McCready: I’ve known Neal since before I launched Inside the League — I actually searched the Internet practically before there was Google to find Neal, who I paid to cover an Ole Miss press conference — so it’s alway a pleasure to get on a podcast with him. The first 10 minutes or so are about how I decided what the book would look like and why, I think, there’s such a fascination with NFL scouting. Added bonus: There is now a recording of my divisional and playoff picks for the 2020 NFL season, so you can easily mock me in January if I brick everything. Spoiler alert: No J.J. Watt hate in this edition.

Twitter love: A number of my friends were kind enough to tweet about their book purchases. My friend Mike Rittelman, who assembles the rosters for the College Gridiron Showcase, was one of the first to read the book (he short-circuited the paperback delay by checking it out on Kindle) and he had some kind things to say. Among others who tweeted their purchases were NYC-based attorney Dan Cassidy, a great friend and a crackerjack NFL contract advisor, and Kyle Morgan, XOS’ southwest regional scout (formerly of Arizona State’s personnel office).

There were also kind words texted from dozens of people across the scouting community which were very much appreciated.

I’ll also be on SiriusXM with Alex Marvez and Zig Fracassi Sunday at 1:35 p.m. ET (channel 88). I’ll be on for one segment, and I’d be honored if you’d join us.

If you’d still like to learn more about the book, I go into detail on several topics we cover (along with page numbers for quick reference) in today’s Friday Wrap. If you aren’t already registered for it, do that here.

In today’s Friday Wrap, we present the results of a survey of almost 40 former NFLPA-certified contract advisors. We wanted to find out if they still miss the game, if they felt they got a fair shot at success, what the biggest problems they faced were, and if they’d ever consider getting certified again.

If you don’t receive the Wrap, and want to read about what the numbers told us, make sure to register for it. It comes out at 7:30 p.m. ET every Friday.

One thing I found interesting is that many of those that I reached out to completed the survey, but still had plenty to say (one even remarked that he didn’t see any place for comments, then sent me a lengthy text on the business’ challenges). The passion remains for virtually everyone who gets a taste of the game, even if that taste turned out to be a bitter one.

The responses broke mostly into three groups.

• What they learned: “The little guy will never wins against the big fish and marketing advances,” said one. “Couple that with training costs, good luck.” Another listed the three main factors that new agents face, going into detail how “capital,” “player contact and communication,” and “understanding the team side of the equation” are all determining factors. “No amount of letter writing, text, email, etc., can persuade a team to bring a guy in for a workout,” he said. “Every team knows the availability of free agents, and the teams call when they call. The players, unfortunately, have trouble understanding that the call may not come for weeks.” Another faulted the Players Association: “To me, the biggest problem is the NFLPA, because they have the power to cure many of the problems/hurdles agents face. But they just choose to stand by and watch.”
• How and why they miss the game: “I miss the business everyday,” said one former agent. “Wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t for my now-wife threatening due to my travel.” Another said, “I miss the relationships of the business. I met a lot of good people.” Camaraderie is always cited by people who leave the game and miss it.
• They haven’t lost the itch: “My wife actually encouraged me to return after watching me help my daughter get a basketball scholarship. I need to do something in the game — not sure what it is. I tried to get into personnel, but most guys felt like, because of my age, I’d be a hard sell.” Said another ex-advisor, “Still wish I was in the business sometimes, but apparently it just wasn’t meant to be.

I often say that no one walks out of the game. They only leave ‘on their shields,’ most often due to threat of divorce, litigation, bankruptcy or even all of the above. It’s something to remember for everyone who aspires to work with NFL players.

Every summer since 2012, the NFLPA has held a certification exam for aspiring contract advisors in July. That string (like so many others) was broken this year as the test was postponed earlier this year.

Will there even be an exam this year? Good question. Given that we don’t even know if there will be an NFL combine this year, when the draft will be held, or if we’ll make it through a 17-week season, whether or not an exam will be held is pretty far down the list to most. However, to those people who have waited all their lives to represent NFL players, it’s a most urgent matter.

For the ninth year, we’re offering study materials for everyone taking the exam. For the last five years or so, about 200-250 people sat for the exam. We typically work with about half the test-takers in each class, and we have a passing ratio of around 80-90 percent of our clients passing on the first try. When you figure that since 2015, only about 45 percent of each class actually passes the exam, I’ll let you do the math on our materials’ effectiveness.

Here are a few more facts.

• There are 128 contract advisors who have at least 10 active NFL clients, and 34 of them have been certified since 2012, when we introduced our first practice exam. Of that 34, 20 (58.8 percent) used our study materials to pass. Of those certified since 2015, nine of the 10 used our exams and study guide.
• We tabulate the leaders in draft value points each year, by agency. Basically, a firm gets points for each draftee, with a sliding number of points based on
  the scale credited to former NFL head coach Jimmy Johnson.

  Since 2007, the active top ten, in order, are CAA, Athletes First, SportFive (formerly Lagardere Sports), Independent Sports & Entertainment, Rep1 Sports, SportStars, Octagon Football, SportsTrust Advisors, Rosenhaus Sports and BC Sports. Of the 10, nine firms have agents who got certified using our materials. Several of them have multiple contract advisors who used them.

• As of October of last year, there were 276 contract advisors still active from the last three classes (2017-19). Even with the attrition that happens every year, 176 of those still standing (58.3 percent) used our study materials to get certified. They are with agencies large and small and across the country.

If you’re one of those people who are still hoping the NFLPA holds the exam this summer, and you haven’t gotten to know us yet, please check out our study guide and two practice exams. You can read more about our materials, as well as testimonials from the past several classes, here.

Also, for more on our study materials and what we do at ITL, register for our Friday Wrap here.