It’s been 22 years this weekend since I launched Inside the League. I didn’t really know for sure where ITL would end up, or if I’d ever make a penny, but I really had only one goal: I wanted to know why teams picked (and didn’t pick) the players they chose. The NFL Draft just had so much intrigue then.

More than two decades later, I still know nothing. However, I’ve gotten at least some insights on it over the past four years as I’ve written my next book, which (I hope) comes out around Draft Day 2025. It’s tentatively called “Crazy Eight,” and though that’s a working title, I think it’s fitting. It’s about eight players selected in the 2016 draft — Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, Dak Prescott, Laremy Tunsil, Jakeem Grant, Michael Thomas, Derrick Henry and Tyreek Hill — and their draft stories, but told from the perspective of the scouts and executives who drafted them. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Bob McGinn, a beat writer for the Packers for four decades, but he’s very good at telling the back stories on the draft. That’s what I do in Crazy Eight.

I chose these eight because, No. 1, they’ve all been successful players. Every single one of them has been to at least one Pro Bowl and most have even been All-Pro. But I also chose them because, except in the cases of Goff and Wentz, they were all drafted later than they should have, given what they’ve accomplished in the league. It’s a testament to all of them that they are all (except Thomas, for now), still part of the league almost a decade after being drafted. That’s a real achievement, I don’t care where you were drafted or what kind of impact you had as a player.

How is this book different from my last book? Well, Scout Speak was more-or-less a love letter to the professional player evaluator. If you read it, I hope you learned a little more about how NFL scouts do their jobs and how an NFL scouting department works. For my next book, I hope you’ll learn more about what matters when it comes to evaluating players, how teams differ in their priorities, and maybe even the blind spots for NFL teams and even the limits on what they can even know. There’s a temptation to think that NFL teams know all and see all, but scouts are people, too, and they have to clear multiple obstacles to get the real truth about players. Sometimes, even when they get that information, it’s hard to know what to do about it. Again, scouts are human.

Anyway, the way the book is set up is, the first seven chapters are about the players themselves (Goff and Wentz, who went 1-2 that year, share a chapter). I try to go pretty deep on their backstories and the things that scouts knew, but maybe the general public didn’t know. If you know me, you know I don’t rip people or criticize them for doing their jobs in good faith, and this book is the same way. Hopefully you don’t find that boring. My goal, as always, is to tell stories and inform without embracing the crass trashing of people, even when they come up short, for entertainment purposes.

The last part of the book is dedicated to scouts’ stories about the way a handful of teams approached the draft. This is basically the “war stories” part of the book, and probably what I enjoy most about talking to scouts. There are so many facets to why a team takes the players it takes, and that’s what we dig into. So far, Tom Ciskowski (Cowboys), Don Gregory (Panthers), Matt Lindsey (Eagles), Tom McConnaughey (Chargers), Trey Scott (Raiders), Josh Washburn (Redskins), Steven Price (Vikings) and Chris Prescott (Bears) have shared their draft-day experiences from 2016 with me. I’ve also reached out to other friends to give their recollections, and in some cases, they differ from what I’d heard previously. At any rate, I’m still crafting their responses into narratives. Some of the stories I’ve heard so far have been fascinating, and I look forward to sharing them with you. These are all my friends, and they’ve told me a lot with the understanding that their recollections will be shared in the most positive light. Obviously, I will honor that. They’ve still got some fascinating stories to tell.

Anyway, I hope to have the manuscript done by the end of September, and then I’ll get to work on the audio file, the cover, having it proofread, and all the other vagaries of publishing a book. I look forward to sharing it with people who love scouting and the draft as much as I do. 

This week, Alabama’s Courtney Morgan made news with his most recent contract as General Manager of one of college football’s blue blood programs. It prompted some chatter on social media and within college football circles. A big part of that chatter had to do not with Morgan’s new money, but with the title and role itself. Do college football programs really need GMs?

It’s one of the questions I asked longtime NFL executive Eric Stokes, who joined us on the Scouting the League Podcast this week. He, like me, struggles to see how such an over-arching, all-encompassing title is necessary in the college game, given the differences with the pro game.

“I think it’s a completely different animal,” Eric said when comparing the jobs at the college and pro level. “The role of the General Manager at the NFL level is far more complex than the role of the GM at the collegiate level. It doesn’t even compare in terms of the day-to-day operations and the nuances you have to deal with as an NFL GM, because you’re in charge of the entire football operation. You’re dealing with everybody: the trainers, doctors, obviously you have to work with the coaching staff, the college scouting staff, your pro staff. In this day and age you’re working with analytics, you’re working with sports psychologists, obviously you are working very closely with your media department every day.

“There’s just so many different aspects of being a GM at the NFL level. It’s far more complex than at the college (level). Now, I do guess working off that platform at the college level in terms of recruiting and how it works in terms of NIL, the transfer portal, I could see why some of those structures are in place and how they may be implemented, but again, you’re just not dealing with the complexity, also with the salary cap. NIL, you don’t have bonuses, you don’t have accelerators, you don’t have a lot of the things that you’re working with at the pro level. I think they’re two different animals.”

I’d agree with Eric, though in fairness, there’s no general job description for the college GM. Because the college game is so much more coach-driven, with far fewer official “scouts” on staff at the lower level, there’s probably less of a need for someone running the whole football operation. You could argue that even in the SEC, that’s a common sentiment. Only half the schools in arguably the best football conference — Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt — actually have general managers, and their job descriptions don’t line up. 

For now, at least, it doesn’t appear that these teams are seeking someone to build the NFL model given that none of those teams’ GMs have extensive pro football experience. The only college GM that comes to mind with that level of NFL acumen is West Virginia’s Drew Fabianich. In fact, we haven’t seen the mass influx of NFL scouts and executives into the college ranks that many (including myself) expected. Not yet, at least. 

For example, Jake Rosenberg of The Athlete Group assisted in Oklahoma’s selection of Curtis Lofton as the school’s first-ever GM, and is currently working with another conference school as it searches for its first GM. He readily admits that the GM position is a bit of a work in progress and an anticipation of where college football is going.

“The profile or job description of college GM is in the early stages of transition,” he texted. “While it seems like it’ll be a while before the profile exactly matches that of NFL decision maker, the schools looking to function more optimally in this world are moving in that direction.

“That job can be more of a leadership and strategic position and less narrowly as an evaluator or recruiter. There is so much currently on the Head Coach’s plate that bringing in a strong and diverse skill set can appreciably have a broad benefit across the entire operation. And don’t forget the importance of mentorship and skill development to which a GM can/ should be at the heart of.“

Fair enough. I guess so much is in flux that it’s hard to pin down exactly where the GM position is going, as with so many other aspects of college football. How long until we see a million-dollars-per-year GM? Hard to say. I guess we won’t know for a while the true value of a college GM, and it will depend on how the job evolves. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how many more are hired and how high the dollars go.

It’s only been since the week after Thanksgiving that Rodrik David, who was already running his own podcast, The Scouting Report, invited me to partner with him on it. Since then, we’ve rebranded it Scouting the League, and though it took a while to really establish a rhythm, I think we’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with what we want the podcast to be.

Based on the feedback I’ve gotten from friends in the scouting and agent communities, we’ve been able to establish a space where we dig into the finer points of player representation and evaluation on the NFL level. I’m certainly no expert on things, and I doubt Rodrik would call himself one, either, but we both bring enough to the table to, hopefully, make it a lively weekly show with interesting insights and opinions.

I feel like our shows have gotten better and better, and the guests we’ve been privileged to have always bring their ‘A’ games. At the same time, obviously, some shows are better than others. With that in mind, here are the seven best episodes of Scouting the League, in my humble opinion, along with links in which you can listen for yourself.

1.David Canter, President of Football, GSM Worldwide: David is colorful bordering on outrageous, and this episode is an hour-plus of pure adrenaline. From the story of the chance encounter that led to his start in the industry, to the decision to sell his firm, to his thoughts on several issues facing the industry, David spits fire the entire time. Fair warning — we aren’t at the point where we can bleep out language, and there’s some language in this edition. Aug. 7, 2024

2. Mike McCartney, Head of Football, Vayner Sports: Once again, we got real candor and all the behind-the-scenes intrigue — in a classy, high-road way — from Mike on the drafting of Washington’s Michael Penix after the team had already signed Mike’s client, Kirk Cousins, to start at QB. There’s much more to the hour, but Mike’s discussion of their shock at the pick, plus what happened afterwards, is a must-listen. July 10, 2024

3. Mark Gorscak, former National Scout, Steelers: Mark is a friend of nearly everyone in the scouting community because of his love for the game and for its people. Mark is a great story-teller and thinks about the industry 24-7, which is why his episode was not only insightful but entertaining, as well. This is a great episode if you’re an aspiring scout wanting to learn the fundamentals of the biz and how to get in. March 20, 2024

4. Tom McConnaughey, former National Scout, Chargers & Jaguars: Rodrik and I are still trying to hit our stride on digging into the players and the picks that each guest can discuss, and I think we did our best job yet in this edition. Tom was in the war room for some truly special players; in the last half-hour, we run through several top former Chargers and Tom gives his thoughts on their selection. It’s really, really good.

5. Tony Vilani, Owner, XPE Sports: Tony is one of the top 3-4 speed trainers in the combine prep space, but that’s not why this was such a great episode. He’s also convinced the NFL cooks the books on the official 40 times posted during NFL Combine broadcasts, and he’s very specific about why he thinks what he does. He doesn’t pull any punches in his session with us. April 3, 2024

6. Dru Grigson, former scouting executive, Cardinals: We asked Dru to join us because the Cardinals have been at the forefront in grading and rewarding their scouts for good work, and he gave us plenty of insight into their process. However, he also gave us great background on how the Cards have developed, assigned, and evaluated their own evaluators. July 17, 2024

7. T.J. McCreight, former scouting executive, multiple teams: Having worked for the Eagles, Colts, Ravens and Cardinals, T.J. has seen how a lot of successful teams do things, and he brought that know-how to the podcast. He addresses a lot of the issues associated with the changing game and how to react to them, from a scouting standpoint. July 31, 2024

This week’s Friday Wrap, which comes out tomorrow, will feature my podcast partner Rodrik’s five favorite episodes. Make sure to check it out. Haven’t registered for the Friday Wrap? You can do that here. 

The spring portal closed end of last month, so things have slowed down on the transfer front. Unfortunately, that coincided with the draft, then a vigorous scout hiring/firing season, so we haven’t had a chance to get the picture of the April window this year.

With that in mind, we reached out to several people on both sides of it — agents and personnel people at schools — to get a sense of how the spring went. Here’s what we were told, first from the team/personnel side.

Talent, as expected, was a little low, though prices were still high: “There were some talented players, don’t get me wrong, but the teams that struck out during the winter portal were desperate to get them,” said one personnel director. “That drove the player’s market value up. . . Overall, it was hard to find elite talent in April’s portal compared to winter. I don’t think teams overpaid, per se, but the market value for certain positions increased.” Said another: “You’ll see a few high-profile guys go in, but it’s usually because they didn’t like the new staff that took over the program or NIL that was promised isn’t actually what is being given.” 

Patience is thin: “Was surprised to see the amount of redshirt freshman in the transfer portal,” said one source. “Players that rarely played last year, that did not have much tape to evaluate. Personnel like myself needed to evaluate based off high school HUDL tape.”

Jucos have a tougher path: “There were a good amount of former junior college players that entered the transfer portal,” said one personnel director. “Their path becomes challenging because of the transcripts that you need to acquire, and also you’re taking a shot on a young man that’s a 2/1 that may have not played too much in his past.”

Because there are fewer seasoned players, it’s harder to know what you’re getting: “Spring tends to be more roster-fillers and guys with less snaps and chances of playing time, so you lose depth in the end and it’s hard evaluating those guys in the portal due to a lack of experience,” said one source. 

Running back value was up: “Teams seemed to be overpaying for RBs. Every RB we talked to was asking for at least $100K. Guys like (new Miami signee/ex-Oregon State OH) Damien Martinez could go anywhere he wants,” said one school official.

There remains a poor understanding of economic forces and the by some players/agents: “Guys chasing the money truly don’t know how what the market value is and how a fiscal year works (SR with only seven months asking for a year’s amount of money, for example),” said a personnel and recruiting veteran. 

Some teams are coming up with creative ways to avoid paying retail for QBs: “I like what Texas Tech did,” said one school official. “Instead of paying $1.5-$2M for a QB, they decided to do something different and just get really good weapons on offense for a lesser QB. We will see if it works.”

As always, it all starts up front: “It is DIFFICULT to find quality OL and DL in the portal,” complained one source. “They tend not to leave. So when we lost our center . . . we decided to not replace him. It didn’t make sense to us. We moved that scholarship to get another QB on our roster.” 

There is as much mystery related to the market as ever: “All the numbers kids asked for were different at different schools, and often times, the rumor that’s floating out there isn’t what the kid is seeking,” said one source. “Agents have seen that they can take advantage of the kids’ earnings and will pump the number up just because there are no parameters and kids aren’t as involved in the money side.” 

Everyone always thinks they know which teams have to get a passer in the draft. That’s especially true since, these days, the shelf life on a struggling passer is shorter than ever. But every year, a team falls in love with a player and upsets the balance of the draft with its pick.

Today in the Friday Wrap (register for it here), we talk to people around the game and get their guess on how many QBs will be Day 1 picks this year. It’s probably no surprise that there isn’t a consensus; some say four, others five, and a few six. Make sure to check out the Wrap later today for all the takes.

Still, there’s one other question — which team will surprise by taking a passer? For example, the Titans took Kentucky’s Will Levis early in the second round despite being the first team to take a QB in the 2022 draft (Liberty’s Malik Willis in the third round). The Packers shook up the football community by taking Utah State’s Jordan Love in the first round in 2020; it looks like a genius move now, but it ruffled plenty of feathers with Aaron Rodgers still at the top of his game. The Vikings threw off the draft community in 2011 when they took Florida State’s Christian Ponder with the 12th pick. Ponder had early success, but only played three NFL seasons. 

Who could be the Titans, Packers or Vikings of the 2024 draft? Here are a few possibilities.

Saints: Yes, New Orleans signed Derek Carr to a big contract before the 2023 season. Yes, Carr played well down the stretch. Still, Carr’s contract only, effectively, has one year left, and at some point, the Saints need to turn the page. With a new offensive coordinator coming in, this might make sense.

Dolphins: The Fins hit on all cylinders offensively, but Tua Tagovailoa hasn’t been the most durable of passers and head coach Mike McDaniel is a pass-first kind of guy. Tagovailoa’s contract ends after the 2024 season. The team may feel the need to be proactive.

Cowboys: Owner/GM Jerry Jones didn’t fire Mike McCarthy, but there’s another way to change the team’s performance long-term. Like Tagovailoa, Dak Prescott also has a contract that’s short-term. The Cowboys might want to start fresh. 

Steelers: Pittsburgh just took Kenny Pickett two seasons ago, but the team is already saying he’ll face competition for the starting job next year. Might that competition come from a hotshot rookie? 

Lions: Jared Goff was never seen as the long-term answer at QB for the Lions, but that’s been forgotten due to his renaissance since arriving in Detroit. Maybe now, with a pretty strong team across the board, drafting the next QB could be a luxury the Lions can afford. Granted, the team might want to find out what it has in Hendon Hooker first, but still. 

Giants: This would be truly crazy with Daniel Jones entering the second year of his big new deal, but there’s pressure to win in NY, and if not win, there’s pressure to create hope. There’s nothing more that a new QB brings than hope. 

This time of year, with the NFL Draft in the news and the NFL Combine just around the corner, there’s a lot of interest in being an agent. I get a lot of questions from people interested in pursuing player representation, and I hate to dismiss them or diminish them by telling them I don’t have time for them. Still, this time of year, every second counts, so I thought I’d write a post aimed at people who are considering this profession. That way, I have a link I can share that encompasses my thoughts.

Here’s a rundown of what you need, literally and figuratively, if being an NFL agent is your goal.

Have $10,000 liquid. Take it from me. You will need this for training and travel expenses. This is actually a very conservative estimate, though, for the purposes of this post, I’m not going into the nuts and bolts of what you need. Just know that $10,000 is the bare minimum you need AFTER you’re certified if you want to try this.

Get a secondary degree. Some people have negotiated all their lives, and they try to prove they are fit for certification with solely an undergrad degree. Very rarely are these negotiation waivers granted. Even if it’s an online Master’s, go the extra mile and get that done before you really dive in.

Don’t expect big results in Year 1. This is probably true of the first year of any venture, but it’s definitely true in player representation. You must sign at least one player, and you need to really wade in and do whatever you can to get him (or them, if you sign several clients) to the league. There is no substituted for making Year 1 really count. You want to get those rookie mistakes out of the way early.

Take the exam seriously. It’s really challenging, yet every year, half of all test-takers fail the exam. Often it’s because they thought it would be an easy pass. It’s not.

Accept that you don’t know everything (and accept that that’s OK). I can’t tell you how often people enter this business with an attitude and an ego the size of the Superdome.  Sometimes they succeed, but more often than not they become the victims of their own arrogance. You can’t do this job alone. 

Read every post in this blog. I’ve been writing this series since 2014, and there’s a lot of good stuff in it. If you sift through the hundreds of posts, you’re going to learn a lot about being an agent. You especially need to read this post, but there are many others, as well. 

One other thing — consider joining us at Inside the League. Helping people succeed in this business is what we do. If you’re not quite ready to join ITL, no problem, but at least sign up for our free weekly newsletter that comes out on Fridays. You can do that here.