Tag Archives: NFL Scouting

Innovation in the All-Star Space

30 Monday Nov 2015

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Today, I wanted to take a moment to tip my hat to a couple of guys who are trying something new. Craig Redd and Jose Jefferson are a lot like Michael Quartey, someone else I’ve written about in this space. But this year, they’re trying a new spin on an old trick, and I think it’s gonna work for them.

For years, people have been trying without success to run an all-star game without losing their shirts. The economics of these games are beyond the scope of today’s post, but the bottom line is that most are set up with a week of practices leading to a game. The game is really not of interest to scouts, but it’s a way for a game’s organizers to recoup their investment. The bad news is that usually, a game draws very few fans, and the cost of stadium rental, promotion and, most of all, broadcasting the game run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Since Craig and Jose know this, they’ve scrapped the idea of an all-star game altogether, and they’ll focus solely on the practices.

I should mention that this idea didn’t come without a lot of soul-searching. First of all, Craig and Jose ran the College Gridiron Showcase last year just outside Dallas, and it held to a traditional format with an end-of-week game. Though it was very well-received by teams and had 10 players drafted (a great total for a first-year game), it was a money loser, so they’ve seen first-hand that there’s a need to try something new. Second, before they launched down this path, they ran the idea by everyone they knew in football, and it became clear that scouts had no quibble with workouts but no game.

Still, there are risks involved. Because there’s no game and no chance to earn money with gate receipts, they’re asking players to get to the game on their own. This eliminates another great cost of running a game: transportation. Flying a hundred players into Dallas might cost $50,000 or more, so that’s one less debt the game will accumulate. Craig and Jose are also taking advantage of their field rental (the showcase will be held at Pennington Field in Bedford, Texas, just outside Dallas) to run workouts with two other groups — draft-eligible players who will pay a small fee to be part of the festivities, and street free agents who still feel they have NFL ability. Scouts from the NFL as well as the CFL, AFL, IFL and start-up MLFB will be on hand.

Craig and Jose know there are no guarantees, but if they can pull this off, they’ve figured out a way to give young men new opportunities without falling deeply into the red. That’s both rewarding and smart. If you’re looking to get into the football business, I encourage you to do the same outside-the-box thinking.

 

Did Ezekiel Elliott Hurt Himself With His Comments?

23 Monday Nov 2015

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By now, you’re more than likely aware that Ohio State was toppled from the ranks of the unbeaten Saturday at the hands of Michigan State. You’re probably also aware that there was a good bit of frustration in the Buckeyes’ locker room afterwards, including some interesting comments and Tweets from the players.

One of those comments came from Bucks OH Ezekiel Elliott, who expressed frustration with the coaches’ play-calling and declared his OSU career over shortly after the game.

Elliott’s comments and self-control came into question in some quarters on the Web, so I reached out to some scouting friends for their reaction. They were in three camps. First, those who don’t believe it will have any effect.

  • “Why would it, do you think? Just typical ‘me generation’ behavior. Nothing to be read into other than the obvious.”
  • “No, especially when the head coach said the same thing.”
  • “Probably not (going to affect his draft status).”

Then there was one who thought it would be an issue.

  • “Yes, for sure. That kind of selfish behavior will have to be investigated further. . .  Also poor timing on announcing he will go pro. Sounds like an immature kid wanting attention.”

And one who said it may not, but it will probably complicate things.

  • “Most likely not. It will just cause him a lot more tough questions during interviews. Folks will push him with an aggressive line of questions to see if he maintains his composure or if he perhaps is what those thoughts reflect: self-centered. Someone once told me the best RB’s are guys that know how to appreciate and build up the OL, and in turn the OL want to block for a guy that makes everyone feel good, gives others credit. He might be best matched with an older Vet RB to show him that path.”

Ultimately, Elliott’s game will determine where he’s drafted, and a team that falls in love with the Buckeye may scrutinize his comments, but it’s unlikely it could have a major impact. Of course, different teams vet players differently, but it only takes one team to draft a player in the first round, or in some other early round. It will be interesting to see where he lands.

Draftable?

17 Tuesday Nov 2015

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One of the questions I always get from my newer agent clients is, “I’ve been talking to Player X” — sometimes they actually say Player X, because they want to keep the identity confidential — “but he wants training, and I don’t know if he’s worth it or not. Should I sign him? What do the scouts tell you?”

Before I go any further, let me mention that I addressed this question in a somewhat different way in August. The difference is that last time, it was aimed more at players trying to determine if they had NFL promise.

First of all, let’s address the scouts part. Scouts are notoriously cryptic about players that are outside the top 100 projected picks. Actually, in my experience, most scouts give you one of two responses when you ask them about a player (especially before January). If the player is expected to go anywhere in the first three rounds, the response is usually, “He’s a good player. He could be an early pick.” Note that the agent doesn’t make any real predictions, because so much could happen at the combine/pro day. On the other hand, if the player is expected to go anywhere after the 100th pick, it’s usually, “He’s a late-rounder, probably, or a camp guy.” They don’t get a lot more specific than that, and I understand, because there’s so much that could happen between January and May.

For this reason, I’ve devised three very quick, very cursory guidelines on guessing if a player has a legitimate chance to go to camp (and maybe even get drafted in the latter rounds):

  1. Was the player highly productive, accomplished and decorated in college?: Even players from small schools will pique the interest of scouts if they’ve been on numerous all-conference teams and started for several seasons. Often, an agent will ask me about a kid that only started infrequently or was hurt almost his whole career. Those players get drafted late sometimes, but it’s not worth the risk.
  2. Is the player at least 6-feet tall?: Used to, receivers, running backs, linebackers and defensive backs could get away with being 5-8 or 5-9. Really, the only players still in play on draft day that can get away with that today are running backs. What’s more, a player who’s tall and skinny can’t be ruled out automatically, either. Many training facilities can put 10-15 pounds of muscle on a slender player in 6-8 weeks. One note: obviously, offensive linemen and defensive linemen usually need to be well over 6-0.
  3. Does the player have obvious speed?: This one is a lot harder to judge, and very often, even NFL scouts don’t have a reliable 40 time on a player. Great example: Arkansas QB Matt Jones entered his senior season in 2004 seen as a very raw passer with some athleticism, but probably a 4.8-4.9 speed guy. For whatever reason, he didn’t time on ‘junior day’ for the Hogs, and his speed was estimated. Then he goes to the combine and runs a sub-4.4 40 (4.37) at 242 pounds, and suddenly, he’s the toast of the 2005 draft class. He never transitioned smoothly to receiver in the NFL, but the point is, speed excites scouts. If a prospect runs well at his pro day, at the very least, he generates excitement among NFL teams.

Obviously, this is a rather superficial look at determining a prospect’s value on draft day, but it’s a start. More on shaking out the draft process tomorrow.

The Box

16 Monday Nov 2015

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As we wind down the college football season, I’m getting more and more calls from agents and parents on issues regarding the 2016 draft. Some are related to agent selection, and many are related to leaving early. Maybe you have similar questions. This week, I’m going to discuss these topics and the different factors associated with the topic.

Today, I got a call from a recently certified agent who’s been in talks with a redshirt junior at a major BCS school. The young man is a receiver, and my friend asked what he should tell the young man, who’s strongly weighing departing for the draft.

The first thing I asked was, does he have the ‘three legs of the stool,’ i.e., size, speed and production? The agent responded that he has two of them: he’s put up wild numbers this year, and he believes the young man has sub-4.5 speed. The only problem is that he’s well below 6-feet tall. Though that’s not a deal-breaker, it’s become an important box to check. Of the 263 receivers who opened the season on NFL rosters, 193 were 6-0 or taller. What’s more, there are only 44 receivers under 5-11 in the league, and over the last three draft classes, only 32 are under 6-feet; 19 were undrafted free agents.

It all added up to a young man who probably fits as a late-round selection and maybe a camp guy.

On the other hand, he’s got enough credits to graduate. He’s fully healthy; there’s no guarantee the same will be true this time next year (and scouts are not especially forgiving). There’s a great chance one or more of the coaches on staff will be elsewhere next season, as well as his quarterback. In other words, he’s in a box.

My friend really wants to do what’s best for the young man, but he’s in a box, too. He’s already talked to scouting sources who’ve drawn the same conclusion. He can recommend that the young man put his name in with the draft advisory board, but given the new way the board is handling reviews, it’s unlikely there will be any useful information.

If he recommends that the kid go back for his senior year, he comes across as education-oriented and well-meaning, but if there’s an injury, it may dash the young man’s chance to do something special. If he encourages the receiver to leave early, he may look like the stereotypical greedy agent if he goes undrafted.

Unfortunately, many young men are facing a similar dilemma. There’s no clear, cut-and-dried answer. That’s what makes this time of year so difficult.

This week, we’ll discuss the factors one must use to make this decision. We’ll discuss the factors one must consider when seeking feedback from scouts, coaches and family members, and we’ll handle other questions we get via Twitter or in the comments section of this post. If you know someone facing this dilemma, I hope you’ll encourage him to check us out this week.

 

Which Schools Give Scouts the Most Headaches?

29 Thursday Oct 2015

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One might think that all schools want to see their players drafted, right? It brings press and prestige to the program, and helps a team land the next big recruits, one would think.

Well, one would be wrong, at least in some cases. We polled several scouts to get their opinions on what schools give them the most problems. Some were diplomatic, some less so. The one school that came through more than once was Auburn, but I’ll let the scouts do the talking.

Here are five responses we got from different scouts. Auburn was the only school named more than once, and it was named three times.

  • “All schools are different. Some (are) certainly “easier” than others based on a lot of factors. But in the end, it’s a long evaluation process and teams generally get what they need (even if it’s not as easily accessible as they would like).”
  • “So many bad ones and so many very good ones. Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, UCLA, Arizona, Florida, Oregon, Stanford, would be at the top of the lists before this year. Worst visits would be K-State, Louisville (and) used to be Texas, but not sure now with (head coach Charlie) Strong. (Former Texas head coach) Mack Brown was a really good guy, but you had to work really hard to get information. It should be better (now). Basically there are some difficult coaches who make your job difficult.”
  • “TCU, Georgia Tech and Auburn come to mind. They just restrict viewing practice and when you can visit. (Auburn has) actually gotten better. Georgia Tech is possibly the worst in the South. They only let you watch practice for 12 minutes. (Head coach Paul Johnson) doesn’t care.”
  • “Most of the colleges out west are pretty good. Sometimes, some of the SEC schools can be difficult. But it’s different with different steps. Sometimes you can go to Alabama or Georgia and you’re great to deal with, but under a different staff there, (it’s) tougher to deal with. Same thing with any other college. . . Obviously all the big schools have high-end equipment and some of the lower-end schools (Division II, Division III) and some of the traditionally African-American schools sometimes don’t have as good equipment. . .  .”
  • “Auburn, Michigan and Michigan State to name a few. (Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn) is odd but his assistants are good people.”
  • “Auburn and Oklahoma State.”

WSW: All-Star Antics

28 Wednesday Oct 2015

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The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl and the Shrine Game have both sent out their first round of invitations, and with the Senior Bowl slated to do the same on Monday, it’s about that time when conversation turns to the showcases where scouts get to evaluate top players from the ’16 draft class.

It got me thinking about a question I get at times, which is: were the players at the games you ran ever a problem? I can think of two good examples.

The first instance was in the first game I ever worked. It was called the Inta Juice North-South All-Star Classic in Houston in 2007. I was Personnel Director for the game, and still trying to figure out exactly where I fit into the football landscape.

It was played the second week in January ’07, and after spending the fall cobbling together a roster from scratch with the game’s president, my friend, Dave Ippoliti, we got through game week with a feeling of exhaustion and accomplishment. Though it was the first time any of us had done anything like this, we had arrived at game day, and we were feeling pretty satisfied. Except for a few late buses and a full week of chicken wings meals at every lunch (we had found a vendor who would trade us meals for advertising), I was pretty satisfied. However, I remember an event that took a bit of shine off the experience.

The players had just gotten off the bus and were filing into the lockers to get dressed when someone remarked about a missing piece of gear — a mouthpiece, or an ear pad, or something along those lines. I said something along the lines of, ‘I’ll take care of it,’ but before I could get going, I heard something along the lines of, “You better, because y’all haven’t given us anything all week.”

It was Lane College WR Jacoby Jones. Though he had come from a tiny school, we had given him a chance in our game, and he performed, parlaying his appearance into a Shrine Game slot the following week and, in the draft, a third-round selection by the Texans. Though we felt we’d been quite charitable in getting him a look with scouts, he was frustrated because we hadn’t loaded him up with swag such as free hoodies, track suits and shoes with fancy game logos. This was a bit of an omen; Jones showed his petulance on more than one occasion in the league and had his share of off-field incidents, including a celebrated party bus fight with a stripper and a DWI arrest.

The only other incident came in 2008, the following year, when I was running the Hula Bowl as its Executive Director. Though most of our players were on their best behavior (including Fresno State DT Jason Shirley, who wore a suit everywhere he went — in Hawaii — to try to dispel a few character issues), there was one player who was always on our case. If we had to change the schedule, or a meeting was cancelled, or a practice ran late, there was Western Michigan OG James Blair, showing up at our game headquarters with a big frown, there to express his dissatisfaction with this latest injustice. It got to where every time we saw him, we wanted to run the other way, because he was never happy. I remember the week after the game a Bucs scout called me to ask if we’d had any problems with any players. I gave him one name, and I remember that after I told him, I got the sense that that was the name he was expecting.

If you’re a player who gets a game invite, or the parent or agent of a young man hoping to get one, make sure you urge him not to be a malcontent during game week. His unhappiness might not mean anything to scouts (as with Jones), but it might wind up having an impact (Blair, despite getting invited to the combine, went undrafted and bounced around briefly with three teams before leaving the league).

WSW: A Little Help From His Coach

21 Wednesday Oct 2015

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Players get to the NFL in different ways. Some are obvious talents that are highly regarded by ‘Internet scouts’ as well as league evaluators, and some take less direct routes. Last week, we chronicled the story of a Saints OH Khiry Robinson, who had to wait for an all-star invite, then wait for an NFL camp tryout invite, and finally beat the odds by making the team in New Orleans.

This week, we illustrate the ‘who you know’ aspect of evaluation with another former Saints rusher, Pierre Thomas, who is the team’s all-time leader in catches by a running back. Though Thomas was never a headline-grabber during his time in the Crescent City, he was a reliable part of an explosive offense and a versatile back.

He came in through the back door with the Saints, however, with the help of a former coach. Ex-Saints scout Barrett Wiley tells the story of how the team wound up signing him as an undrafted free agent. Here’s the full interview, if you want to check it out.

“(Assistant special teams coach Greg McMahon), the position coach who coached Pierre (at Illinois had recently been hired to the Saints’ staff). . . and he knew what Pierre would bring to the table. So he knew that every day, Pierre was going to show up, (and) he was going to work as hard as he could. He was going to give his all, everything he could, and he . . . informed us that, you know, Pierre may not be the prettiest, the biggest, the fastest, but he’s going to work. At worst, if he makes the roster, he’s going to be able to contribute on special teams, because everyone has a role on the NFL team. Whether you’re a starter or a backup, you have to contribute on special teams. So with that said, Pierre came in — Pierre was a need position – an (undrafted free agent) after the draft and he became that running back who just blossomed into a solid borderline starter and a contributor for the Saints. He was a guy who showed up every day, did everything, you know, just whatever his deficiencies were, he overcame them. That’s the best way to describe Pierre. I can’t say anything negative about him. He can’t break an 80-yard run; that’s his only negative if you think about it. But everything else he does, he does well and you can live with it.

“The coach would start to talk him up a lot . . . leading into the draft . . . like that Thursday, Friday (before draft weekend). He would come down (to talk to the scouts), and say, ‘I got a guy.’ He would come to the draft room and say, ‘I got a guy, (and) wherever he may be on the board, when we need a running back, I got a guy.’ One of those situations. The coach, he’s putting his neck on the line for that guy in terms of, from his evaluation standpoint, not his true livelihood, but just his evaluation standpoint. So the coach said, ‘hey, I got a guy,’ and we went with that. The area scout watched him, and said, ‘well, it depends on what you want, but I wouldn’t have a problem with that, I wouldn’t fight against that.’ (It was) one of those situations.”

What a Difference A Year Makes

19 Monday Oct 2015

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The emergence of Cardale Jones, from Ohio State’s third-string QB to its savior during the Buckeyes’ title run, was a fascinating story to me, and many others, last season.

However, what was even more fascinating was that some indicated that he was a near-certain first-rounder (maybe even a top-10 pick), and there was plenty of buzz that Jones mulled entering the ’15 draft following his three-game ‘career’ (Big Ten Championship plus two games in the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship) at the end of last season.

It looks like such speculation was premature. After a series of mediocre performances, OSU head coach Urban Meyer is weighing a change at quarterback. Now that Jones has shown he’s human, I reached out to several scouts on where they saw him going last fall. I got five responses. They were pretty much in line with what I thought — that no matter what he’d done in three games, it was just three games. Of course, one of the scouts expressed his belief that Jones had done enough to get him drafted well above where he belonged, based on the ‘wow’ factor.

The responses:

  • “I have no idea because it was pretty much a moot point last year. Talk is one thing, but it’s hard to justify taking anybody in the first round with only three starts. Obviously, he ended last year better than he’s begun this year. With all that being said, I think that at the end of the day, he is what he is with a whole lot of speculation to write about.”
  • “Anybody that suggests they knew where he would have gone last year is crazy. The games are obviously the biggest piece of the evaluation and he had just three games. No medical. No time with the kid. So much unknown – on all players until they go thru the full evaluation process.”
  • “4th-5th. I wasn’t that impressed with him last year.”
  • “3rd QB taken in the draft (presumably after Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston), based on three-game resume. (You have to) come out when you are HOT.”
  • “I don’t know enough about him to say. I guess that most of the people who were talking last year were doing it off TV scouting, whether they were (draft) analysts or scouts.”

Based on what my friends in evaluation say, Jones would most likely have been very disappointed if he had left expecting to go in the first 32 picks.

To me, the biggest takeaway is that actual scouts’ views of a player’s prospects differ greatly from what you can find on the Web. But by now, if you read this blog regularly, you probably already knew that.

WSW: Finding a Running Back

14 Wednesday Oct 2015

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All scouting and evaluation is a crap shoot. It’s very inexact, no matter what teams and draft gurus tell you. One area where I think scouts err the most is at running back, and you don’t have to go back far to find them.

There’s former Ravens and Chiefs running back Priest Holmes, who was a dominant force in the late 90s/early 00s, and today, there’s Houston’s Arian Foster, Carolina’s Mike Tolbert, San Diego’s Danny Woodhead, Seattle’s Fred Jackson and many more. Look back even further and two Hall of Famers, Joe Perry and Marion Motley, were also undrafted.

One team that’s had a lot of success with undrafted running backs is the Saints, who won a Super Bowl with Pierre Thomas as a versatile, hard-running back with great pass-catching ability. Today, though the team is struggling, it’s no fault of Khiry Robinson, another hard-running back who went undrafted.

I’ve already told the story of my fumbling of an opportunity to get Thomas (along with Tolbert) discovered. For the story of a friend who was smarter about an off-the-grid running back, I’ll turn to Justin VanFulpen, who despite being an agent today has a long history of running various successful all-star games. Justin invited Robinson to the last edition of the Texas vs. The Nation game in Allen, Texas, just outside Dallas.

“I remember seeing highlights of him and liked his running style, but all the scouts I talked to to get a buy-in called him a JAG (just a guy).

“He was the last running back to be added, and one reason I even added him was because I needed another Texas running back. I only had one small-time agent calling me about him. Can’t even remember the guy’s name.

“He had good stats and looked the part, and he was very humbled when I invited him, and he accepted right away. He thought it was too good to be true, and he thanked me a ton for the opportunity.

“He was able to go in that week of practice and outshine D.J. Harper from Boise State, Matthew Tucker from TCU and Ronnie Wingo from Arkansas, and be the best running back on the Texas side. Only (Raiders RB) Latavius Murray from UCF has had a better career so far in the NFL.

“Scouts liked the fact that he ran hard, but still didn’t sign him as a (priority free agent). He had to go to the Saints as a tryout guy, then ended up getting a chance to sign.

“I was surprised he didn’t sign as a priority free agent, so I checked in with him a day after the draft and he told me he got a tryout.”

Even though Robinson once shared a backfield with Cam Newton (while at Blinn College in Bryan, Texas), he barely registered with NFL teams while bouncing from Mesabi Range Community College to Blinn to West Texas A&M. But his play at the TVN game sparked something, and years later, he’s part of an NFL backfield.

 

 

“The Value Is The Film”

13 Tuesday Oct 2015

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This morning, I got a text from an agent who’s been a client and a friend for a long time. He told me one of the FXFL teams is in complete disarray, and that the players had gone on strike. Meanwhile, the coach had walked out (mid-practice, I was told) and the players hadn’t been paid since the season started two weeks ago. According to my source, their laundry wasn’t getting done and they didn’t even have water at their workouts!

In my efforts to confirm the strike (I’m still working on it), I reached out to another agent who’s been hardened to the roller-coaster world of minor-league football. Though he’s got two clients in the FXFL, he’s all too aware of the pitfalls of playing in these leagues. “It’s crazy,” he texted me. “The value is the film, but (the league) can’t keep screwing the players.”

This morning’s texts came on the heels of another communication I got last night from the father of a player who narrowly missed a camp invite this spring. His son, a very good college player who still has NFL dreams, had just been told that his school would not allow its seniors from ’15 to attend its 2016 pro day, a big change from previous seasons. It left my friend’s son with limited options and no way to jump-start his pro football career. I had to tell him his son’s only remaining options were probably paid tryouts (costs are usually around $100) with Arena and CFL teams. It wasn’t easy to tell him that.

So here’s the takeaway. This week, as I mentioned in Monday’s report, more than a hundred agents from the 2015 class were added to the NFLPA’s rolls. Many of those agents will soon start getting phone calls and/or emails from desperate players from recent draft classes, hoping to get one more chance at film. They’re mostly willing to go to the AFL, or the CFL, or to virtually any league that might get them fresh film, which in turn might get them another look with the NFL.

In November, these new agents will hear from dozens of players slated for the ’16 draft class that aren’t getting recruited by agents, but still want to play in the NFL. If (when?) the ’16 draft comes and goes with no calls from the league, they’ll be looking for fresh film, too.

If you’re among those in the new agent class, understand that only a select few players are NFL-worthy, but thousands believe they are. Be very careful about believing a player’s story when he tells you he’d be a top prospect if not for a bit of bad luck. The road to finding new film is a long and winding one, and it usually leads only to a dead end.