Don't forget Broaddus is an EX scout. Parcells fired him because he thought he was a moron. Broaddus has said many times he would love to be a scout again but can't get a job.
Broaddus has a job and he enjoys it much more than being a scout which requires more work and time away from home generally. Ireland did not keep him although it could have been at Parcells direction or his blessing. Neither Parcells or Ireland are kings of talent acquisition although I have tremendous respect for Parcells.
Broaddus said 1000 times last season that Marinelli was going to Tampa after the season.
So he was wrong as are most people in the game at least half the time. So what.
The primary requirement in analyzing players is just spending a lot of time grinding through it. I think on many player reviews he doesn't spend the required time.
He doesn't do as much as a scout working for a team. I've been mentored as a scout and I'm marginally ok at it and certainly not good enough to work at the NFL level no matter the mentor. It's very hard work and I mean hard work and required a lot more than looking at film.
Contrast with a guy like Bob Sturm. He does not have a scouting background but grinds through the process to provide terrific insights. He is currently going through all of the sacks from 2014 with an analysis of each. He is doing this as his side job/hobby. You would never get that type of effort and detail from Broaddus or any of those guys at the DC. com website.
Strum is a better writer and may be better at scouting at this time but he's admitted he has never been trained at scouting and it shows. OTOH, I love his reads and I respect his effort which is not bad at all.
One of Bernadeau's best games as a Cowboy was one of two where he played Center back in 2012. Bern has an issue being delayed off the snap. Playing Center eliminated the delay because as the Center he knew when he was snapping it.
Mack is a very marginal C who doesn't have the feet for G much less C. Getting in a proper stance and getting out of it appropriately for each circumstance thrown at you is another matter and more important. As I said he's plenty strong but still get into trouble because his feet creates problems for him to anchor and beat quick pass rushers and respond to blitzes. There are a myriad of reasons he is a backup and not a starter. He's a better G than C and he's a marginal G. If he gets the backup G/C job it will be by default which may well happen. His game day competition IMO is Martin and perhaps Collins although I doubt the latter. His roster competition is McDermott or a player TBD.
If your comments come from analyzing players yourself, then I'll respect your opinion; however if you're basing anything on comments from Broaddus and the other knuckleheads at DC. com, I have no respect for their opinions. Broaddus has been wrong way more often than he has been correct. Sturm is 1000x better than those guys and he does not have a scouting background.
People here underestimate Broaddus totally but there is truth that his scouting now is primarily some but not enough film and direct observation on grass which is not to be discounted. Being wrong half the time is par for the course for the vast majority of those who evaluate talent.
In regards to Callahan, he wanted to bench Free and start Parnell back in 2012 but Garrett would not allow him to do it. Callahan appealed directly to Jerry and the compromise was to have them rotate series. This past season he praised Parnell more than any other player. When asked by a reporter if Parnell should start over Free when both are healthy he said that's not his decision to make.
You and I sang the most praise of any body here about Parnell and I think we were right. Both of us looked at the film on Free and Parnell. I defended Free as a slightly better than average RT when almost the entire board disagreed and attacked me for it. Look how that turned out. Callahan sang Parnell's and Free's abilities to play RT in the league and he was right as were we. But big deal. Both look the part and play the part although I've always said Free is upgradeable albeit not that easy and Parnell has the talent but needed seasoning which is not a remarkable revelation either. A decent look said so. It wasn't rocket science although the sheep here cried differently.
There isn't much film on Mack at C and he's been evaluated by many here and those who count and he was replaced by a rookie albeit a good one. He's always been on borrowed time and lasted this long because of inadequate competition. I've seen enough film on Mack to be comfortable with my analysis and it is backed up by the actions of the team.
Mack is a very marginal C if not worse and he's got competition this year for the backup there. They like McDermott but he's an UDFA so who knows about him. He has a lot to prove. Mack is a marginal G in this offense and doesn't have the feet to pull as well as Garret wants so he's on notice there, too. If he stays in his current job it's because there is inadequate competition. I won't be surprised either way this goes for him.
Fair enough??
Like I said, I'm interested to hear your opinions, if they're your opinions. I'm not interested in what Broaddus had to say.
Those are my opinions more than others but I gave Callahan's opinion as well and I think he is more qualified than either of us with due respect.
Fans and even other media give Broaddus way too much credit simply because he is an "ex-scout". I think of media people in regards to what I think their wonderlic score would be. Broaddus might have the background, but he seems like a 10 on the wonderlic. Sturm might not have the experience, but he seems like a 40+ on the wonderlic. It's like in a hospital setting when the smartest most experienced nurse disagrees with the biggest dumb-arse Doctor. People believe the Doctor because he is a Doctor, but forget that 1% of Doctors graduated in the bottom 1% of their class.
I think you are short changing Broaddus. His not being a scout now shouldn't entirely discount his ability to recognize NFL talent. It's not a huge leap to scouting players and having a decent analysis. The problem is recognizing who is going to translate those talents to the grass and who has the heart and will to succeed. You keep bringing up Broaddus being fired but the vast majority of scouts and coaches get fired. It means a whole lot of not very much. And he does enjoy his job with the Boys and being at home with his family. If he said he would scout again then I believe you but they are not mutually exclusive. He's a decent talent evaluator just not great at it which is the resume of many scouts.
I completely disagree that Broaddus prefers being a media guy to being a scout. He has said several times that he would jump at the chance to be a scout again. I don't know if you listen to local DFW sports talk radio, but he is a regular on 105.3 The Fan and has repeated that sentiment several times.
In regards to backup Center, I do think they want to continue to get younger across the roster whenever possible. It would be really convenient if somebody like Martin could be the game day backup Center. That would allow them to have the best backup Guard active regardless of whether he can play Center. They would still need another backup Center on the roster if Fred was out the following week. If Collins plays Guard, it would be unfortunate to have the loser between him and Leary inactive on game day.
They like McDermott but I said he's a long shot to make the roster much less be the backup C. But it is possible. Mack is a marginal to average backup who has hung on because we've spent resources elsewhere which I do happen to agree with.
I disagree that Bernadeau is a better Guard than Center. The sample size to too small to make any absolute conclusion on that issue, but his best game back in 2012 was one of the two when he played Center. IMO, he is probably a slightly above average backup interior OLineman.
We have near nil data for Mack's work at C so to argue G vs C is irrelevant. The vast majority of data is at G.
There is no reason that McDermott would not be on the practice squad if he does well in the preseason. Even Leary was on the PS as a rookie. McDermott seems like a candidate to be a backup in 2016 but they probability of him being on the 53 to start the 2015 season seems very low. Bernadeau's salary is just 1.5M so I don't think they would dump him for cap purposes and I don't see a rookie UDFA beating him out unless Bernadeau gets injured in training camp.
There is generally 1-3 UDFA's who make the roster so he has a chance. Martin is not the best candidate for C although I don't know he won't be. It's all speculation.
I could even see them having Martin play Center with Leary and Collins as the Guards before they would have McDermott starting.
