couchscout
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Hey guys and gals, long time no talk. My life has changed so dramatically over the last few years, going from being an NFL Scout (kinda, I’ll explain in a sec) to an assistant scout for some startup websites that never actually launched, having a kid, and finally landing a job in radio. It’s been quite a ride. I finally feel as if I’m able to do my weekly analysis again.
The Truth - So I posted here for a season or two and purported myself to be an NFL Scout. To my credit, I legitimately thought I was. After the first season I really started questioning some things, and by the end of the second season what I was told was very low rung job in the Raiders scouting department, I found out was basically a former Raiders player using my work as well as presumably others to land himself a job with his former team. There is a lot more to the story, but suffice it to say, he hid it very well and did an excellent job of making it seem like we worked for the Raiders. In the end, I moved on to a couple scouting websites that were supposed to launch but never did. It’s not all bad though, during that first season when I was actually being sent to games, I met lots of real NFL scouts, I got to sit in on numerous conference calls and got to talk to a whole bunch of GMs. All that was real. I say all that to say this. If you ever put any more stock in my player analysis than others, don’t. I’m just a dude paying for NFL Rewind just like anyone else.
The Obvious - I don’t wanna spend much time on Dak, because for the most part his work speaks for itself. But I have a couple small notes. First, that one half of football, he really reminded me of very early Big Ben. Reading half the field, standing tall and tough in the pocket and making great throws. Remember, Roethlisberger went 13-0 his rookie year with him reading half the field, one read and fire type throws. Second, yes, it was preseason, yes it was only a half. The easiest way to knock on Dak right now is to point that out. And for the most part I agree, but I’ll point out that everyone else was facing those same super simple vanilla preseason defenses and no one else looked like that. Third, those types of defense are always the first way defenses play new QBs. Some never progress past that (Stephen McGee), and some falter at the next step, or the step after, etc. So if you say nothing else about his performance, he got through step one.
Showers - I was far more interested in watching film on Showers than Dak. What Dak did was obvious, Showers required a lot more study to get a read on. Of course the protection was so bad at times it was hard to analyze every play, but there was some good material in there too. My number one takeaway was this: He has no touch. It didn’t matter if his intended target was 5 yards away, or 50, he threw it as hard as he could. At least one incompletion/drop was because of this. He did pretty well with his progressions when he had time, and generally found the right guy to throw to, but he has to learn how to be a passer instead of just a thrower. It’s possible that he was just really jacked up and needed to calm down, maybe we’ll see something different from him next week. I’d really like to see him get some extended action with a better supporting cast. One last note. His ability to play special teams could allow the team to keep one of these veteran offensive players that doesn’t play special teams (McFadden, Morris, Butler) as pure luxury.
The WR Corp - A few things stood out besides the ridiculousness of Dez. Williams has improved his route running quite a bit. He’s always been one of those guys who was clearly capable of it, but coming out of that Baylor system it can take years to learn nuances most WRs should start learning in high school. This should make him a much more reliable target opposite Dez. Assuming his hands hold up (always a question), he should have a very productive season. Butler stood out a little in his limited action. Aside from the long reception he was open a lot and put himself in position to make plays if the ball had gone his way. His speed is a real threat and you can see defenders respecting it. I can see one of those seasons where his numbers don’t tell the true story of his impact on the offense.
David Irving - The only defensive player I studied this week was Irving for a myriad of reasons. Next week I’ll focus there more. I thought Irving was far and away the most effective DE we played, particularly against the run. He has warts, slow reaction to the snap chief among them, but his length really allows him to control blockers and set the edge with far more regularity than others DEs on the roster. I don’t know if his pass rush will ever be adequate from the edge, he really needs to be inside where he can take advantage of slower footed guards. I can see him starting at LDE this season and moving inside on passing downs. Mayowa - Crawford - Irving - Lawrence should be pretty steady at providing pressure. This team needs a real RDE in the worst way.
It’s nice to be back and I look forward to any questions, comments or criticisms any of you guys may have.
The Truth - So I posted here for a season or two and purported myself to be an NFL Scout. To my credit, I legitimately thought I was. After the first season I really started questioning some things, and by the end of the second season what I was told was very low rung job in the Raiders scouting department, I found out was basically a former Raiders player using my work as well as presumably others to land himself a job with his former team. There is a lot more to the story, but suffice it to say, he hid it very well and did an excellent job of making it seem like we worked for the Raiders. In the end, I moved on to a couple scouting websites that were supposed to launch but never did. It’s not all bad though, during that first season when I was actually being sent to games, I met lots of real NFL scouts, I got to sit in on numerous conference calls and got to talk to a whole bunch of GMs. All that was real. I say all that to say this. If you ever put any more stock in my player analysis than others, don’t. I’m just a dude paying for NFL Rewind just like anyone else.
The Obvious - I don’t wanna spend much time on Dak, because for the most part his work speaks for itself. But I have a couple small notes. First, that one half of football, he really reminded me of very early Big Ben. Reading half the field, standing tall and tough in the pocket and making great throws. Remember, Roethlisberger went 13-0 his rookie year with him reading half the field, one read and fire type throws. Second, yes, it was preseason, yes it was only a half. The easiest way to knock on Dak right now is to point that out. And for the most part I agree, but I’ll point out that everyone else was facing those same super simple vanilla preseason defenses and no one else looked like that. Third, those types of defense are always the first way defenses play new QBs. Some never progress past that (Stephen McGee), and some falter at the next step, or the step after, etc. So if you say nothing else about his performance, he got through step one.
Showers - I was far more interested in watching film on Showers than Dak. What Dak did was obvious, Showers required a lot more study to get a read on. Of course the protection was so bad at times it was hard to analyze every play, but there was some good material in there too. My number one takeaway was this: He has no touch. It didn’t matter if his intended target was 5 yards away, or 50, he threw it as hard as he could. At least one incompletion/drop was because of this. He did pretty well with his progressions when he had time, and generally found the right guy to throw to, but he has to learn how to be a passer instead of just a thrower. It’s possible that he was just really jacked up and needed to calm down, maybe we’ll see something different from him next week. I’d really like to see him get some extended action with a better supporting cast. One last note. His ability to play special teams could allow the team to keep one of these veteran offensive players that doesn’t play special teams (McFadden, Morris, Butler) as pure luxury.
The WR Corp - A few things stood out besides the ridiculousness of Dez. Williams has improved his route running quite a bit. He’s always been one of those guys who was clearly capable of it, but coming out of that Baylor system it can take years to learn nuances most WRs should start learning in high school. This should make him a much more reliable target opposite Dez. Assuming his hands hold up (always a question), he should have a very productive season. Butler stood out a little in his limited action. Aside from the long reception he was open a lot and put himself in position to make plays if the ball had gone his way. His speed is a real threat and you can see defenders respecting it. I can see one of those seasons where his numbers don’t tell the true story of his impact on the offense.
David Irving - The only defensive player I studied this week was Irving for a myriad of reasons. Next week I’ll focus there more. I thought Irving was far and away the most effective DE we played, particularly against the run. He has warts, slow reaction to the snap chief among them, but his length really allows him to control blockers and set the edge with far more regularity than others DEs on the roster. I don’t know if his pass rush will ever be adequate from the edge, he really needs to be inside where he can take advantage of slower footed guards. I can see him starting at LDE this season and moving inside on passing downs. Mayowa - Crawford - Irving - Lawrence should be pretty steady at providing pressure. This team needs a real RDE in the worst way.
It’s nice to be back and I look forward to any questions, comments or criticisms any of you guys may have.
