Matt Waldman's RSP Cast

  Mark Schofield and I rehash the age-old sit-start debate for rookie quarterbacks and Doug Farrar stops by to discuss his new publication The Genius of Desperation.  What do Mark Schofield and I think the little kid versions of Josh Allen and Johnny Manziel would do with floaters at swim camp? How does salary cap impact sit-start decisions for rookies? And how did Doug Farrar decide to write a book about the history of football? Tune into episode 10 of the RSP Cast and learn the answers to these questions and more. Trigger Warning: Mark and I tease a conversation that we had about Patrick Mahomes but that will have to wait until the next episode (coming soon). For analysis of skill players, get the 2018  Rookie Scouting Portfolio. If you’re a fantasy owner the Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 – 2018 RSPs at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 each.

Will Hewlett (above) and Rich Bartel, two nationally-known quarterback trainers, join Matt Waldman's RSP Cast for a conversation about private QB instruction and why it's getting more credit and criticism than it deserves in the national media when it comes to talent development and opportunity for advancement at the game's highest levels. When the Raiders cut Christian Hackenberg shortly after it acquired him in a trade with the New York Jets, Sports Illustrated writer Robert Klemko reflected upon Hackenberg and what he learned while reporting and writing a feature on the former Penn State star: https://twitter.com/RobertKlemko/status/1006877370567950336 https://twitter.com/RobertKlemko/status/1006877562520285185 https://twitter.com/RobertKlemko/status/1006877705680216065 Rich Bartell and Will Hewlett, two former college quarterbacks and current coaches of the position, responded to Klemko's statements on Twitter with a pair of short videos about the nature of private training and while they agree with Klemko that race and socioeconomics in America are variables that affect opportunities for success in football, they disagree with Klemko's statement that private training "has become essential for QBs" — something you wouldn't expect from two individuals in this industry who are critical about the world of private QB instruction. On this week's podcast, Bartell and Hewlett join Matt Waldman for a discussion about private training and where they believe racism and socioeconomics has the greatest impact on the quarterback development process. For analysis of skill players, get the 2018  Rookie Scouting Portfolio. If you’re a fantasy owner the Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 – 2018 RSPs at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 each.  

Charles McDonald of Football Outsiders and SB Nation joins Matt Waldman's RSP podcast to discuss his presentation on stats and film at MIT's Sloan Analytics Conference. If you don't know McDonald (Twitter @FourVerts), he's a frequent guest of the RSP Film Room and writes the Four Downs and Futures columns at Football Outsiders and he recently accepted a full-time role at SBNation. This week, McDonald and I discuss his presentation on stats and film that he gave at the Sloan Analytics Conference: * A closer look at how writers should analyze defenders in the box pre-snap. * How the Jaguars, Saints, and Chiefs' ground games thrived and faltered due to the manipulations of box counts and movement. * The Chiefs' debt to Urban Meyer and debunking the analysis that the option game wouldn't work in the NFL. * Why the Bills' offense explosive ground game in 2016 plummeted in 2017 and Tyrod Taylor had little to do with it. * DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) explained. * The Cleveland Browns offensive line and why sack rates can be misleading. * A short tangent on DeShone Kizer and quarterback development. * Matt Ryan's statistical decline is a misleading way to judge the quarterback. * The effect of sack distribution of the Steelers and Jaguars defenses — the top two units in sack rate — and why one unit should have more sustainable success than the other. This is an excellent conversation that reveals the importance of context for analysis of any kind. For analysis of skill players, get the 2018  Rookie Scouting Portfolio. If you’re a fantasy owner the Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 – 2018 RSPs at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 each.

Matt Waldman's RSP Cast pairs up with Mark Schofield of Inside the Pylon and Pro Football Weekly for a deep dive into quarterback evaluation. Quarterbacking is this week's entree (and avocado ice cream as the dessert) at the RSP Cast and it's always great to dig in with Mark Schofield: * How our evaluation of the position has changed in recent years. * What 'being right' means when studying the position. * Players who reinforced and countered our evaluation process. * The developmental leaps of Carson Wentz and Jared Goff. * The progression of Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston. * The difference between processing speed and play speed. * Who would Mark insert into the Patriots offense if he could have any quarterback in the league to replace Tom Brady? If you enjoy this show, keep in mind that Mark and I only covered a portion of our topics this week. He'll be back within the month for another conversation. For analysis of skill players, get the 2018  Rookie Scouting Portfolio. If you’re a fantasy owner the Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 – 2018 RSPs at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 each.

Football analyst John Owning, an instructor and international competitor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, stops by Matt Waldman's RSP Cast for a conversation about the martial art and how it helps him analyze football. If you subscribe to the RSP Film Room, you probably saw Owning and I break down Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa's film while he was at Ohio State or Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett at Texas A&M. Owning, a graduate of Dan Hatman's Scouting Academy, brought up Bosa's footwork as an edge rusher that needed to be addressed in the NFL — an insight that few, if any, mentioned pre-draft. Owning and I spent a half-hour discussing a variety of topics focused on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and football, including his thoughts on Chuck Liddell's PR event with the Browns: * Owning's 100-pound transformation from a 275-pound lineman to an international competitor in BJJ. * Where BJJ and football have commonalities. * The football positions that would benefit most from BJJ training — there's at least one that will surprise you. * Why leverage is more important than power on the football field — including player examples. * Why Chuck Liddell's PR event in Cleveland was not a worthwhile teaching session for the Browns and a disappointing representation of the martial art applied to football. This was another fantastic guest appearance. If you think so too, rate and review the show after you give it a listen. For analysis of skill players, get the 2018  Rookie Scouting Portfolio, now available for pre-order. If you’re a fantasy owner the Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 – 2018 RSPs at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 each.

Matt Waldman's RSP Cast discusses "Old Man Game." What is it? Who has it? And why is it an important consideration in football analysis?  In the age of fantasy football, sports betting, and sports data that encourages the masses to play the percentages, fans are encouraged to tread far from aging players. Learning how to spot and avoid egregious mistakes helps fans become smarter and fantasy owners and sports betters make safer decisions that lead to a satisfactory conclusion. This echoes a lot of corporate thinking: Identify the easy errors—the low-hanging fruit and fix them so the worker, team, and organization develop greater efficiency, perform to a higher standard of quality, and it will increase productivity. However, it's important for organizations to identify paths that defy convention and offer a path towards wild success, and it means taking a second look at paths convention has written off prematurely or without nuanced analysis. This week, I discuss players who have Old Man Game and the skills behind the label. For analysis of skill players, get the 2018  Rookie Scouting Portfolio, now available for pre-order. If you’re a fantasy owner the Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 – 2018 RSPs at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 each.

Episode 4 of Matt Waldman's RSP Cast covers Josh Gordon, Emmanuel Butler, and the interplay of athletic, technical, and conceptual skills in prospect evaluation. This week's pod has three segments: * NFL: Breaking down Josh Gordon. * College: Using Gordon and the NFL lens to break down Northern Arizona receiver Emmanuel Butler. * Craft: The role of athletic ability in prospect evaluation. Give it a listen! Within a few weeks, I'll have these podcasts on a platform so you can subscribe via iTunes. For analysis of skill players, get the 2018  Rookie Scouting Portfolio, now available for pre-order. If you’re a fantasy owner the Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 – 2018 RSPs at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 each.

Matt Waldman's RSP Cast hosts Reception Perception creator Matt Harmon for a compelling discussion about receiver evaluation around 2018 NFL Draft pick Dante Pettis. I've done my share of podcasts, and I've hosted a lot of conversations in the RSP Film Room on YouTube. This is one of the best conversations about the craft of evaluating a position that I've recorded. Matt Harmon, creator of Reception Perception is my guest and we were both pumped about the outcome of this 45-minute discussion: * Similarities and differences with our evaluation process. * The value of alignment, route, and target data and how it applies to Dante Pettis. * Who Pettis reminds us of in the NFL in terms of potential usage. * The changes in the NFL and how it impacts our evaluation of receivers. * The expected and unexpected outcomes of using a strict process for evaluating performance. * How our information marries up when analyzing receiver player and using Pettis as an example. * How an NFL team might use our information, or existing information like it, to analyze prospects. * Why our discussion applies so well to the fascinating offseason acquisitions of the Oakland Raiders. Credit to RSP reader Matthew Klugman for suggesting the conversation. We had a fantastic time doing this and I think you'll find it a great listen.   Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_kfLa1dTy7o For analysis of skill players, get the 2018  Rookie Scouting Portfolio, now available for pre-order. If you’re a fantasy owner the Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 – 2018 RSPs at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 each.

Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio podcast reviews the skill players from Day 2, including an in-depth discussion on Browns runner Nick Chubb. I'll be launching a weekly podcast this spring-summer. This episode and the one I posted yesterday are rough production cuts but hopefully informative for those of you listening. Based on the response to the first episode, I cut another after Day 2 of the draft. Future episodes will remain 30 minutes and cover three areas most weeks: * The NFL Lens: My thoughts on a player, unit, scheme, or team as it relates to the craft of evaluation. * The College Game: My recent study of a player I'm evaluating for the Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication. * Craft: Football is a performance medium. I'll be covering subjects that relate to the craft of performance that includes technical, strategic, emotional, and philosophical subjects that relate back to performance. Most of the time this will be about football, but not always.  I will often have guests during this segment. If you like this episode or the format I'll be using in the future, let me know. Keep in mind, this and yesterday's pod are rough cuts. There is no bumper music or production adornments that I'll have down the line. I'll have this pod available at other outlets as well.   For analysis of skill players, get the 2018  Rookie Scouting Portfolio, now available for pre-order. If you’re a fantasy owner the Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 – 2018 RSPs at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 each.

Matt Waldman provides his early thoughts on the first-round skill picks in the 2018 NFL Draft.  If you follow my work regularly, you hear me on a lot of podcasts this time of year. Later this spring, I will be launching a 30-minute weekly pod on the craft of evaluation that covers the NFL and college games. I'll make these pods available on outlets beyond the Rookie Scouting Portfolio site. To get a little practice, I recorded a 30-minute summary of the first-round picks at the skill positions. This isn't a pod with all of the adornments you'll find elsewhere. I'll do that with future pods. For now, I'm acting on the urging of others to provide an outlet for RSP analysis that's consumable on a commute. If you qualify, let me know if you like the idea of me doing a weekly podcast.   For analysis of skill players, get the 2018  Rookie Scouting Portfolio, now available for pre-order. If you’re a fantasy owner the Post-Draft Add-on comes with the 2012 – 2018 RSPs at no additional charge. Best, yet, 10 percent of every sale is donated to Darkness to Light to combat sexual abuse. You can purchase past editions of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio for just $9.95 each.

Part II of On The Couch features a player-focused 2018 NFL Draft discussion with Sigmund Bloom and Matt Waldman's RSP. Topic List * Ideal teams for draft prospects. * 2018 TE class. * Defensive players we like. Give it a listen!