Your Personal Scouting Overlook

[ronjon1990]

On 10/6/2017 at 10:22 PM, jrry32 said:

3. Vision and patience for HBs (I think it's tough to scout at the college level)

I'd wager it's almost impossible to scout at the college level. I think there is too much of a relation to the play of the offensive line and too much disparity in the caliber of opposing players to make a solid guess in most cases.

Most schools don't have multiple pro-caliber linemen playing. We see matchups between a DL or LB with pro potential and guys who aren't on NFL radars far too often. The rare HBs have the obvious talent to make up for the lack of talent around them, but the majority can only do so much with sub par line play. Essentially, a HB can't "see" what simply isn't there and can only afford to be so patient when the line is folding like a Steratore play card. 

I think a lot of people underestimate a HB's vision and patience and what he can do, especially those at smaller schools. It's easy to gauge for guys at Stanford or Alabama, who seem to send at least 2-3 OL a year to the NFL in early to mid rounds. When looking into recent drafts, I found it hard to scout guys like Kareem Hunt. Not a great O-line, playing against lesser defenses. Was his vision and patience really good? Or was he just a little better than his MAC competition? Did his line let him down or does he lack the ability to find a hole? Was he impatient or did the line cave in and leave him scrambling to make something out of nothing? Some HBs get huge holes consistently and simply have to Forrest Gump it. Should we hold that against someone? I figured LaMichael James would be a solid rotational back at least. He looked like he had great vision and patience at Oregon. But that was schemed and considering who was on that O-line, it really didn't matter. A blind guy with the patience of a 3 year old could have gained 1,000+ yards there. 

Just too many variables involved. I'm guilty as sin for misreading HBs for this very reason. 

[Chwf3rd25]

9 hours ago, ronjon1990 said:

I'd wager it's almost impossible to scout at the college level. I think there is too much of a relation to the play of the offensive line and too much disparity in the caliber of opposing players to make a solid guess in most cases.

Most schools don't have multiple pro-caliber linemen playing. We see matchups between a DL or LB with pro potential and guys who aren't on NFL radars far too often. The rare HBs have the obvious talent to make up for the lack of talent around them, but the majority can only do so much with sub par line play. Essentially, a HB can't "see" what simply isn't there and can only afford to be so patient when the line is folding like a Steratore play card. 

I think a lot of people underestimate a HB's vision and patience and what he can do, especially those at smaller schools. It's easy to gauge for guys at Stanford or Alabama, who seem to send at least 2-3 OL a year to the NFL in early to mid rounds. When looking into recent drafts, I found it hard to scout guys like Kareem Hunt. Not a great O-line, playing against lesser defenses. Was his vision and patience really good? Or was he just a little better than his MAC competition? Did his line let him down or does he lack the ability to find a hole? Was he impatient or did the line cave in and leave him scrambling to make something out of nothing? Some HBs get huge holes consistently and simply have to Forrest Gump it. Should we hold that against someone? I figured LaMichael James would be a solid rotational back at least. He looked like he had great vision and patience at Oregon. But that was schemed and considering who was on that O-line, it really didn't matter. A blind guy with the patience of a 3 year old could have gained 1,000+ yards there. 

Just too many variables involved. I'm guilty as sin for misreading HBs for this very reason. 

Doesn't have to do with vision & patience but Hunt's elite balance was incredibly clear on his college tape.

[ronjon1990]

5 hours ago, Chwf3rd25 said:

Doesn't have to do with vision & patience but Hunt's elite balance was incredibly clear on his college tape.

It sure was. Balance, which I'm glad you mentioned, is one of those overlooked things that you can tell from tape. I liked Hunt coming out too...but I'd be lying if I said I thought he'd be as good as his season was.

[Chwf3rd25]

7 hours ago, ronjon1990 said:

It sure was. Balance, which I'm glad you mentioned, is one of those overlooked things that you can tell from tape. I liked Hunt coming out too...but I'd be lying if I said I thought he'd be as good as his season was.

Have you watched John Kelly?  He has Hunt-esque balance on a smaller frame but with way more lateral ability and explosiveness.

[ronjon1990]

14 minutes ago, Chwf3rd25 said:

Have you watched John Kelly?  He has Hunt-esque balance on a smaller frame but with way more lateral ability and explosiveness.

Not yet. I'm a PAC12 fan, and I tend to start my evals there and work my way east, conference by conference. I'll be sure to check him out though.

[AlNFL19]

For wide receivers I've overlooked separation abilities in the past, but that's probably the top trait a receiver needs to have.

[brownie man]

any position explosion 

Burst and explosiveness to me is even more important than speed

for me corner I need the ability to mirror receivers and to be able to accelerate when running with receivers