Cosell talks generally about evaluation

[top dawg]

Greg Cosell and a few others in the Philly media discuss some of the nuances of evaluating certain positions, and how to project and/or try to translate how players will do as pros.

This may be too dry for some, and it's not about specific players for the most part, but it is food for thought. It definitely shows why Cosell and some others are a lot more thoughtful and discriminating as it pertains to different prospects than most.

If you want to get generally smarter, wiser and perhaps more judicious, at least about the way that you view the entire process, then listen for the next 40 minutes.

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/videos/videos/Journey-To-The-Draft-Philosophy-With-Cosell/ee3988b2-7953-4738-a855-0bf466c070e5

[LinvilleGorge]

40 minutes? Yikes.  Lots of pie to the poster who sacrifices himself to watch and provide cliff notes.

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

If you love the draft evaluation part of football then Cosell is a pleasue to listen to, no matter the running time.

[top dawg]

Well, I watched it, but I'm not providing Cliff Notes. I will say this:

TLDR: Scouting is hard and the average man doesn't know what he thinks he knows when trying to project how a college game is going to translate to a pro game, but those who watch plenty of tape know way more than the rest of us.

QB is extremely difficult to project to the NFL when so many colleges use spread offenses. Outside of Georgia and a few others offenses where a QB is in a mainly a pro style offense, it's a much bigger guessing game as to what QBs will ultimately become than anyone wants to admit. Perhaps the next most difficult positions to predict are Safety and O-linemen for similar and different reasons.

The pro game is much more about formations and use of the entire field than how a college team manipulates the sideline-hash mark based offense (for lack of a better term). Because things are so spread out, you have to try and translate certain positions to the pro level based on a certain amount of conjecture. Positions like wide receiver and defensive back may be a little easier to project because guys are out their on an island, and this is more akin to what they'll have to do in the pro game.

When evaluating someone in college, you just really have to be able to basically imagine the player in a pro style offense, and whether their talents will translate to the next level. You even have to look at productivity, particularly with pass rushers, with a discerning eye. Like pass rushers for instance, they may have 15 sacks, but when you look at every sack and only two are actually against a tackle, or because the QB was pushed onto that side of the field because of pressure from the other side, then assuming that someone is a great pressure because of the number of the paper production is not the best way of evaluating. He also mentioned that same thing for an LB who is making loads of tackles. If you watch a game and have to ask yourself where was this guy at, or what types of tackles he was making (basically where were the impact, standout plays), you really have to caution yourself into thinking that the guy is Luke Kuechly.

The true stud pro style QBs may be an endangered species right now (especially because a good QB in college with the field being so spread out, does not necessarily make a good pro) with some of the old venerable vets nearing the end of their journeys, so this passing league may just evolve back into a running league. For this reason, the RB position may not be as "devalued" in the near future as it is today. Moreover, sure there may be a relatively smaller gap between RBs across the board in reference to how productive they can be versus other positions, but a stud RB is still a stud RB. Though people may think that you could take another RB and put them in Lynch's position and get Beast Mode type productivity, this is probably not the case.

When it comes to upside, you have to try and project how well you can teach a guy the things that he may not be as strong in, and how well he will be able to learn your system. He specifically mentioned Breshard Perriman as an example (whom he loves because he doesn't see many receivers that come out of college with his traits and talent), and whether or not he will meet that potential which he believes could possibly be greater than Whites or Cooper's (whose game is so polished right now that he may be near his ceiling, which is still very good in his opinion).

Cosell always begins with the tape, and ends with the tape. Although he does give some value to what coaches and other scouts are saying, he believes in his own eyes more. When it comes to the Combine measurables, he looks to see if the measurables jibe with what he is seeing on the tape. He begins with the tape, and he ends with the tape. He looks at a tremendous amount of tape.

Hopefully someone else can provide more, but that's it for me. His knowledge kind of makes me feel smarter and ignorant at the same time. I like to trust my eyes too when it comes to certain things, but ultimately I leave the in-depth work to the professionals and am not going to presume that I know more than they do, even though no one is 100 percent right.

Edit: Oh yeah, college QBs largely suck, and they absolutely can affect a receiver. All of these things must be taken into account.