MOST RELIABLE SCOUT

[mflowers]

Who is your go to guy or scout when it comes to grading college players entering the draft?
There are so many sources that my head is swirling after a couple hours of deciphering all the info ......

[gi15]

Follow Matt Waldman , he's the best amateur scout there is IMO. Regular contributor at Football Guys.

[FF_EJuggernaut]

Follow Matt Waldman , he's the best amateur scout there is IMO. Regular contributor at Football Guys.

Love Matt Waldman

[bob2005]

I enjoy Waldman's analysis and writing a lot, but like any other scout, he is not infallible and has made some big misses to go along with the hits. I actually appreciate his contrarian views on some prospects. I think he's also gotten better the past couple of years especially.

Bucky Brooks at NFL.com is somebody who has been standing out for me too.

[ebsteelers]

Waldman runs the Rookie Scouting Portfolio.. good stuff.

I mean every scout will have their hits and misses though. so getting views from multiple sources is a good idea still

[Camperhead]

I enjoy Waldman's analysis and writing a lot, but like any other scout, he is not infallible and has made some big misses to go along with the hits. I actually appreciate his contrarian views on some prospects. I think he's also gotten better the past couple of years especially.

I agree with every bit of this. Waldman's RSP (both pre- and post-draft editions), Mike Mayock and http://www.walterfootball.com are the foundation for me.

[TradeBack]

I enjoy Waldman's analysis and writing a lot, but like any other scout, he is not infallible and has made some big misses to go along with the hits. I actually appreciate his contrarian views on some prospects. I think he's also gotten better the past couple of years especially.

Bucky Brooks at NFL.com is somebody who has been standing out for me too.

I also appreciate his contrarian views, but I purchased the RSP for the first time and holy smokes. I know there is a post-draft version but some of his rankings based on talent alone made me feel like everything else I've been reading has been misleading haha. Couple this with my Rotoviz subscription and I will have two completely different sets of rankings.

[Vendetta]

I got the RSP for the first time this year and I feel like my personal rankings just got destroyed and now I'm doubting the majority of the entire class this year as a result. I'm tempted to go back and buy the 2013 and 2012 RSPs as well just to see how accurate his takes were on those prospects before I go into my drafts using this new information. However, given his contrarian viewpoint on almost all of the prospects, seeing him high on guys that I was also high on before reading his analysis feels like one massive check mark beside their names now.

[buck6380]

Does anybody use Ourlads? I heard about them on one of the lastest DLF podcast.

[voiceofunreason]

I enjoy Waldman's analysis and writing a lot, but like any other scout, he is not infallible and has made some big misses to go along with the hits. I actually appreciate his contrarian views on some prospects. I think he's also gotten better the past couple of years especially.

Bucky Brooks at NFL.com is somebody who has been standing out for me too.

I read Waldman the previous couple of years but frankly the contrarian rankings have mainly ended up being wrong, really wrong. The only guy I can think that he hit on was Russel Wilson. There's definitely some value in reading someone's opinion who has watched a lot of tape but the rankings weren't helpful in the end. So depends what you are looking for.

Some people really like Cosell as well, but similarly when you look at the track record it isn't very good.

I've yet to find anyone who is right more than not.

[DonBrazi]

Started to write about how I thought Waldman was pretty good. But as I went back over the 2013 post-draft RSP, I saw all the guys he said were under-drafted and my eyes popped.

The 11 'under-drafted' guys: Marcus Wheaton, Travis Kelce, EJ Manuel, Marquess Wilson, Kenny Stills, Matt Barkley, Ryan Swope, Rex Burkhead, Kerwynn Williams, Zach Ertz, and Dion Sims.

He had a bunch of 'over-drafted' guys as well. The highlights include Lacy, Ball, Ellington, Glennon, Boyce, Reed, Escobar, Fauria, Toilolo, Knile Davis, Latavius Murray, and Joseph Randle.

Seems like either he was wrong A LOT or we have to give him a bunch more time to be right. But from a 2014 perspective, it looks like you can only trust his 2013 ranks as far as WRs and maybe TEs. But QBs and RBs seem to elude him. Interesting.

[bob2005]

I enjoy Waldman's analysis and writing a lot, but like any other scout, he is not infallible and has made some big misses to go along with the hits. I actually appreciate his contrarian views on some prospects. I think he's also gotten better the past couple of years especially.

Bucky Brooks at NFL.com is somebody who has been standing out for me too.

I read Waldman the previous couple of years but frankly the contrarian rankings have mainly ended up being wrong, really wrong. The only guy I can think that he hit on was Russel Wilson. There's definitely some value in reading someone's opinion who has watched a lot of tape but the rankings weren't helpful in the end. So depends what you are looking for.

Some people really like Cosell as well, but similarly when you look at the track record it isn't very good.

I've yet to find anyone who is right more than not.

The other guy he got right was Marvin Jones.

Yeah, Waldman and Cosell are wrong a lot. I guess I really like Waldman more for being very comprehensive and articulate about his analysis and less for his "conclusions". I don't really "rely" on Waldman, but he is another source that I consider before making my own decisions on draft day.

[NJKV]

You shouldn't rely on one guy for rankings. The fact is you can't say someone is bad because they missed on half there picks. That is darn good. The 1st round bust rate for an NFL player is about 50%. Great GMs miss on 1st rounders, it doesn't mean they suck.

My point is don't discount someone like Waldman or Cosell. They watch a ton of actually film not cut-ups on the youtube. Use both as tools along with others plus your own eye to formulate an opinion on a player. Just keep in mind if you could be an NFL scout you wouldn't be on these forums. I think we forget that as dynasty leaguers.

[knotts4372]

guess im the only one that thinks waldman does a pretty poor job. i think the two best talent evaluators are mike mayock and Daniel jeremiah

[the_lung]

All 32 NFL teams have a Director of Scouting, a team of scouts who get paid to watch college players 52 week a year, a head coach, a general manager, and sometimes even the owner who make decisions on who to draft, and they get it "wrong" every single year, every single draft.

Waldman is just one guy who watches a lot of film and puts out a nice thing to read in the offseason before and after the draft. I really enjoy reading his analysis and some of his insights have helped me find some values late in dynasty league rookie drafts. I think his analysis is worth every penny of the paltry amount he charges. I take in a lot of opinions from various sources and his is just one piece of the puzzle. I like that he goes against the "group think" of the scouting community, and judges solely based on his film review. Deliberately, he doesn't take character issues into account when making his rankings...so to see that his top rated RB and TE this year are players who might not even get drafted is WAY off the beaten path!