The Rookie Scouting Portfolio: The Philosophy

  By Matt Waldman

The philosophy of using game film as the primary method of player evaluation is shared by some of the NFL's best personnel men in the history of the game. These men stressed the importance of on-field performance over evaluations that stress measuring physical skills in artificial conditions. Joe Thomas and Ron Wolf were the two biggest proponents of this philosophy.

NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle recommended Thomas to the Minnesota Vikings in the 1960s as their first personnel manager. Thomas went against the grain, and used his evaluation skills to build a team around QB Fran Tarkenton, a player that didn't have ideal measurements for the prototypical QB of that era. Thomas didn't allow what Tarkenton lacked physically to get in the way of what was easy to see on the field of play. Thomas later took a job with Miami and when the Vikings and Dolphins met each other in the Super Bowl he was credited with evaluating and acquiring the majority of players lining up for both teams.

Former Packer's GM, Ron Wolf credits Thomas as someone from whom he learned valuable lessons about the art of personnel decisions. Wolf was the driving force behind the Packers acquisition of Brett Favre. The choice of Favre was one of the cornerstones of the Green Bay franchise when they became Super Bowl Champion. Wolf was convinced Favre was a special player, not because what he saw from Favre at the combine, but film study of the future Hall of Famer's junior season at Southern Mississippi.

If film study is so overwhelmingly important, why does the NFL Combine exist?

There are always exceptions to every rule. There are occasionally college players who display great physical skills away from the football field and have not been able to be productive when the lights come on, but land on an NFL team with the right coach and the light comes on. Some college players are stars at one position, but the combine may help evaluators determine if there is another position where they have a greater chance to be successful in the pros.

The problem with the combine is it has grown into something it shouldn't be: a dog and pony show. NFL franchises share many things in common with the corporate world - and many of these things have unintended consequences.

Hall of Fame coach and current Dolphins GM, Bill Parcells, once stated during his stint on ESPN Monday Night Countdown that NFL personnel evaluators tend to overanalyze what makes a great player and ignore the overall package because they feel the need to cover themselves. Evaluators are human beings, too. They have families, homes, cars, bills, and the desire to get in good with their boss. When rookie contracts are as lucrative as they are, evaluators know that an owner and general manager wants to offer these deals to players with as little risk as possible. They also don't want their picks to draw extreme second-guessing from the public. As a result they tend to overemphasize measurements and reputation of college programs. Evaluators play this game because recommending that small school player with less than prototype measurements as their top player could eventually get them fired.

Think I'm guessing? This is the underlying reason why a former GM such as Tex Schramm would make a comment on NFL.com several years ago about then-prospect, RB Brian Westbrook. Schramm wrote about the 5-9, 205-lb, RB out of Villanova that if he were an inch or two taller and 10 pounds heavier, he'd be a Top 10 pick.

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