Tag: Scouts

Seahawks win Inside the League’s ‘2022 Best Draft Award’

For their phenomenal class, the Seattle Seahawks won Inside the League’s “2022 Best Draft Award” and were recognized at the scouting combine.

Nearly no one will argue the Seattle Seahawks 2022 draft class was one of the best in the league. Now general manager John Schneider and his team of scouts have received the recognition they deserve.

On Wednesday night, while in Indianapolis for the NFL scouting combine, the crew was recognized by Inside the League founder, Neil Stratton, and presented with the “2022 Best Draft Award.”

“I love our people so much, and they work their asses off all throughout the year, and they know their voices are heard,” Schneider said via the Seahawks website.

Seattle’s 2022 draft class consisted of the following players: tackle Charles Cross, linebacker Boye Mafe, running back Kenneth Walker III, tackle Abraham Lucas, cornerback Coby Bryant, cornerback Tariq Woolen, linebacker Tyreke Smith, and wide receivers Bo Melton and Dareke Young.

“To be acknowledged by your colleagues, scouts, who are at the Marriott Courtyards, up late typing reports, all that kind of stuff, going to schools and all that,” Schneider continued. “We know what it’s all about.”

Be sure and follow Seahawks Wire all week for the latest from the combine in Indy.

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Alabama leads all collegiate programs with 13 NFL combine invites

Alabama will be well represented at the 2023 NFL Combine!

Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide football program have gotten incredibly familiar with the NFL draft process over the years. Outside of the actual games on the field, nothing has more of an impact on draft status than the combine does.

This year the Alabama Crimson Tide will be represented incredibly strong at the combine with 13 former players invited. The 13 from Tuscaloosa is the most of any University in the nation and what is even more impressive is that the Tide might have the first and second overall picks in the 2023 draft between Bryce Young and Will Anderson.

Alabama will have a Pro Day on March 30 so players will have other opportunities to showcase their talent, but there is none better than the combine. The combine features coaches and scouts from all 32 NFL clubs that feature on-the-field workouts as well as very in-depth interviews.

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Chiefs scouts gush over Day 3 draft picks

The best part of Day 3 of the 2022 NFL draft? Hearing #Chiefs scouts talk about the players they scouted:

The Kansas City Chiefs have a slew of new players on the roster following the completion of the 2022 NFL draft. The third and final day of the draft is one of the most exciting for the team because their scouting department really gets a chance to showcase its talent.

“As much as we love Thursday, our staff loves Friday and Saturday even more,” Veach told reporters after the first round. “This is when we have a lot of fun the next few days and we’re looking forward to it.”

As the Chiefs made selections throughout Day 3, they gave their scouting staff a chance to speak to the media about the newly selected players. Here is a look at what scouts had to say about some of the newest players they added:

Chiefs scouts in attendance for Tulsa pro day

#Chiefs scouts got a close look at the draft-eligible prospects workout at the Tulsa pro day on Thursday.

The Kansas City Chiefs were among the teams in attendance to watch several draft prospects workout and go through athletic testing at the Tulsa pro day.

Scouts have been out on the road attending a number of different pro days to gather more information ahead of the 2022 NFL draft. In their latest stop in Tulsa, the Chiefs got a close-up look at a pair of offensive tackles who are getting some buzz.

Bookend offensive tackles, Tyler Smith and Chris Paul, were the stars of the show on Thursday. Both players built on their performance at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine, participating in the bench press after passing on the drill in Indianapolis. Paul posted 26 repetitions of 225 on the bench press while Smith posted 25. With Kansas City potentially looking to add a right tackle in the mid-rounds, Paul is a name to watch for the team on Day 2.

WR Josh Johnson, CB Travon Fuller and DL Cullen Wick were also among the players who worked out in front of NFL scouts. All three players figure to be Day 3 draft picks or priority free agent signings.

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Here is what NFL scouts were saying about Raiders LB Divine Deablo ahead of Draft

Tweener. That’s what some would have called Divine Deablo ahead of this year’s draft. A guy who came to college as a wide receiver, switched to safety, even playing some cornerback, but has the makings of a linebacker at the NFL level. “Interesting …

Tweener. That’s what some would have called Divine Deablo ahead of this year’s draft. A guy who came to college as a wide receiver, switched to safety, even playing some cornerback, but has the makings of a linebacker at the NFL level.

“Interesting guy,” one scout told The Athletic of Deablo during the pre-draft process. “He’s in the mold of (Kyle) Dugger and (Jeremy) Chinn. An absolutely fabulous kid. I don’t know where you play the guy. There will be some concerns in one-on-one coverage. He’s got a little tightness to him. He loves the game. You’ve just got to figure him out.”

Having to “figure him out” made him tough to place in the draft. The 6-3, 226-pound DB idolized fellow Virginia Tech alum Kam Chancellor who went on to star at safety in the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom defense. Deablo even changed his number to 17, just like Chancellor wore in his days for the Hokies.

Kam was drafted in 2010 and the league has changed quite a bit since then. Even in the past five years since Chancellor made his last Pro Bowl it’s changed.

One scout said he saw the physical similarities between the two, but not quite the level of aggressive playstyle. He also saw some intriguing possibilities when he was asked to play some linebacker at the Senior Bowl.

“You think you’re going to get Kam Chancellor,” one scout said. “This kid doesn’t have that kind of mentality. Chancellor would knock your teeth (out). Deablo is athletic as a tackler, but he’s not mean or explosive or anything like that. But the upside’s really good.

“He played a lot of sub linebacker in the Senior Bowl and did really well. He doesn’t have a ton of wiggle as far as man coverage, but he can play in zone because he’s fast, long and pretty instinctive.”

Nowadays, coverage abilities in a linebacker are considered crucial. So, when you see a safety with the kind of size and tackling abilities, he is viewed by many teams as a linebacker.

What’s interesting is, when The Athletic’s Bob McGinn polled 20 scouts about the safety class, Deablo still landed at sixth in the class. Even with many seeing him switching positions.

Deablo shocked a lot of people, running a 4.42 40-yard-dash at his pro day. That’s fast even for a safety, it’s blistering fast for a linebacker.

“I didn’t think the guy could run,” a third scout said. “I estimated 4.7. Then he did. He’s best in the box, but has free-safety range. I imagine he’ll end up playing linebacker.”

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Anonymous scouts discuss Raiders FS Trevon Moehrig pre-draft

Anonymous scouts discuss Raiders FS Trevon Moehrig pre-draft

When the Raiders jumped up from 48 to 43 to take Trevon Moehrig, it was roundly considered a fantastic pick and one of the biggest steals in the draft. When you read what scouts had to say about him ahead of the draft, you will probably feel even stronger about that assertion.

“I don’t remember the last safety that could both tackle and cover,” one scout told Bob McGinn of The Athletic. “That conference (Big 12) probably is the best passing conference in football, and he was really good. He covered the slot most of the time. There are very few safeties that can actually cover. I’d try him at corner just to see if he could play out there.”

The junior safety received the most points (91) from scouts in terms of being the best at his position. Of 20 scouts polled, 15 voted him number one. While Patrick Surtain II received the most points (87) at cornerback with 12 first-place votes.

McGinn’s general takeaway from what scouts were saying about Moehrig was that he has no major weaknesses in his games.

“He’s the only safety that I think can possibly go in the first round,” an NFC scout said. “He has a real good skill set other than short arms. He can get the ball. He has (cornerback) feet. He’s not a killer, but he can get people down in space. Good football player.”

A couple of other scouts liked Moehrig a lot but were not as hot on him as some.

“I didn’t see special, but I saw a lot of good,” said a third scout. “I appreciate the way he played. He can play in the middle of the field and he can play down. He’s one of the few guys who is fully interchangeable. I’m not saying he’s great covering the slot, but he knows how to play within himself.

“I like the angles he plays with in the run game. He’s tough. He’s got the size. His speed is fine.”

And…

“He’s more of a post player than a consistent physical player,” another scout said. “I think he’s unanimous (as the No. 1 safety). He’ll be on the brink of (making the Pro Bowl).”

And still another scout was more lukewarm on him.

“I don’t see anything to him,” he said. “You can see he knows how to play … but he’s not really fast, he’s not really athletic, he’s not a knock-you-out tackler or anything. He’s just OK.”

The Raiders got their “knock-you-out tackler” in Johnathan Abram two years ago. This time they were looking for a single-high safety. So, in that, I think they’re ok.

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Anonymous scouts discuss Raiders OT Alex Leatherwood before 2021 NFL draft

Anonymous scouts discuss Raiders OT Alex Leatherwood before 2021 NFL draft

Each year for the past 37 years Bob McGinn has collected quotes from scouts about all the players in the draft and asked them to rank them as they see them. It makes for some interesting reading after these players are drafted.

One of the questions McGinn asked scouts was which offensive linemen in the class were the most overrated. He asked 17 different scouts that question. The leaders were Oregon OT Penei Sewell (the consensus top tackle in this draft taken at 8th overall by the Lions) and Texas OT Sam Cosmi (taken 51st overall by Washington). Each had four votes.

Two others received two votes. They were Michigan’s Jaylen Mayfield (taken in the third round at 68 overall by the Falcons) and Alabama’s Alex Leatherwood (taken at 17 overall by the Raiders).

You can take that for what it’s worth. Sewell, for instance, may just have been considered overrated because he was the unquestioned top OT in this class through the entire process and seen as a top-three talent in this class at any position. He was still rated as the top OL in the class regardless.

With a first-place vote worth six points, a second worth five and so on, the point totals were Sewell (93), Slater (84), Vera-Tucker (52), Christian Darrisaw (50), Teven Jenkins (17), Dickerson (13), Jackson Carman (eight), Liam Eichenberg (six), Cosmi (six), Leatherwood (five), Little (five), Banks (four), Mayfield (four), Dillon Radunz (four), Dan Moore (two), Trey Smith (two), Wyatt Davis (one) and Drew Dalman (one).

Based on these votes, Leatherwood was viewed as the 10th offensive lineman in this class and the 7th best tackle. And yet he was the fourth OL and third OT taken behind Sewell, OT Rashawn Slater, and G Alijah Vera-Tucker, with the more highly regarded Darrisaw and Jenkins still on the board.

This bears out why these scouts viewed Leatherwood as being overrated. So too does some of what they had to say about him.

“He’ll play,” one scout said. “You love his length (34-inch arms) … but he doesn’t play that strong and doesn’t have a lot of grit to him. He just kind of does everything OK, OK, OK, nothing elite. Someone may fall in love with him just because it’s an Alabama offensive lineman. Every year they don’t do anything, but every year we keep taking ’em. He falls in line with a lot of those ’Bama guys of the past.”

Another scout’s analysis matches up with the pre-draft feeling that Leatherwood may be best suited to play guard, but seems to have a similar feeling to that of the Raiders.

“I think he’s got to be a right tackle or a guard,” said another scout. “Big, powerful man. Moved well for a big guy. He worked out better than I thought. There’s some similarities between him and Andrus Peat, thick-boned guys who could play tackle but are really good guards.”

It’s important to reiterate that these are what scouts were saying about these players before they were drafted. So, it was regardless of where in the draft the player was selected and/or which team selected them. That’s what makes these quotes most interesting. Now we wait to see how accurate they end up being.

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Saints bring back personnel scout C.J. Leak

Texans general manager Nick Caserio fired most of his scouting staff upon taking the job, sending personnel man C.J. Leak back to the Saints

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Changes to NFL scouting departments typically happen immediately after each year’s draft has wrapped up, and it appears the New Orleans Saints are moving quickly to bring in with a familiar candidate. Houston Texans reporter Aaron Wilson first reported Sunday morning that the Saints are hiring C.J. Leak, the former Texans assistant director of pro personnel who worked with New Orleans as a combine scout from 2016 to 2018. Inside The League’s Neil Stratton confirmed the news.

Leak was one of several scouting executives let go from Houston when Nick Caserio was hired as the Texans’ new general manager earlier this year, which was a bit of an unusual move. While teams typically hire new front office executives and build coaching staffs in January, the scouting department is normally in the middle of draft preparation and is overhauled in May. But Caserio was eager to introduce wholesale changes to Houston, so Leak has been out of work ever since.

Before he joined the Saints in his first stint, Leak spent most of his pro career with the Buffalo Bills as both a player and scout. But his focus in New Orleans was working the annual NFL scouting combine — a whirlwind event that put him in close contact with college prospects, coaches, and other scouts from across the league.

The Saints hit on big-time draft picks like Michael Thomas, David Onyemata, Alvin Kamara, Marcus Williams, Marshon Lattimore, and Ryan Ramczyk during his tenure, so here’s hoping he can help find more success in his unannounced role. Leak did work more on the professional scouting side in Houston, so it’s possible he helps fill in for his former coworker Terry Fontenot in New Orleans. Stay tuned for clarity from the team.

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Lions, Panthers among teams targeting Saints exec Jeff Ireland in GM searches

New Orleans Saints VP of college scouting Jeff Ireland has been targeted by the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers as a GM candidate.

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The NFL’s new hiring cycle has kicked off, and several executive members of the New Orleans Saints front office could be on the move.

Multiple reports linked Saints vice president of college scouting Jeff Ireland to teams searching for new general managers, with the MMQB’s Albert Breer reporting that the Detroit Lions plan to interview Ireland on Friday, Jan. 8, while the Carolina Panthers hope to meet with Ireland on Tuesday, Jan. 5, if the Saints approve their interview request.

Ireland has been an important architect of the Saints’ resurgence, having overhauled their scouting department after joining the front office back in 2015. His influence led to their legendary 2017 draft class in which the Saints hit on two first round picks (Marshon Lattimore and Ryan Ramczyk) as well as other top-100 selections (Marcus Williams, Alvin Kamara, Trey Hendrickson, and Alex Anzalone).

His efforts in scouring the college ranks have also helped the Saints land undrafted rookies like Deonte Harris, Shy Tuttle, and Marquez Callaway, among other contributors.

And it shouldn’t surprise anyone that his success in New Orleans has prompted interested teams to overlook his ugly Miami Dolphins tenure. Ireland worked as the Dolphins general manager from 2008 to 2014 in an era marred by controversial draft picks and questionable personnel decisions. But the fact that he’s had time to learn from those mistakes has helped heal his reputation.

With that said: he’ll have to impress during the interview process to stand out from a crowded field. Detroit in particular has quite a long list of names on their slate competing for the same position, including Saints vice president of pro personnel Terry Fontenot. The Saints have benefited from having both executives in the building, but it’s looking like either of them could be moving up and out, if not both of them.

But the Carolina connection is worth watching closely. Ireland is a Baylor alum, where Panthers coach Matt Rhule catapulted his way onto the NFL’s radar. The two presumably have a good relationship and might enjoy working together. Having an opportunity to compete against Saints GM Mickey Loomis and his former team twice a year could be appealing.

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Chiefs scouts attended two SEC games this weekend

Kansas City Chiefs scouts were witness to two pivotal matchups in the SEC.

The Kansas City Chiefs scouts are already hard at work on the 2021 NFL Draft. The draft is still months away, but preparation is key. This will be a make or break draft for the future of this team as they face a limited salary cap in 2021 and many free agents this upcoming offseason.

Kansas City had scouts in attendance for two big college football games in the SEC this past weekend. It’s one of the conferences that has historically turned out the most NFL talent. Also, of note, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach used to be a scout responsible for covering the SEC for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the NCAA and NFL are doing things a little differently when it comes to credentials for games. Instead of teams applying for scouting credentials to a specific game, credentials are assigned via a lottery system. No more than seven teams are allowed to attend a specific game. In the past, some of the most pivotal SEC matchups have drawn 20 or more scouts from around the NFL.

According to NFL.com reporter Chase Goodbread, the Chiefs were awarded credentials to have scouts attend Florida at Texas A&M and Alabama at Mississippi, both pivotal matchups within the SEC.

Texas A&M notched an upset victory over No. 4 ranked Florida. Meanwhile, Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide notched a win over his former pupil, Lane Kiffin, who is in his first season as the head coach at Ole Miss.

Here’s a look at the top draft-eligible prospects from each school:

Texas A&M

  • QB Kellen Mond
  • WR Caleb Chapman
  • LB Buddy Johnson
  • DT Jayden Peevy

Florida

  • QB Kyle Trask
  • TE Kyle Pitts
  • WR Kadarius Toney
  • DB Shawn Davis
  • CB Marco Wilson

Alabama

  • RB Najee Harris
  • WR DeVonta Smith
  • WR Jaylen Waddle
  • LB Dylan Moses
  • CB Patrick Surtain II

Ole Miss

  • TE Kenny Yeboah
  • WR Elijah Moore
  • DE Sam Williams
  • LB MoMo Sanogo

Certainly, there are a ton of talented players from this group that could improve this team moving forward. Chiefs scouts will be back at it this upcoming weekend as they also received lottery-assigned credentials for Alabama-Georgia, the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams respectively.

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