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The "Last Man Standig" 2026 Agent Survey - Who said what!?!? · Scouting the League

• Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: When it comes to opinions, well, we know everyone has one. And when it comes to the NFL, those opinions come strong. While we know that everyone has a perspective, story, and reason why they believe what they do, getting them all together can be a tough task. Well, today's guest, Ben Standig of Last Man Standig, joins Neil and I to talk his 2026 NFL Agent Survey and the results within. From best and most difficult front office to the names that agents like or want to avoid, who is doing it best and why, trends in the game and what agents are bluffing about most. A fascinating conversation that we somehow managed to squeeze in. But before we jump into all things with Ben, make sure you head over, like, subscribe, and share this podcast wherever you're listening and watching, whether it's on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the video portion over on YouTube, hit those buttons. That share one in those comments are what we want you to hit. We want to hear from you. We want you to share this with a friend as we continue to bring you the scouting world everywhere where the football world should be. Make sure you give me a follow over at right step ADV on Twitter. Of course, I am Roderick David, former college and pro scout in the NFL, now doing all things to help everybody in the football world, rsafootball.com. If you want to know more about me, my background, everything I am doing. Ben Standig is at Ben Standig on Twitter. You can find his sub stack as well, where you can find this article over there. Just type in last man standig. It'll be in the show notes as well. And of course, co-host Extraordinaire, the man that is inside the league, Neil Stratton. He is at Inside the League on Twitter. InsideTheLeague.com is his website and his blog. Make sure you check that out. Succeedinfootball.com. And we talk about it all the time, his Friday rap. really relevant with this week's episode talking all about the agent. So make sure you go sign up for that over at his Twitter page. Is the best spot to find that. Quick word here from right step scouting. Perfect. Make sure you go get your reports ordered today. I will get those no matter what that report is. We will get it done for you. And if you are an aspiring scout, want to be in the industry, if you are a current NFL scout, maybe just needs a little support, has a question, needs something answered, thescoutingcommunity.com is the spot for you. So go sign up. Hit me an email, hit me a text if you got my number. Again, wanting to help those in the industry, whether you are a current NFL scout or want to be an NFL scout. And last but not least, the most comfortable. The highest performing insoles on the market, BlueMaka.com. Head over and get those. Use code Scouting20 at checkout to let them know we sent you. Get a little discount on that order as well. That is BlueMaka.com, code Scouting20 at checkout. And to today's guest, Ben Standig, while most of his focus is on the Washington Commanders, who we open up talking about today. Ben has been has a great feel for the league as a whole, so let's get to it. Well, I am excited to get into it today with our friend of the program, Ben Standig. In the past, we've had Ben on to talk about the commanders specifically. We're gonna get a little update, week one Commanders football. But today is really all about the 2026 NFL Agent Survey that now Ben's been running for a number of years. We're gonna talk about its history. We're gonna talk about a bunch of the details and it's some of it not for this podcast. You're gonna have to head over to Ben's Substack at last man standig. It's perfect, perfect one. You can play on the name, but that's perfect. Ben, first off though, welcome back to Scouting the League. Ben Standig: Guys, I appreciate it. I've always enjoyed chatting with you both, so I think so much for for the time. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah, yeah. Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: Let me also give a shameless plug to Ben's mock drafting ability. There was once upon a time that inside the league handed out a trophy to the one who performed best in the mock draft last time. And Ben was our first ever winner. He was gracious enough to come and accept it, which is not always which was not always the case, especially in our in our early days. So I've always appreciated that. But also a strong plug for his sub stack. It's unbelievable. the just the most recent article and the one we're going to talk about today is worth the price of admission for. full year. And anyone who's out there who's into the weeds enough of the game to want to listen to our podcast, I think you get a lot out of Ben's podcast. So I'd I'd encourage you to check it out. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah, certainly. Again, everything that Ben's doing, you can follow him at Ben Standig on Twitter. Again, search unique name. That's always a nice thing about our unique names, Ben, is again, you can just throw it on the handle and not have to add me extra characters, underscores, hyphens. Easy to find it out there. So again, you can find Ben on there. Find him on Neil or I's Twitter page. Of course, Neil's at Inside the League. I'm at right step A D V. Ben, before we jump into this agent survey, week one's in the books. A close division loss for the Commanders. I'm sure some things to be happy about. Anytime you're within a field goal and you come out on the wrong side of it, some the woulda coulda shoulda's. week one, we're Monday afternoon recording this. What is your takeaways? What can Commanders fans be excited or looking forward to this year? Ben Standig: Yeah, I you know, look, it it's funny, because it's week one, I think i it's my at least by myself and I think by others too, it's being judged differently than say if everything exact happened exact same way, but it's a week seven. There were enough mistakes, little, some little, some bigger, that Philadelphia took advantage of, had a bunch of big plays, thirty, forty yard plays, couple of breakdowns, obviously Washington's chance to go for two point conversion at the end. failed in part because it looked like a a a a missed block gave Philadelphia an opening and and so on. But all that said, considering the drama well, not the drama, but the doom and gloom scenario that was being presented around this team, which I thought was way overstated. it was a lot from the preseason and joint practices that had to do with like backups in the game, far less than the starters, that it was to me clear that they had upgraded a lot of positions on both sides of the ball. And I think a lot of the The po the hope that you were, you know, people were wondering what would we would see did show up. The defense, 10 tackles for loss, three sacks. you know, for the most part, they were in control. Again, Philly had a took advantage of when or when they could, but they weren't like just rolling them rolling over them. And then offensively, they were pretty quiet for three quarters, but in the fourth quarter, Jaden Daniels got going again. He's got the clutch gene, really played well there in the end. And, you know, they had a chance. But, you know, ul ultimately didn't get it done. So you never want to s lose week one at at ever, let alone a division game. And again, there's no moral victory Monday here, but at the same time, there's at least fr from where we were, there's a lot of uncertainty because it's week one. I think you have to feel pretty good about where Washington is at, even if ultimately they didn't get this one done. Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: Ben, I know yesterday was a close loss, but do you feel like the team is where it needs to be with the GM, the head coach and the quarterback as we enter year three? Ben Standig: Yeah, I mean, obviously this is a huge, huge question. You know, Adam Peters and Dan Quinn, came in the same time as Jaden Daniels before twenty twenty four. And they were given a lot of leeway in terms of the roster, in part because the previous regime had just not left them with much. The draft classes under from twenty twenty twenty to twenty twenty three did not bring them a lot that they still have today. And so they had to overhaul a lot. That's why they went to older vets the first year or two. Just to sort of help raise the floor a little bit, both in terms of the talent but also the culture. Then they had to shift now to get more longer term athlete leads, younger guys, you know, more of a core pieces. So they've had to they're still trying to work that out. Now that said, they've had three drafts. Other than Jaden Daniels, it's kind of hard to easily say, Well, this guy is the definite, you know. tackle for the next X years or this guy's the receiver. I'm not saying there's not some hope. If you watch the game, Sonny Styles, our first round pick, had a couple of really standout plays. Antonio Williams, our third round pick, scored the game almost time touch and at the end and almost had another one earlier. So there's some good things there. And it's not like their guys, their their draft picks don't play, but they have not really stepped up. So they this is a big year for all the draft classes beyond just Jane Daniels to to step up. But if that happens then I think there's bet probably better alignment between the coaching staff, the front office, and what they have. but until that happens, we'll see. They also have, you know, two first time coordinators. And you know, there's always a mystery w with with that as well. So again, I think there's a reason for optimism, but you know, like half the league, they're one one issue, one hiccup, one injury away from potential disaster, and that's where they gotta figure it out. You know, hopefully things go their way. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah. Yeah. Again, you mentioned the the two new coordinators. And again, that's you know, a byproduct of both success when you lose guys and hey, we just aren't quite where we want to be. And again, I remember I was with VQ when you make the tough decisions following a Super Bowl run. It's like, hey, we just we really like these guys. They were a fit for the time, but we've got to go somewhere else. Again, you talked about the draft fascinating. Anybody listens to what I do? I thought Sonny Styles was a perfect fit in that defense and And I'd imagine Q is gonna have some fun with him. The other part of that equation, again, though Adam Peters has been in place, this is a front office in the last three that's had a lot of turnover. A couple of retirees, of course, Chuck Cook won Neil Stratton's an inside the league CEO Bracotta Award, 40 Ben Standig: Mm-hmm. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: years in scouting, one of the great guys in scouting. they've lost directors, like they've had a bunch of front office turnover, which Again, you can kind of sweep that under the rug, but when you start talking about continuity draft classes, getting the roster right, one through fifty-three plus sixteen, you know, it everything needs to be right. Again, hopefully by year to three to year four now, exactly where we're at, they they have the plan and it's again, this is the year to execute it. Again, you hope you stick around. Again, some of the franchises we're gonna talk about you know, in your agent survey that are labeled as the best. Continuity is a big part of it. And and and we'll kind of get to those. But again, a lot to be optimistic about for everybody. It at worst, you're one win away from being 500 and right in the division race. So again, that's what comes with week one. So Ben, let's go ahead and get into your into your agent survey, because again, we don't want to spend all our time talking about the the commanders. again, I believe you said eighth iteration of the the agent survey. Let's let's talk about kind of the genesis of hey, I want to do this. Obviously, it's not a small undertaking. I believe it was twenty four agents in this class. Give us a snapshot, a history, kind of talk us through what this NFL agent survey is. Ben Standig: Yeah, no, thanks thanks for that opportunity. So I guess just to go back, you know, I'd done a lot of like freelance reporting in the area, a lot of NBA, a lot of college basketball, and some c NFL, but you know, the NFL space is very crowded, you know, it's kind of where people want to be. when I eventually started moving more in the direction of covering the NFL, you know, I I I just didn't want to be one of those reporters who, you know, just sort of, hey, here's here's what the coach had to say, here's what the Players had to say, here's what's happened in the game that you just watched on television. I wanted to try to find other ways to explore this space. And also, I'll be honest, I was I'm I'm pretty honest with myself. Like I'm okay writer, but I'm not like gonna pen one of those stories that's getting passed around. Yeah, wow, if you really the profile standing road, that that's just not gonna be a big so what could I do? And I for me, I've always liked looking at the league more from the GM front office side than like the X's and O's film nerd breakdown side, no disrespect to the film nerds. So w when I started to cover this team, that was to me a way to try to get in. And I really and I f found ways that like, you know, the interesting thing about the agents is there are so many of them. It's not like you it's not like there's only a handful who control the whole league. I mean, there's obviously the bigger houses and some of the names that we all know have a lot, but there's a lot of smaller guys all over the place, practice squad, back of the roster. And so I started connecting in that direction. In any event, when I fast forward to twenty nineteen and I get to the athletic. Same sort of deal. I'm like, okay, I don't want to just come in here and just be the beat writer. What else can I do to stand out? And I thought, well, okay, the you know, I always like surveys and like a lot of people do, these behind the scene things. And I like, you know what? We we always hear from the coaches in the front office and the players. We don't ever hear from the agents. And the agents have a foot in so many different camps out here. Obviously, they represent the players, but they have to deal with the general managers. They deal with, you know, whatever the league changes occur, the NFL PA. They're they're obviously free agency and the draft. And so, like, all right, so what could I do here? So I presented this idea. And that's kind of where it started. Just how do these people who kind of work in the shadows to a degree, how do they see the league? What don't we know that goes on? Now, I obviously everybody has their own biases, and you can imagine that agents are no d are no different in how they see the world. But at the same point, I just didn't think that that was a viewpointed that was just getting a lot of attention and like I said it it touches on a lot of different angles and it's been a really interesting ride throughout. Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: Ben, when we do our polling for the Bart list, I use software that I found online, but your polling is a lot tighter and you've got a much smaller number. Are you calling them and kind of running through the questionnaire with them? Or is this all kind of blind stuff to where they can feel free to do that? And also, how did you choose your 27? Are they representative of the best? biggest firms and do you have any agency agents from the same firm that are doing this? I mean, how'd you go about all that stuff? Ben Standig: Yeah. so yeah, I you know, again, as a way to connect it with my day job, I didn't want to just be like, hey, let me email you some questions, feel free to answer them and send them back. I wanted to f have a conversation because I always think it's more, you know, there is the the nuances that you know, the details. Like obviously I can't put everything that is said A because they're asking me not to, and also it just wouldn't be necessarily appropriate because then you would also have a better feel for who the people are. So Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: Course. Ben Standig: but but it but the conversations are are key. Some people I've been talking to for the whole eight years. Sometimes it's people that are just new to to the deal. it's generally a a pretty decent mix of again, people from the bigger firms, some of the bigger names, people who represent the pro bowlers, the MVPs, the top graphics. But then there's also those who are again trying to just get guys on the practice squad or you know, more backbenchers or d or just, you know, they have smaller agency and what have you. So I've always tried to maintain that type of range. you know and in terms of these, like I said, a lot of it is some you know repeat customers. Sometimes it is a way to get you know it's it's been established enough the the survey that now when I go to some people they're like they're from whether they know me or not, they're familiar with it with the survey. And and that helps. So I I'm not saying it's not a scientific way that I go about it. Plus like I a I mean, I got twenty four, I probably ask I don't know, f over forty. It just depends. You know, some people you know, you're catching in in late summer, they're busy with family, they're unavailable, or they just, you know, d some don't respond. The jerks. you know, so it it's it's Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: In the ancient world, Ben, I don't know if I believe that at all. Ben Standig: That they don't get back? Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah, yeah. Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: Hey listen, I'm the defender here. They're they're people too, and they certainly are subject to the same stresses that we all are. So anyway, I gotta put that disclaimer. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah, yeah. Well again and and if you want the full again, we we know again, I believe a thousand some agents, NFLPA certified Neil's Friday rap from this last week, which if you're listening and you're not subscribed, head over to inside the league, get subscribed to Neil's Friday rap. This last week was all about this agent world, about who represents the numbers. Again, yeah, athletes first. They've got a few guys in the league. And again, like you said, Ben, there's There's guys from all over. There's the big ones, the big wigs. We know a few of the names, but again, it is a wide mix. And again, it's a good mix in the NFL, male, female from across the country, vets, young guys, old guys, big agencies, small agencies. with this year's agent survey, again, just starting off, like was there something as you stepped back, as you hit publish, I believe, on on the ninth, you know, five days ago, was there something like, hey, The big takeaway or the big thing that stuck with you. Was there one thing from from this year's survey that's that's sticking out for you? Ben Standig: Well, you know, So I did do one thing a little bit different this year and that was cause some of the questions like I can I when I asked them, they're like, my God, I need 10 minutes to think of this let alone to give you a real answer. So I tried on a few of them to to give a little bit of a heads up. I mean, there was I think twenty three questions that were in the survey. There there were others that I asked that just ultimately, you it just whatever, it just there wasn't going anywhere. The answers weren't particularly interesting, or every single person was sort of saying, I don't know, or so I had to dump some of those. but you know, I I but one thing I did ask was like, you know, what is a trend at the league that that that fans don't necessarily see, and what are some changes that you've had philosophically over time? And I just thought those were both interesting. I mean, it's not even anyone specific, but it's again the the point of this, it it kind of brought me back to the roots of why I did this. Like, you know, like somebody w made an example of practice squad, right? You know, you hear that, and I think for most fans, they think, okay. This is where you take the young player and you put them on the practice squad and you teach him the ropes, and all of a sudden, then by year two or three, you hope that there's a thing there that they can be a help. And this agent, somebody a couple others, made somewhat similar points to me with in that that's not really what this is anymore. Because now that you have this opportunity to have veterans on there, it is much more about a plug and play situation. And therefore, you need to learn what we do. It's not necessarily we're going to help you learn how to be a better blocker or work on your footwork in coverage. It's more like, Hey, we do this type of zone blocking. So you need to get yourself here, there, and there, and you know, et cetera. And and and so again, it it it may be a relatively small minor point, but that is also sort of the point. It's not everything isn't some big sweeping conversation. Sure. Are they do the do they dread an 18 game schedule? Sure. For the most part, they did. But you know, okay, if it's gonna be realistic. Well, then what what it what can happen? And it wasn't, you know, they they s most of them said some version of guaranteed contracts, grass fields, better travel, better healthcare, whatever. But then there were some others where, well, what if what if you make it 18 games, but you make it so that no player can play more than 16? The NFL still has the inventory, but now you have these sort of fantasy football type decisions. When do you and it applies to every player, when do you decide to use somebody or not? Now I don't I don't know that that would ever fly, but it is an interesting another way to look at it. Like what the NFL's ultimate purpose is to get more inventory, which they can then sell. The players want to protect the they want to obviously make money, but they want to protect the health of their of their people. So that's the type of you know, there was other ones like that. So it's just the that type of insight that like I'm never going to think about that. 90% of the people who are hearing this readers wouldn't think of a lot of the things out there. We're not agents. Like why, why would it th this is not a w you know, you wanna ask me about all angles of the commanders? It's probably few I have not thought about. You wanna ask the agents, same thing. Like they this is what they do. They think about these things constantly. international travel, international p games, leagues or teams is another one like that. So you know, that that I don't know if I'm really ultimately answered your question, but it's just more of just getting that insight from the people who this is all they do is think about this stuff that I wouldn't necessarily think of otherwise. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah. Well, I think you hit on two things. And again, it goes from both that big picture and then what belief is changing. It's that developmental aspect. And again, we we saw that rule come into place. Practice squads expand. We get our bump ups and downs. And again, the idea looked great on paper. Yeah, you're gonna have still ten spots for development, but also these six for vets that can, you know, be bumped up and down or moved up quickly. But again, we have really seen it turn into kind of a you know, stock. Pile of your short list, more or less. We're just going to stick your shortlist, guys. And again, for up some of these NFL cities, the players already live in there, so they can collect a paycheck and you know run a few scout team reps and call themselves an NFL player. But the the belief that all has also changed that teams don't have developmental plans. We talk about it at the college standpoint with NIL with Transfer Portal, players aren't being developed. Now they're not being developed at the NFL practice squad level. It is more on players than ever before to find a way to develop themselves, which good or bad, it's a lot of people that know what they're doing in the off season and some that don't know what they're doing in the off season. The development piece was a huge part of it that I saw. And again, I'd imagine you had was that a consistent theme that development just in general, both from the practice squad and from again, the way the roster put together and coaches don't have long enough. It that development piece was a big part of it. Ben Standig: Yeah, for sure. Another an another w in the category of what's opinion of yours that's changed over time. One agent said that, you know, used to believe, hey, if I if my client should have made this team because he's clearly better than that guy, right? Or whatever it might be. And he's like, I'm not even talking about it from like a biased perspective. I'm saying if I ask anybody who would you rather have this guy or that guy, they would probably say my guy. But for a team, that's not always necessarily what they're looking for. It's not always the best player. It's who's fits for what they do, whether that's position versatility, a cer a certain skill set that works. And so again, this sort of it it falls under the development angle in that it's not just enough to say, boy, this person can run out, you know, jump out of the gym, can fly down the field, whatever. But it's not necessarily what we need. And if we can't get that from them, then we may have go to somebody else who at least can give us that one specific skill set that we need or, you know, whatever it may be. And We'll go with that as a backup piece. Because we need that rather than a better player. So yes, I mean that's a sort of another example of the it's isn't always just about talent. It's the fit. And again, this is where the you know, the like this is sort of maybe on some level what teams are trying Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: That's yeah. Ben Standig: to teach. But on the other hand, if you don't if it's not a good fit for what, you know, can we see this happen? Like the Washington brought in some guys this offseason where the second they arrive, you're kind of like, I don't get this. This doesn't seem like it's going to work, even if it's like a veteran player. But hey, at some point, you know, beggars can't be choosers. You need somebody, whether it's to get through camp or to hope. And you try, and sometimes it works. Sometimes it's just like, yeah, no, that was a bad fit. We were right to think that. But you know, with the younger guys, it's even a little harder because you haven't there's more opportunity. The ceiling is higher, but where's the floor? And that's what the team's got to figure out. And I think that's what prospects and their agents have to figure out as well. Where's the right fit? why? And that's another thing. I I like asking, not even for the survey, but in general, I like asking. Guys, especially when they sign players signed to like the practice squad or, you know, it's like, why this team? And they're like, well, you know, or or an undrafted free agent. It's like, well, you we did the homework. We saw that for what his position is, this was a group that maybe developed a certain way, or or there's roster opportunities and we did this. And, you know, I like to hear that as well because we get the okay, there's not, it's not just, who's offering me the most money? Let's do that. Maybe maybe it is that. Maybe they're all landing. But like I I got to think 'cause they they're looking bigger picture. It isn't just the quick buck, it's the long buck. How do you get somebody in a place where they can make it? Maybe it's practice wide year one, but there's an opportunity to go forward and they think there's, you know, the components they need, this team provides that. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah. Yeah. And and within that, again, there's the I I talk to agents all the time. There are organizations that are better at development. There's somewhere if you've got a developmental guy, a trades guy that has a lot of polishing, like there's some spots you don't want to go. And oftentimes that revolves around the coaching staff that's there, a specific position coach. Again, we had Mark Belgarian and we talked about Jordan Mai a lot. And again, Yeah, going to Philadelphia was the absolute the right fit for him. It worked out. There's other spots. Again, we've seen linebackers have a lot of success under Dan Quinn. Again, kind of those fringe roll pass rushers. Yeah, they've had some success. Other other players, again, it it's not the fit. And that's one of the things that came up in the beliefs. Again, long ago, somebody coined the phrase Jimmy's and Joes over X's and O's. But one of these agents, or maybe a couple of them, said, Hey, Coaching matters more than ever. Was that a surprise thing for you that there are now there's there's a little bit of a belief that hey, the coaching staff matters more than ever at the NFL? Ben Standig: Yeah, I I don't know if it was a surprise necessarily, but it was something that was echoed and you know, the surprise I guess comes from them talking to people who represent the players. They want to highlight the players, even if it's anonymous, they don't want to say who they represent or whatever. But no, we the players, the play it's all about the players. So to say, Okay, yes, but like, you know, i i I guess I used to cover the NBA and then the NBA, the the coaches are very much the supporting cast in the conversation. Not that they don't have sway with whether it's lineups or out of bounds plays, things like that. But like the the game is a constant flow. There is no you can't just stop all the time and tell the point guard what to do you can call a player to but it's a you know it's it's a it's a flowy game. That's that's why it's one of the appeals. NFL every twenty seconds you go back to a huddle the quarterback gets somebody in his ear saying do this, do that. You know, the the coaches have way more control over the the game itself and now when it comes to the developmental aspect, you you know, at least not Not in the younger kid turning into a vet, but the you know, how do we beat the Eagles? How do we beat the Cowboys? What are we looking to do? You know, this is it is not a it's not a democracy. You know, this isn't, hey, give me the ball the top of the key and let me go do what I do. This is, hey, you have to run this pattern eight yards and then break left. Cause if you do, then the ball will be there. If you don't, you're you're a yard late, you're a yard short, whatever it is, the ball is gonna be off. It's gonna possibly lead to a turnover or an incompletion. So the the the level of precision is so key. And that's where the coaches are obviously huge. And then more specifically, there was like, you know, a lot of praise for not surprising like a guy like Sean McVay. That it's not just, you know, there are some situations where people go to certain teams because they want to play with Mahomes or or or Josh Allen or or or whatever. In his case, like, no, no, he people want to go play for that guy. If he were to leave the Rams, they'd still want to go play. for for for that guy and others got it, you know, pr praise as well. so you know, it is they just have their hands on a lot more the in the NFL. And if you have a really good staff, you mentioned some position coaches, that can be such a di a weapon, such a difference maker if you have somebody like that because the margins are just incredibly thin, but this is where the coaches can, you know, find some ways to to make a big advantage. Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: Ben, I'm interested in the question you posed, which is who is the best talent evaluator? It's an immensely broad question. And the responses you got, well, your leaders are John Schne Schneider and Les Sneed, no arguments there, both have repres both represent teams that have won Best Draft Awards. And I look at the list, there's about a dozen names here, ranging from really young area scouts to other GMs. Is that Representative of the r the results you've gotten in the previous years? Have you thought of maybe a way to refine that a bit more? and do you feel like the responses you're getting are again from people who are friendly with these guys? Cause I know some of these are pretty media friendly type people, or do you think they really have a respect for the jobs they do and how they develop players? Again, we've been talking about that. I know I've given you a lot of questions there, but if you could address as much of that as possible, I know that's That's kind of the wheelhouse of the people that listen to our our broadcast. Ben Standig: Sure. I mean, this was a a pretty rare year where there was only like a couple of guys that got multiple votes. Typically, it's more there's more of that. Now, this question, like, whereas who's the best GM is pretty specific. There's 32 GMs, pick one of them. Here it's like whatever you got. And I think also here again, it goes to who are the agents checking in with. I mean, people may not think this, but like agents talk to scouts all the time and ask them, hey, I'm debating whether I want to represent this running back from Oklahoma or maybe. I got an in on this safety at Arkansas. What what are your thoughts? Is this worth worth my time? Is this player got a real prospect? So they do get those opinions. And then that's where then the well, you got it right about this guy, or you know, therefore my trust goes up. And other times it clearly it can go it can go the other way. So, you know, are there answers like, boy, they they have the computer in their brain, let me simulate through all 500 people I could possibly name and come down to this one, or is it like, well, I I signed a I signed a a tight end last year and that guy told me that was pretty good. Maybe that's maybe it goes in that direction. So obviously there is, you know, some inherent bias to a degree, but I but also again when you're talking with agents who've been doing this for, you know, decades or you know, like they they're not beholden to any anybody out there. They're just what what are they thinking? And maybe in that time it's it's they think about that. I would love if you got a suggestion, I I tell this to the agents too. If got suggestions on questions, if there's a better way to ask this, you know, I'm all I'm all ears. And sure, I mean, it would be you know, if if I could double the the audience and get it to like fifty, then then maybe like this broader requesting works better because you get more re you know, see patterns like emerging. When it's a lot of people picking one guy, admittedly it's not always like, Well, okay, so if everybody's just sort of picking random people, I don't know that that equals that these are the people who are necessarily the best, but At the same point, if they just name whoever the four the GMs of the four or five best teams in the league are, which often happens too, then I don't know if that's necessarily any better representation. You're just naming who's the hot guy. right. So it it it goes both ways, but that's why, you know, again, why I like having the conversations over the phone. Al also, like a lot of times they will name off six guys, I mean or you know, six six people or whatever it is for these categories. Now eventually we have to say, okay, you it's it's narrowed down to one thing. you know, that that that that that type of deal. But you know, it's also like there's some guys, I remember a couple of years ago, w question of like, I think it was maybe this exact same question. Ian Cunningham, who's now the GM with the Falcons, he was the number two, he was the runner up choice to Adam Peters here. Like, I I think one year was like in four of the five qu categories. He was like constantly being mentioned by people at my agents and never was actually the final pick. So I noted like, okay, just to be clear, like, This guy didn't get any mentions, but if I took the accumulation of whatever they told me, he might have been like top three or four. So, you know, that's another part of all this. It's, you know, at least for me, sometimes it gets into the story, sometimes it doesn't, of just the idea of, okay, what is the broader view here? you know, once in a while you can kind of tell if somebody might be throwing their buddy a bone. I I I don't, you know, who who might have been, you know, get into their heads. But for the most part, I think you do get a good read of who people value. And a and to some degree why they do that. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah. Well again on this program we are scouting the league. We like our scout. So definitely want to give a shout out to some of these Mark Acevedo with the Ravens, Chris Ballard, of course, Trey Brown, Greg Castillo with the Chiefs, John Dorsey. Again, he's a name we know with the Lions, A. J. Durso with the Broncos, Aaron Heinlein, Rob Lohman, Will McClay, Anthony Patch, again, Nolan Teasley, who's now that GM, Andy Weidel with the Steelers, Elliot Wolf getting a shout out with the Patriots. It's a It's a really good group. Again, and amongst this group, you've got some current GMs, you've got s a couple former GMs, and one of these, one of these categories, again, you kind of referenced it with is these future GMs. And again, that's something that Neil and I talk about usually come end of the year when these guys are starting to get interviewed. But you've got I believe six names in this group. Reed Burkhart with Denver. And again, Denver gets love in a couple of these categories, Terrence Gray with Buffalo. And again, that's a it's a front office that again, a little bit crazy the way everything went down, but they find a way to win win week one this year. James Lipford with Houston, again, name that has constantly been up for for GM candidate spots. Steve Radisevic with Cincinnati. A front office we're going to talk about here in a little bit, can be a little bit more of a tough one to deal with. Brandon Sosno with Washington there, and then Andy Weidel with Pittsburgh. Was there again with this group, was it, hey, if you get mentioned Two or three times across twenty four agents, man, that probably tells me something, or was it, hey, these guys got mentioned twice, which kind of pulls them to top? How did you come up with these future GMs? Ben Standig: Yeah, no, again, you know, just tell me tell me what you think. It's it's also funny, like we when I re have some repeat customers, they never remember what they did the year before necessarily. I mean, sometimes they do. It's funny. I think so. Nolan Teasley last year when he was in Seattle was one of the one was co winners for for a future gym to watch. Maybe got two or three votes, I don't remember. I think ten p people told me they voted for him last year. Like that I told you, Nolan Teasley. It was amazing how everybody wanted to do get credit for that. maybe maybe again, maybe it was a deal where they mentioned him as like one of their names ultimately landed on somebody else. But yeah, no, I mean like Terren de Gray was also a guy who last year was part of the the first place group with with the Bills. you know, a guy like Brandon Sosna here. He's really like a Wonderkin kind of executive. He's on the almost all these people tend to be on the personnel side. He's on the business op side. He was He was a USC for a while with that the Lions. And then when Lance Newmar came over here to be the assistant Jim you know came over as well. He's a guy that gets a lot every year gets tons of mentions, at least in the just the general way. When I ask about tell me about Washington, right? He gets a lot of mentions. And this time he got him specifically here for for this award. So yeah, I mean, again, is two votes a huge amount. Well, no, but it if it w when they could literally pick anybody. And multi and and somebody's getting mentioned multiple times by different people who have no idea that you know other people picked them. You know, that that does stand out to me. And like and like you said, there's been like George Payton was somebody who was on this list. Adam Peters, three years in a row, was a w an outright winner or a co winner. Obviously, now the GM here. I mentioned Nolan Teasley last year. Joe Shane had been previously on this list. So you know, there's always the pretty much every year there seems to be somebody who's gonna become Ian Cunningham, I mentioned as well before. There's always gonna be some guys here who become the next, the next GM or two. And, you know, especially when you hear these names year after year, you kinda think, okay, when's their time to to get that job? Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: So these guys, the I'm looking at the others here, the ones that other that also got votes. And it looks like generally speaking, they're from the college side. Has that profile been consistent all eight years? Are we starting to see more? Are you getting more mention from the analytics side, from the cap side? From I mean, you already mentioned that Sossin isn't your classic, came up through the ranks, area, former Area Scout kind of guy. Has is that changing? Is are you seeing any? Metamorphosis there at all as the game changes? Ben Standig: you know, maybe there's a little bit more. I mean, one thing you hear is there's some guys, I think like Andy Weidel was one of them where like that it'll be mentioned he isn't just a personnel guy. He understands the business end. And also a lot of it is this was something with Sasna as well. A lot of it is like the relationship aspect of it. It isn't just enough to be like, wow, this guy recognizes talent. Well, can you deal with people, right? Because if you don't if you can't if you don't have the human connection, you don't have that ability, then that's where you start getting on the list of like, boy, this guy stinks, that front office stinks. I can't connect with them. It's really frustrating to deal with them. They don't call me back, whatever. and it goes a long way, you know, to be able to do that. So it may maybe it's not necessarily like as an individual aspect like, well, this person's killing analytics, and that's where this the game is going, but it's like you recognizing well, that's important. You can't just be old school scout, you know, with your eye test only. You've got to be able to incorporate all the different components, you know, be a consensus builder. if that makes sense and and you know really have a philosophy. I mean I a guy like Howie Roseman isn't for everybody. I mean I oftentimes when somebody mentions him over the years I get the man they want to name him but let's do it because Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: Yeah. Ben Standig: at some point it's like well they win every year and he does a really good job. He's had, you know, some some guys break out to go to do ha run their own shops. And you know it it's maybe again maybe what he does isn't for everybody. But in in terms of the aggressiveness and and so on, but you gotta re admire the the the the effectiveness of it. And and yeah, so I mean it it it's just really interesting to see how what what values to the to the agents as they're discussing it. And again, it's the the well you know, the well rounded ones ultimately I think, including again the the personal personable types ul ultimate I think kinda win out mostly. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah. Yeah, certainly again you you talk about the best front offices in this group. Again, Howie Roseman and the Eagles. Again, whether you like or not, you know how they're gonna operate and you can get in, you can do business. We've seen that done. Again, John Schneider in Seattle, again, probably a little more personable than Howie from everything I've gathered. But again, it's been there a long time. There's a Seattle way of doing things. again, less need in in LA operates really differently. But that's LA. Les is really good to work with. Again, George Payton in Denver. Again, for that being, probably a little bit on the head coach heavy side front office, where again decisions are made. George is again a pleasure to deal with. People like that. The scouts there love George. Love the working there. Again, it's it's a group good group there. And then again, on the flip side, this is a little bit of that same conversation with with with Philly is like s hard front office is become hard with for different reasons. Again, we we mentioned Steve Redisevic with Cincinnati future GM, but he this Cincinnati front office, again, different than anybody else. And again, no quick decisions. Again, the timing, everything has to be run through run through ownership. And again, for for all that Duke is really good at and for their scouts for all that they do, like, man, things things move at a different Pace in Cincinnati and operate in a different way. Again, in Dallas, again, probably could have saved themselves a few bucks. And again, for Washington fans, it's probably like, hey, we're glad that they operate the way they do. But again, Dallas, Jerry, Steven, they operate a little differently. Arizona, man, they're pinching pennies. You know, they they get a big win week one. Monty's gonna come in there. He's doing his thing with Mike, Michael Floor now. And then Carolina, a bit overconfident was, I believe, what. kind of it was laid out there with these front offices was there was your sense that like hey each one of these responses probably comes with a story of why they feel this way or was it like no general consensus this is the way these front offices operate and why they're a little tough to deal with. Ben Standig: Yeah, you know, especially when I'm asking them off the cuff, tell me this, you know. You say to me, you know, tell me about it, you know, what what's your definition of a bad breakup? I'm gonna go back to something that happened to me in junior high or high school that broke my heart in real time or something, right? You know, you're gonna go back to your own memories of what or it could be the other way, I guess. you know, what it is. So of course, you know, it's the whatever it's maybe some trauma that they had to deal with as an agent. You know, they didn't get the deals they wanted or they felt that the the team just used too much leverage. and and what have you. But like, you know, to that also, like you mentioned the the Radus Sevic with the Bengals. Part of why he was mentioned to me was that, you know, w what Cincinnati last year traded up in the first round for the first time like ever, right? You know, like the if they're showing any signs of breaking away from the mom and pop er era that he was the guy that was being credited for helping bring them into maybe a little bit more modern, modern times. So and yeah, then there are the places, you know, Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia are are teams that like they seem to have people every year in discussions for front office opportunities. And sometimes they just, you know, they are they get them as well. And, you know, I also think that you know you look at like s look Seattle just won the Super Bowl, they got a lot of votes, but they've been in the mix. John Schneider gets mentioned often. Howie Roseman, same deal. Whether they win the Super Bowl now or not, it's getting mentioned. George Peyton's another guy, less sneed, of course. And you look at those teams and like, you know, a a lot of times it's you look at it like, well, they you know, look at the Rams, obviously made a lot of splashy moves this year. The Eagles have not been shy about making moves, you know, Seattle as well. So at Denver, you know, this year they go get Jalen Waddell and You know, it it it's a combination of like they seem to have a good understanding of what you need in terms of like what positions you should value, but then also not being afraid to be aggressive. And a couple of agents pointed out this isn't that complicated, but just there's too many people out there who either they're they're nervous, they're conservative, or maybe they just don't know what they're doing, that it makes it maybe a little bit easier when you kind of see what see the bigger picture and you're willing to say, we'll take a risk. We maybe we'll trade a bunch of draft picks. And it blows up on our face. But if we're right, this is gonna be the thing that puts us over the top. And, you know, I don't think that's something everybody is willing to do and can execute it. And that's again, I think what appeals to some of these agents when they're discussing these people beyond the fact that maybe or maybe not they they're they gave their client a big big contract. Who who can say? Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: Ben, I think that when a GM comes in more often than not these days, an owner wants to kind of win the press conference, how do you do that? You bring in a guy who's younger than forty, who's looks good, in shape, all those kind of things. Look a lot like a young Ben Standig. Ben Standig: Yeah. Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: what would but you've been doing this for eight years, Ben. Are there people that are no longer GMs that would be a good fit based on I mean I guess what I'm trying to say is would they be more than just a retread if they came in and were hired based on the responses you're getting from your conversations with agents? Ben Standig: Yeah, I I mean, you know, there are people like this isn't necessarily the example of what you're discussing, but for years the best talent evaluator one, like you mentioned, John Dorsey, he was one of the names mentioned. He's not been a GM for a while. Now that's not to say that somebody thinks he should be one, but it's to say that in this one specific area, he still crushes like Scott McLuhan, who of course was a GM here, he was a GM at other San Francisco, Seattle as well. He for several years after he was done being an executive in the league was still getting mentions. As a top evaluator. Now, again, that may be a very specific thing. We may really just be calling them the best scout as opposed to the best GM option. But, you know, look, as we all know it in the real world, a lot of it is the talent that you have, and a lot of it is also the inter the personal relationships that you that you have. Do you are you like an absolute curmudgeon that nobody wants to talk to, or are you somebody that's like, boy, I I enjoy my conversations with them even when things don't go Completely right. Like I think a guy like, you know, Scott Fitterer, I don't know that where he's at. He was, of course, Seattle, part of that front office, goes to Carolina. Kind of has to take on the David Pepper of it all. Where the where the line between owner and GM, who's responsible, who knows. He ended up here for a minute as part of the front office. Now he joined one of the bigger agencies. So I don't know that he's ever got gets back in. But I think from like a personality standpoint, I think people really like Scott. I think from Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: yeah. Ben Standig: a you know, the the understanding talent again, like he didn't get hi even if Carolina hadn't been the one to hire him, he was getting mentioned as as a guy who could potentially get there. and you know, we'll see. I so I think like there there's some guys like that that that have some some some appeal as well. But you know, it's also a weird cycle. Like if you go away for a year or two, you quickly can get fall you can fall out. You know, like a joke John Robinson with the Titans, Joe Douglas w from where with the Jets. I'm blanking here. Who is Telesco, right? Goes from San Diego, goes to the Raider for 10 seconds. He's out. Like I they all could be very viable and completely be justified as some as an owner saying, but you hired that guy. But like you said, sometimes they went, Well, I could hire that guy who did it, or I could take the 35-year-old who look wow, look at the system, look how smart this guy is, and you you know, win the press conference, and hopefully much more than that. So yeah, I I think a lot of times on that front it just becomes look a lot of times on a lot of these hires, it's who does the agent feel or sorry, who does the owner just ultimately feel comfortable with? Or maybe it's it's the if the head coach has a certain amount of sway, you know, may maybe it's it's that angle as well. And that's why, you know, the accelerator program, which brings in minority candidates, female candidates, people who are just not getting the same attention. It gives them an opportunity to be presented in front of the owners and, you know, call it for whatever the reason. But people tend to like to ultimately kind of hang out with the people they feel most comfortable with. And the goal is to get them more comfortable with more people. I don't always think it's a nefarious thing. I think it's just human nature. And so that is where sometimes these re-tready types can come into play. But at the same point, owners recognize, you know what, may I from a business perspective, maybe it's just splash here to go this way. try to go for the upside, try to go for the more modern thinker and you know, they end up going there. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah, certainly. And again, that's again, p a a lot of what goes into it. Fit owner again, which we we haven't really talked a whole lot about here, how much that ownership plays into it. Again, I'm I'm curious because Carolina was mentioned as a hard front office to deal with. And again, I my time on the road, again I gotta spend some time with Dan Morgan. Seems like a really down to earth, but we also know to get to Dan Morgan there was some ugly times with an owner who was involved, involved, involved. And was was that your sense of Carolina was like, hey, this is still some lingering David Tepper stuff and the Dan Morgan front office with Dave Canales is bringing it back to where this is gonna in the short future going to be a good front office to deal with. Ben Standig: Yeah, I I I think it's har again, it's always hard to separate where is the owner's meddling stop and where does the front office sort of sort of take over. I was something a couple of agents said they would like love like the in like discussing like what questions I could ask, but not really. One was sort of like, Who are the owners that are like the biggest pains in the getting metal the most? Now, even if we all threw out some names, you mentioned Tepper would probably be a guy that would get mentioned. You know, when Dan Snyder was here, certainly he would have gotten mentioned. But even then, it's like, how do you know? Like it sometimes the owner is gonna have to say something, but the the person knows, Well, I know what this guy likes. I know like what we've had conversations in the past that maybe I need to lean more into signing older vets because he wants to win now versus taking a lot of green prospects who I might like better. So the owner influence is definitely always huge. And and I would also mention like I would probably say Cleveland was probably the runaway leader in like dysfunctional franchise talk, you know. The Deshaun Watson component. Like I did this survey primary, right? Sort of the middle to end of training camp, start of season. And so, you know, Sean Watson starting, and you know, that's a huge disaster. And a lot of times people just lump in Cleveland across the board. But some agents were quick to say, well, wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. This is clearly an owner issue. If Andrew Berry didn't just decide, let me go out and trade a thousand draft pick and give this guy all the biggest guaranteed contract ever, because I s you know, without owner involvement. And in that case, you know, you don't make a move like that with the owner not just being involved, but the owner is basically saying yes or no. And so, you know, that was a yeah, I th I think that's a a huge deal here as well. But again, and I used to, you know, again, I used to cover the the Washington Wizards and the NBA and Ernie Grunfeld was their GM for many years. Some people may know him. He was a successful GM at times, but fans here could not stand him because they just kind of kept looking, this is not going great. And I always said to You're you're you're you're you're aiming at the wrong guy. He is taking the bullet for the owner. The owner is setting the template. The owner is saying, You got to make the playoffs, you got to be an eighth seed. You don't have time to develop. And so, okay, well, now I have to trade these picks to get that guy. And not saying that you couldn't do better with. The moves you make, but it's being, you know, you're sort of being hamstrung by what you can or can't do. Same thing here. Whether Andrew Berry wanted Deshaun Watson ultimately, who beyond his off-the-field issues, he just hasn't played well, right? I don't know that Andrew Berry would have a guy who loves the draft, a guy who really does well in the draft, is saying, you know what, let me trade all these picks away to get that guy. But if that's what the owner wants, what are you gonna do? And you have to work within that and then try to make make the moves you can best around it. And that's why. Again, it's easy to sometimes just say fire the GM or or fire the coach. You've got to know how some owners are very involved, some of them aren't. And just because you're not involved doesn't always mean that's a good thing either. Okay, you know, you've Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah. Ben Standig: got to be able to recognize what's working, what's not, be, you know, set the tone for the whole organization. Everything starts at the top. I I really believe that when it comes to to tone and the process. so set the ones who set good ones. I mean, generally like I think Jeffrey Lurie, I mean, if you really want to talk about why the Eagles have been so successful, I think it really starts with the owner. I mean, he really just seems to understand we gotta spend this money. We we gotta you know, we wanna bring in a GM who's gonna do things a certain way. Like, you they've had a lot of turnover with the coaching staff, but as an organization, they've been stable because I think the owner is just one of those guys who kind of gets it and knows, you know, what what to do. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah. Well again, Pat Stewart, now GM of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, former Philadelphia Eagle. He praised Jeffrey Laurie, that ownership group a couple of weeks ago when we had Pat on. And again, the again, stability, ownership, again, all these pieces have to be in place. Again, I I thought it was interesting as we're going through this. There's there's a ton in this article. We're going to scratch the surface here today as we're and we're at almost an hour and it's time to start to wrap up. But a a couple quick ones. franchises that need to be reset for the six actually one week one with the Browns and the Saints. The Saints that was a backwards pass meal. I'm sorry. I I don't know what we're doing with this whole forward pass thing, but again, the the Saints certainly Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: What what are you gonna do? That's where we were in life. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: look like they're gonna be a better football team this year than they were last year. So again, Browns, Bengals, Jets, Giants, Saints, Steelers were all reset franchises. Yeah, that I don't know, that may be a stretch top franchises. Seahawks, Eagles, Rams, 49ers. Again, no surprise there. Again, some interesting hires. Again, some really good names. Go read about that. Stuff we're not even going to mess with. Private equity. Again, we've had an episode on that. Water cooler talk in in Washington, probably a little bit bigger deal. The number five, again, whatever you want to do with that. We've got Vrabel and Rossini. Again, that's not our cup of tea. NFL owner standard with the trailer park and everything that happens there. Again, Not for us. There's most interesting coaches, most interesting owners. There are players that you want to follow. Again, painted fingernails, Caleb Williams. He lit up the scoreboard. That's a lot of fun. Others, JC Treader, Pat McAfee. again, you gotta go sign up for Ben Substack. Head to at Ben Standig on Twitter, Last Man Standig. again, you can find it anywhere wherever. If you got a Google bar, you can search it, you'll find it, all that kind of stuff. As as we kind of wrap it up, again, Neil's in the agent world. He deals with them, he preps them, he trains them, he's getting ready for another round of it. That's one of the things you wrap up again at the end is is the agent game, the top lies that agents tell, and then the reasons they do it. Is this where you probably get some of the most colorful, the most interesting answers? Again, you're interviewing agents. Obviously they don't want to paint a bad picture of who they are, what they do. Again, it's real rosy on, I just want to help players. I want to be a I wanna help protect again. This piece has to be where you do the most scouting, reading between the lines, you know, say all right, what what where's my BS meter hitting on this agent because Ben Standig: Yeah. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: I know them? It that's gotta be part of this at the end here, right? Ben Standig: Yeah, for sure. it's funny, like the that question, what are the biggest lies? On the one hand it seems like a fairly like in obvious thing. I don't think I've ever asked it before. Like I was just sort of like, you I sit back, I try to go back and read what I've asked about in the past and try to come up with something different. And I'm like, Well, wait a minute, like this is like you know, w w what what like the number one thing that we talk about with agents, you know, you you know, we've all seen Jerry Maguire and the the Jay Moore agent. you know, was clearly like the guy who was sort of the the the Stereotypical easy agent and Gary McGuire had to come through his own failing to to come out cleaner on the other side. obviously that's a movie, but like you know, there is some of those things. Interestingly, when I asked this question, every agent had a thought, like if not multiple thoughts, but none of them said they did it. So yeah. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Shocking. No self indictment. Ben Standig: no, no, none none whatsoever. But I mean, I g yeah, I think we all get it, right? I mean, you guys have I'm sure hear the horror stories far more than I do or the public does in terms of, you know, a guy comes out, is declares early, because he's under some belief that he's gonna be drafted higher and then all of sudden goes undrafted. I'm not even talking about it from the NIL aspect of if you stay in school, you can make more money. I just mean like, you know, you believe in something or you know, one thing that was that happens mentions a lot is an agent or an agency will sell, Hey, we're there for you. For you know, until you retire or whatever, or even after. And then I don't know, player doesn't maybe pan out. Hits that fourth year of a rookie deal, and all of a sudden they're calling up other agents going, Hey, I can't get my agent on the phone. could you, you know, can we talk again? And, you know, I had one agent say, Hey, I don't do, I don't, I don't take second place. I tried to get you then, I offered you a deal, but I'll get I'll tell you this much right now, and others will say, Hey, you you're making the right call. It took you three years to get there, but you know, let's go. And you know, but but to that end, I then had somebody from a bigger agency say that, yeah, this is the lie that people tell about us, that we, the bigger agencies, don't care. Of course we do. We love these guys. We, you know, look at our track record, yada yada. And yeah, the BS detector has to go off. I I will say like Once in a blue moon, it seems like obvious that somebody has a personal agenda they're trying to get out. And I those I try to, if at best I can, sniff out and be like, I'm not here for you to settle a score. But, you know, at the same point, the you know, that this is all everybody's only just coming from their own perspective. What's unique here is that all the people from these perspectives are from the same industry. They're at least looking at the world from the same perspective. point of view, how they interpret the data, how they choose to move maneuver within it, that's where it gets interesting. but that's again sort of to the original point of this. What do agents think? These people who were tied in to you know, from from holdouts to trades to draft prep to contracts, whatever it may be, how do they see the world? And and that's where, you know, I kind of got into the Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah. Well again, that's that's good stuff. I'm sure it's part of Neil's inside the league agent exam prep. Again, line number one is I can get you drafted higher. I think that's a couple week course within it, right, Neil, is how to how to convince your clients that you're going to get them drafted higher, right? A people can sign up for that? Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: Well, there's certainly a lot of things to talk about. And and I I wish we could unpack this even more. There's so many angles to this and especially when you look at how N I NIL plays into it and all those kind of things. I think certain to some degree, now that the players have much more leverage on the NIL side, there's a lot less susceptibility to bad agents who have that pitch. But again, a whole nother hour. I'd love to talk for another hour. Bannon, I mean, there's so many things again, big big time plug. There's so many things in this piece that we haven't even had a chance to dig into that I think are fascinating and hopefully we will get to somewhere down the line then. But thanks again for joining us today. Ben Standig: Yeah, thanks. I will just say to you, you just mentioned the NIL thing. I think that's one thing that has evolved. Obviously, NIL has evolved a lot over the last, you know, years I've been doing this. But that agents were saying, boy, I was really hesitant to even get involved with the NIL at all, dirty business, whatever. But then a couple people said, you know, their younger people they work with, whatever, would be like, Hey, you maybe really we need to reconsider this because it's happening. And these guys who are coming in right now into the high into say the college ranks, maybe they're high school now. They're going to be the next guys at the next level. So it's not just a short-term deal to, you know, get a some web revenue and help these guys, but longer term, we like you see this all the time, right? Now a client, a a client who's maybe not established in the industry much at all, get the player who gets drafted or maybe or undrafted for agent becomes a big deal. And then that player gets poached by a bigger agency or a bigger agent in a couple of years. At least now with the NIL deal, you're now with that person for some time before anybody's even paying attention to who you are. So you've really now built up that relationship. It's been tested in a true business setting, not just the draft. And now maybe it's a little that that that bond is a little tighter to when the bigger group or another agency says, Hey, we can do this for you. Like, well, okay, maybe, but I already have this guy who's been doing or this woman who's already been doing these things for me. So I think the NIL space is maybe unique. gonna be helpful in that regard for the people who are getting ahead of in there ahead of time. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Yeah, yeah, well certainly again the NIL has changed everything. Neil Stratton @InsidetheLeague: Mm-hmm. Pregnant topic. So much to talk about. Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: We'll get five for five. We'll get eligibility sorted out at some point. Again, we'll everything will even out. Again, day three watered down of the draft. It'll get sorted out again with anything. It just takes a little bit of time. But again, the time it takes you, Ben, to put this twenty twenty six NFL agent survey, man, it's a it's a big project. For not being a great writer, it's fantastic. Go. Pay for it, subscribe to last man standing on Substack. Again, check the show notes. Check Ben's Twitter handle at Ben Standig. again, if you want to pair these together, because it's a great week to sign up for Neil's inside the league Friday rap, sign up for that because it's got a ton of agent information, who the power players, the numbers, how it all shakes out. That note now that we have these 53s initially set. So again, all the newsletters you need, not mine, Neil's. Ben's go sign up for him today. Check the show notes for all those links. And Ben, man, again, we could keep going. You've got to go read the article if you want everything. And again, I'm sure if people hit you on Twitter nicely, of course, we always encourage our listeners to be nice to you. Again, don't throw punches. You can handle them if they do. again, interact, ask Ben more questions. Ben, we're gonna be checking back in with you. Where I'm gonna be watching Q. I love Q, hoping for success for everybody that I know there in Washington. We appreciate ya. We'll be looking forward to having you on again at some point. And again, maybe we get blown up, this thing goes viral and we'll just have to do another episode with you. Ben Standig: Well you guys know how to get a hold of me. I always appreciate it. I have the Neil's fantasy or sorry at mock draft award sitting up on my desk upstairs. So, you know, always top of mind. So appreciate you guys and yeah, look forward to chatting down the line.