Latest / Scouting the League / NFL Cut Downs - What to remember
Transcript
- Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: It's Monday, August 31st. This is the last day of the month, one of the worst days for NFL Pro Scouts across the NFL. And this is Scouting the League. We're gonna jump into kind of all things cut down, some things to think about, some things that will happen today and in the coming weeks that you need to know, you need to think about, you need to be aware of. Before we get there, make sure you head over, like, subscribe, share this podcast wherever you are listening and watching, whether it's on Apple Podcasts or that video portion over on YouTube. goes hit those buttons, the comments, love to have you jump in there. If you have a specific comment about a cutdown, a cut down process, something that hot happens in everything that's going on as Teams, NFL rosters, get down to 53, get those practice squads set, head over to the comments, let me know whether it's on Twitter at right step ADV or those comments over on YouTube. I will be active and looking for them there. So make sure you do all that. Make sure you tuned in and are subscribed because this Wednesday Former NFL Scout, now general manager of the Nebraska Corn Huskers, Pat Stewart joins Neil and I to talk all things Husker power. Go big red is the theme as they work to try to get Nebraska back to where they should be as a power in college football coach rule. Pat Stewart's relationship goes way back. His history, his time in the NFL with a couple iconic franchises and the Patriots and Eagles have shaped the way he's doing things there. Really excited. It's a really fun conversation. So make sure you go tune in there. Tune into everything I'm doing. You can find out all my stuff over at rsafootball.com. That's where all my info is at. Background. Want to get in touch? Email me there as well. If you need a report, check the videos, check it out for yourself. Right stepscouting.com is going to be the spot for that. 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Stuart Jenkins, CFO of BlueMaca joins us and talks all about that. So blueMaca.com code scouting20 is the spot for that. So set the reminders, do all things, but scouting community is here. And today I am going to talk about cutdown time. My time as a scouting assistant and a pro scout. 2016, go through it as a scouting assistant. You are right. in the middle of cut down times happening over the last couple days. And then as a pro scout, you are not only involved in the process, but you are writing the reports. You are doing the work. You're having these conversations with other scouts on your team. You're having conversations with the coaches. You're thinking both short term that year, that season, two to three years out long term, what does it look like? You're thinking about 53 man considerations. You're thinking about practice squad. You are also thinking about 31 other teams or depending on the staff, again, you may have it split 15, 16 other teams that you're working on. Hey, what is it going to look like as all these numbers? Again, as we've talked about on this podcast, probably 90 to 95% of that roster across the NFL, you could probably pencil those guys in. Again, of those 53 roster spots, depending on the team, 45 to 48 of those roster spots are really set. Now you're still doing work on, again, bubble players, probably. forty to forty five players per team that you're putting a report in, a one-liner, hopefully getting fifty, sixty, seventy snaps at least to get an evaluation. Hey, this guy could be a short list guy, a street list guy. This could be a future claim guy. This could be a post guy. All those kinds of things. But you're doing the work throughout the preseason to prepare yourself for what is a, you know, long few days as it becomes cut down time for NFL franchises. One of the Things that I've always heard, I've I've heard players come playing about it, ages. This is not an enjoyable time for scouts. One, really long days, but two, you're also going to be cutting guys from your own roster that you really like, that you really want to hold on to. For some of these players, it will be the last time they ever step in an NFL building. And again, I'm not gonna say every scout, but for most scouts. That's a real reality for them. They know that hey, the report, the the reject report I put this on this player could be the end of his career in the NFL and how hard these guys have worked. It is hard to make an NFL roster. It's hard to make a practice squad even. And at the end of it all, it is about business and winning games. So it it's nothing personal. I've I've seen guys on both ends of that spectrum where, man, if you you don't like me for this reasons, I have Heard it from agents who have called. It's like, no, you know, what are you doing with this play? Hey, it's nothing personal. It's about the film, it's about the player, it's about the fit. But within all of it, it is not an enjoyable time for most pro scouts and people that are working to get this roster down to 53. You love to see guys make it, you love to be able to make the call and even put a guy on a practice squad. But again, you have to know agents, players, and Families out there. You have to know that this is just part of the process. It is what makes the NFL so good. So know that it is not personal when those phone calls are happening. There is a reason behind it. Be patient. Don't burn a bridge because that is one of 32 franchises that you could come back on later in the season. Again, that is one of the things to think about. These initial Fifty-three men rosters. Again, there's going to be changes. There's going to be IR calls. There's going to be changes on the practice squad. There's going to be workouts that start happening. All these things. These initial fifty-three mans are just that. Initial. They will change. Now there's you know roster considerations, what you have to pay guys, multiple weeks. If you claim a guy, if you stick a guy on your roster, you're also exposing all these guys to waivers to other teams. Again, as soon as they're not under contract, they can go wherever they want. And again, there's some Some things agents have to think about. If you're thinking between two practice squads, you can really, really get in a dicey situation by jumping ships. So again, be aware of that. If you have questions on that, hit me up. Go over to my website, find my phone number, hit me up. Let's talk about it. I have been on both sides of it. I've consulted. I've done it in the building. So again, things to think about as agents when you are thinking about best practice squad spot. But again, that's all neither here nor there. Let's have a conversation off the air on that. Pro scouts more often than not across the NFL have guys they want. Again, the NFL, we've seen them get more active at the waiver wire, a few more changes to the back end of that 53, but there's probably four or five other players that pro scouts across the NFL would love to swap out. Man, we just don't like this guy. His reached a developmental ceiling. I really like this guy over here. I'd love to put in the claim on him. But again, that's where your GM, your head coach, coaching staff, front office, pro scouts. Everybody's got to be on the step same page. And ultimately, that usually leads to less happening than what some people would want. That just all is about that decision of what's going to happen both short term and long term for that team. Some teams are more active. The teams that are more active usually tells you where the roster's at because again, some of these guys are going to have to be suiting up week one. And even with the 10, 12 days before week one, it can be a it can be a lot to take in in a really short amount of time, which again always goes into that decision making. the next step, what happens next? Again, guys have been called, they've been told through any probably one, two, three days of roster cuts. hey, we don't have a plan for you that's practice squad, but hey, stay in touch. keep working out. Again, there's gonna be a group of players who will probably in the building today as soon as that waiver wire is released, as soon as they've cleared waivers, they're signing that practice squad, getting back to work, getting the roster ready for week one and with the way practice squad rules are now getting themselves ready for week one. So again, you can't burn bridges. Again, that cut down time is a tough time, but you've got to stay and stay ready to go. Workouts, shortless, street list. Maybe you're that guy that didn't make a practice squad, but hey, you're you're right on that practice squad list for us. We want to bring you in. We want to take a look at you, see if we can maybe swap you out at some point. So again, with everything else happening Don't let it ruin your day. You can't take the next month off. You got to stay ready. Those workouts often come down to what players are in the best shape and what guys are going to be able to step out on the field and stay healthy for us. So make sure you keep in that in mind. I want to speak specifically to agents here. Be patient. It's one of the tough things with guys right now. Again, as they get cut, as they get released. You want to do work for them. It's one of the things that players and families have to realize is there's very little your agent can do right now to get you back on a roster. They're gonna send their list out. Hey, my guy got released. Yeah. NFL already knows that. The pro scouts are getting the waiver wire. They know what players they've been tagged, they know who's out there. Now, again, sending a tag, sending an email to pro scouts, that's fine. Keep it short, keep it simple. Don't expect a response because those pro scouts are also getting that 53, getting the practice squad and getting Early season advances ready to go. So be smart in who you reach out and how you reach out because again, don't expect a response and these teams know about your guys. Again, if your guy's a good player, if there's interest, they will call you. They'll reach out to you. Now, again, if there's something going on, an injury, a change, whatever, again, communicate it. Communicate professionally, communicate in the right way via text, via email. Make sure you're hitting pro scouts. These college guys that maybe signed the cross check, maybe signed a UDFA contract clear back in April and May, they are probably on the road. They've washed their hands. They they may not know until that waiver wire comes out what exactly their roster looks like. So again, if you're hitting these guys, if you're wanting to hit scouts, hit pro scouts. Make sure you know you've got to develop your network of college scouts as well as pro scouts. There's a time and a place to hit each one of them if you're wanting to get those lists out and make sure you communicate. So keep that in mind. And again, Parents, families, this is the time to pump the brakes and know your agent is doing what he can for you or what they can. A lot of good female agents out there, your agent is doing whatever they can for you. Don't be mad just because it's like, well, you you you need to call, you need to call all these GMs. No, that's not gonna do anything. Be patient, trust your agent, let them do their work, you stay in shape, you keep out of trouble, do all those things, and when the time, if the time comes. you'll be ready to go for it. But again, a tough few days. It's always hey, get through cut downs for pro scouts, take a little bit of a breath, and then you get ready into your season schedule. again, a tough time for pro. Again, I've seen guys shed many tears. I have been the guy who's had to call guys and be like, hey man, I need you to bring your playbook in. Coach, GM needs to meet with you. Usually you know what is going on. Some guys say, you know, they were they were convinced they were going to make the roster. It's a really Really tough time. It's also a time where you can, you know, walk through the locker room and say, man, good job. You made it. You made an NFL roster. You're here on the practice squad. You're still here, which means you're just one snap, one bounce of a ball away from getting on on the field on Sunday. So it's a tough time. It's also a great time. Real football is finally here. We've got week zero in the books. Coach Belichick getting a win at North Carolina was fantastic to see. We've got real NFL games coming up soon. We've got scouting reports over at Right Step Scouting that are rolling out. We are getting those done. So make sure you're doing all that. Make sure you're following us. Make sure you tune in this Wednesday with our conversation. Neil and I sit down with Pat Stewart of Nebraska Football Talking All Things. As we are into the season, anything you need, players you want to see on our draft scouting series tomorrow on Tuesdays, if there's a somebody, a topic, cap, whatever you need. Hit me up on Twitter. Hit me up on the in the comments. Let me know what you want to talk about. We'll keep looking at players. I'm going to keep talking ball. We're going to talk some topical stuff. We're going to do some fun stuff. Always love to hear it from you because here on Scouting League, you know we're going to keep scouting.