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Upsets, Points, Trends and More from the NFL and NCAAF this week · Scouting the League

• Rodrik David @RightStepAdv: Hey everybody, it's Monday and welcome to Scouting the League. It was a fun weekend of NFL and college football. We had a bunch of really good games and some upsets at the college level, players that answered the bell and some frustrations I have with a few of these teams. I will say Scouts and I have talked about some of those, so we'll discuss those today. We had some great Great NFL action. We'll hit on a little bit of that as well. And this week we're back on the schedule for our 2027 draft scouting series tomorrow. So make sure you tune into that one. We're gonna look in the trenches. D lineman Ahmad Moton Sr. Can he be the next Kane to be drafted high? We will see. This Wednesday, Neil and I sit down with Ben Standig of Last Man Standig and discuss the 2026 NFL agent survey, the best and worst front offices, best and up. Coming GM's top agent lies and what agents really want to know. So much more than that. Make sure you check out Ben's article. Hit us the questions and comments. Try to get them in prior to us recording. Otherwise, make sure you tune into that one. It's gonna be a really fun episode. There's some really good stuff that that Ben gets from agents across the industry. So make sure you tune into that one. Before I jump in today on my thoughts from the NFL and college this weekend, make sure you head over, like, subscribe, share this podcast wherever you're listening. If that's on Apple Podcasts or watching over on YouTube, gonna have some highlights today. And of course the video portion tomorrow is part of the draft scouting series and so much more. Make sure you're following us, liking us, subscribing us, sharing us, commenting wherever we're at. Make sure you help us out in all of those ways. Let's check out this quick video from Right Step Scouting so you know the spot to get your reports. Yes, make sure you get your reports over at rightstepscouting.com. I will get that report done. We'll find out exactly where that player is at. So make sure you head over there and then head over to blue maca.com. On the sidelines in the office, you're making the steps. You are wanting to feel better in the knees, the hips, wherever it's at. BlueMaca.com insoles are there for you. BlueMaca.com. Use code scouting20 at checkout to let them know we essentially get a little discount on the order. They are the insoles are in my shoes. Work shoes, leisure shoes, whatever shoes I have. I got my BlueMaca dot com insoles in there, so make sure you get those Scouting 20 at checkout. Don't forget about that. So week one of the NFL is nearly in the books with Kansas City versus Denver. I that's gonna be a fun one tonight. I'm really excited to see what Patrick Mahomes we get back. Again, we remember what he was like, but now missed a year and not getting any younger. Father Time is of course undefeated. Again, certainly excited to see that one and see both those teams go out and battle. Battle. A lot of scoring this week. No, it's not going to be sustainable. Defenses are either going to catch up or again, it's just gonna come back to earth a little bit. No overreactions here, but on the NFL front, this is what I stood what stood out. Again, we're talking about points lore. 750 points with one game left last year in 2025, week one, 661 total points. So again, is this a trend? This is what the NFL wants. Yeah, I think certainly everyone would agree that the NFL wants points. They want touchdowns. It's going to make for really good football. And it's going to make for you know things that the the excitement, the fantasy stuff, again, what fans want. People love the points being scored. My question is, as we've talked about it, Neil and I have talked about it. Again, it's been kind of the trend across head coaching is that you know, we want an offensive coordinator, we want an offensive head coach, again, for any number of reasons, game management. understand it, you know you're gonna lose that offensive coordinator, but I'm gonna I'm just gonna flip it and ask the other question. Is this going to make good defensive coaches even more valuable? If we're looking at the NFL now, if the teams across the league are scoring points at this rate, say we even keep it close, points are being scored. It's an offensive game, then the argument could be made that anybody or more people could certainly score points. Again, the game is tilted Towards the offense, which means elite top-end defensive coordinators, the Brabels, the McDonald's, the the different coaches. Again, we saw Aaron Glenn win week one. Are defensive coaches like Dan Quinn going to have a resurgence if you are that elite DC? Is Brian Flores now going to get another chance because he's got a defense that can win? Hey, we can shuffle through. You better Have a plan for that OC leaving. Again, we've discussed that at length on this podcast before. You better have a plan. But does that elite defensive coach become so much more value because the game is tilted against the defense? There's four offense. More people can score points. We have these good players. Let's plug in an OC. Now again, it it it's the same it's a different side of the same coin. Again, it's it's the you know, six in one hand, half dozen the other, where again, Offense is valuable. We're seeing the game tipped. If you can score 60 points a game, man, you're gonna be really, really hard to beat. But in the Lincoln Riley College model, if you're playing every game 50 to 45, you are the bounce of the ball away from being on the wrong side of every high-scoring game. We know defense travels, defense plays in the elements. We've seen that over and over in the NFL. Defense wins in December, January, February. That has been the case. It's going to be interesting as we watch game trends. It's been all offense. It's been offensive head coaches. Is there going to be a swing back to defensive head coaches as all these points are being scored? I don't know. It's still probably too hard to tell. Again, elite leaders need to be head coaches. Forget where they're coming from. OD special teams, elite leaders, elite managers, elite organizers, elite communicators. That's what we're talking about. They need to be the ones at the head coaching spot. But again, we'll see if it flips around. Another thing from week one that I saw again, quarterback sneaks. Fundamentals. This is a fundamental thing where What are we doing with quarterback sneaks and how is it being top? This has always been one of the questions I've had fundamentals at the NFL level. There are a lot of quarterbacks that you watch them run a quarterback sneak and they're running it like it's a tush push, regardless of who's behind them. If you got somebody pushing you and it's simply a scrum, simply a matter of we are going to push you out of the way, again, that's one way to run a quarterback sneak. We'll see some sneaks in here where again, quarterbacks get to the beam. Again, We see one in here where a quarterback gets to a C gap, running a quarterback sneak, eyes up, knows where the gaps are, is still churning like he's truly a runner. He's not just diving, pushing, he's bringing his feet with him. Again, in that Green Bay, Minnesota game, man, that thing flipped on its head, and a lot of it came back to win. Again, Matt LaFleur took the points off the board. Again, I don't disagree with that decision, but again, Jordan Love looked awful. Again, head down. just basically leans over, kind of pushes, falls a little bit. That is not the way to run a quarterback sneak. And it is something that I have discussed going back a few years with NFL scouts across the league. Obviously Tom Brady was maybe the best at it with seeing Matt Stafford in here, runs it pretty well. We see some of these good big quarterbacks that they can just push. They can just do it. But again, finding the gap, finding the spot where you're going to push through to get the yardage needed. Again, it should be almost a given. Again, there if a quarterback does the line of scrimmage and there's going to be no gap made, you've got to find the gap. There's going to be a gap somewhere. Again, defenses cannot stop. You're going to load up A gaps, maybe even the B gaps. Again, you either get to get wash or you've got to find a gap, go over the top, or you got to get out of the play. Again, there's going to be a play somewhere where you can get this yardage needed. But again, quarterback sneaks, again, it's one of those things from a fundamental standpoint, it seems like it should be basic, basic. But is it being taught? Is it being coached? Or is it one of those things at the NFL level where we tend to have some coaches just assume, like, hey, yeah, he knows how to quarterback sneak, we're gonna call it. He's gonna execute it exactly like we need to. And then what happens in the Green Bay game? Again, it really flips that game on its head. Minnesota absolutely doesn't go away and then actually comes back and curb stomps Green Bay. a tough start for Matt LaFleur while his brother Mike gets that big start down in Arizona. But again, quarterback sneaks. And we'll go in the bigger picture. Fundamentals. The most basic fundamentals have to be taught, have to be coached, and have to be focused on. When they are not, that is how coaches end up losing their jobs because stuff that should be simple, that should be, you know, really easy to do, should all be part of just stuff that again, that's just standard. It has to be cat practice, has to be coach, and has to be focused on. But again, that's hasn't been always the case with With some of these quarterback sneaks. So, again, that is one of those things from the NFL that that again just really stood out to me. It's shown up before, and again, certainly showed up this year in week one. a few more things. Giants over the Cowboys, big win for Coach Harbaugh in his debut. Bad look in Dallas. Again, this is a game that the Cowboys again, new head coach, a lot of new pieces, a lot of questions about New York. Dallas, yeah, you've got some holes, got some pieces. You still got the quarterback though. Again, it's not good. It's this this is a game where again you can't we're not gonna overreact, but not a good start for the Cowboys, certainly. And again, while I'm not gonna overreact for the Giants, certainly a good start there. Cardinals over the Chargers. How about this? Mike LaFleur goes and wins his debut against a roster that everyone was super excited about. Not a great look for the Chargers. Didn't come out, didn't play well. Again, issues that we saw last year showing up again in week one from a protection standpoint. Offense certainly didn't light it up with again big everybody's kind of you know favorite OC and in Mike McDaniel. but again, congrats to Mike LaFleur. Again goes out. Cardinals ready to play. Wasn't pretty, but they found a way to get it done. So good job to them. And then Bengals over the Bucks. Again, two teams that have some expectations, maybe some question marks, but the Bengals get it done, answer the bell. Again, you get Joey Burrow back there again, playing pretty well. again, not a bad game on either side. Again, certainly not writing either of these teams off or penciling anybody in anywhere. But again, that's a big win for Cincinnati to start the year. The Bucks have a little bit more leash there. So again, it was a big one for Cincinnati to get that done. So again, that's kind of my thoughts on the NFL. Let's flip it over to the college front where upsets were the name of the game in week one. Again, obviously the big one, Texas, Ohio State. How much of an upset that was? Again, really the comeback makes it a bigger upset. But going into the game, man, it would I I I picked Texas to beat this Ohio State team in a close game. Certainly not the way I saw it play out, because it's a home game. Again, it is hard to go on the road to Texas. Really good football team, good quarterback, great head coach. and you know, to to win in that environment. Ohio State should have run away with this thing. The big RPO pass, which I'll hit on in just a second. But again, Big upset, yes, number one seed goes down. But again, Ohio State's not, you know, they I don't expect them to lose another game this year. And I could certainly see Texas Ohio State being played in that college football playoff again. Perhaps the national championship. I don't think anybody would would be against that, seeing that at the end of the year. Things I like from the game. Arch, who did not look real great early on, answered some questions in the second half. And again, one of the things scouts like to see is when he seemed to be more in control. In the flow of the game, some of the tempo stuff that they did, when the pressure ratcheted up, when he had to have some of those make it plays, that's when he looked the best. If you want to talk about why scouts still like Arch Manning and the upside that he brings, it was he had control of that game in the second half. And again, for some of the miss throws and some of the, you know, the sacks that he took, some of that inside pressure Ohio State was able to generate, Arch came back and when pressed answered the questions. looked his best in that crunch time down the stretch, made some big throws, some bad luck early on. again, maybe overthrew that one that got interceptor early. but again, still was interceptions gonna go on quarterbacks. That one's gonna have a little asterisk by it for scouts. But again, answer Arch answered some questions, probably silenced some people that really wanted to keep, you know, running the truck over him. So again, glad to see that. Always happy to see good college players. Julian saying Looked really impressive at times, but had the big missed RPO throw that really would have put Ohio State up. Instead, I think they've settled for a field goal on that drive. one of the things that scouts are always going to look for, that I always look for that I charted throws that must be made, wide open players, parts of the offense. Again, you've got to hit a touchdown throw when the touchdown's there. You've got to hit a first down throw when the first down throw is there. Again, it's not just about making the tight window throws or hitting the hitting the back foot and getting out. All that stuff matters, but you have to make the throws that are there. If you don't do that, if you can't do that, man, you are going to struggle to play in the NFL because again, if you can't make those at the college level, there's even fewer of them at the NFL level and it's going to show up even more. This certainly falls into that category. edge edge rush for Ohio State's got to improve that. Some great inside pressure. This is a a defense that if they want to be elite, they've got to find a guy that's going to bring that edge rush for him, some juice, because they get the inside push. They just don't have a guy that seems like he's going to run past people and force quarterbacks either to run or to step up to where they get that inside pressure. again, could be a could be a good one here. Happy for Sark. Happy for Texas. For Ohio State, they're gonna be just fine. I have no concerns about this, but One of the things that showed up in this game, Jeremiah Smith, best player on the field, best player in the country. It certainly showed up, but it also showed up that Julian Saiyan, it was just the safety blank. And I'm throwing it to Jeremiah no matter what, when I'm in a bind, when I'm don't know what's happening in front of me, when there's nothing quite there, which is fine. But the tendency for OCs at times when there are players of this level, and I had it and saw it firsthand when Sark was in Atlanta and we had a young man named Julio Jones is sometimes a tendency for offensive coaches is to design plays for players and not design good offensive plays that good players make even better. And I thought that was absolutely the case in the second half for Ohio State. Arthur Smith for all the good that he seemed to have going in the first half. Again, it basically became let's let's pad Jeremiah Snett. There are a bunch of really good players on that Ohio State offense. The run game was going at times, but it it comes back to hey, we've got to get Jeremiah Smith ball. Hey, let's try to get it to Jeremiah to do this. Again, on Texas side, I think Sark learned from his time in Atlanta that, hey, we can't just draw three straight plays for Julio Jones and you know hope that hope that a great player makes a great play. Because again, defense knows where the ball's going too. They were double, you're bracketing, you're playing it in different ways. Jeremiah Smith for as good as he is, you're not going to consistently beat double coverage no matter how. How good you are. And that certainly showed up in this game. Jeremia Smith, again, were there some plays where, again, Elite plays one-handed catches that he may make at a different point in the year? Yeah, but there were times where the ball was just forced. It took him out of their offense, and Julian fell into that trap. It is something the NFL coaches, OCs do way more often than they should. it's something that I remember Kyle Shanahan talking about in the last. We are going to run good offense. Good players are just going to elevate that offense. Drop good offense, and good players are going to, you know, stand out in that offense. Now there's going be a time where a jump ball to Mike Evans, to Julio Jones, to Jeremiah Smith is going to be the best play call. Well, it better be a one-on-one situation and it better be a good ball from the quarterback. If not, you've got to find the open target. You've got to take what the defense gives you because if you're doubling, if you're rolling, if you're bracketing to a certain player, There's going to be other players open. I think if anything, this may be a good lesson for Julian, maybe a good lesson for Arthur. He should have learned it by now. But again, always good to relearn lessons along the way. So we'll see what happens. Again, both these teams gonna be really good. Excited to see them going the rest of the year. from the rest of college football, Dante, Moore, Oregon have not looked good. Sleepwalk through week one, huge upset week two. The issues that Dante Moore has had again, being a little bit slow to Throw the ball, holding it at times. Yeah, they put up some points. The defense hasn't looked good. Again, Tosh Lapoy going to Cal. Looks like that's affecting Dan Lanning's defense. So again, Dante, Oregon, they're gonna have to bounce back and play some good football if they want to be where they want to at the end of the year. Michigan clearly overlooked Western Michigan somehow survived. who are they really? This is a team that goes down and now beats Oklahoma. Still not a great start for Kyle Whittingham, both on the field and some of the stuff he said. Again, not a great look for this program right now. Again, it is an interesting spot with everything Michigan has going on. but they get the big win against Oklahoma, knock them off. Again, kind of redeem it for the Big Ten a little bit, perhaps. But again, and an up and down start for Kyle Whittingham at at Michigan. We'll see where it plays out for the rest of him. LSU comes back to earth a little bit. The LSU Ole Miss game. Again, who knows with this LSU team? They're going to be exciting. They're going to be fun to watch. Going to be some fireworks in the this LSU Ole Miss game. And then we're going to wait and see. I think a big week this week. I'm looking for Clemson, North Carolina. It's going to be fun game. Could tell us a lot about either one of these teams as they start to get into their the meat of their schedules. again, who is North Carolina? Is Coach Belichick going to pull the right strings this year? Is Dabo done? Is this Clems Clemson team? Do they still have enough juice to beat a North Carolina team who still probably doesn't have the top end talent, but is playing pretty good football right now? Again, I'm I'm excited to see that game here here in here in my Tariel State. So again, we'll we'll see where it all goes. But not about what I think. What do you think? Thoughts on prospects, games, trends. Let me know at right step A D V. Make sure you tune in tomorrow. Ahmad Moulton Sr. of Miami. Wednesday with Ben Standig. Make sure you get those comments in. We are fully into football season with week one of the NFL now nearly done. We aren't going anywhere. We're going to be here and we are going to keep scouting.