“If you don’t produce, I don’t care what your height, weight and speed is. I care about what you can do with that height, weight and speed.”
One of the ongoing football talking points before a season, during it and especially in the winter is the NFL Draft. There are many scouting reports, mock drafts and constant analysis. In this 2nd installment around player evaluation, I am briefly covering another important trait: Productivity.
First, if you haven’t already, check out my first post in this series.
Now, onto this the topic, take two players.
Example: Player A was a highly-recruited linebacker with numerous physical skills at 6’3” and 225 lbs.
Player B also a linebacker, not as athletically gifted at 6’1” and 209 lbs. He was offered a scholarship later in the recruiting cycle.
Player A immediately makes a splash as a freshman and eventually starts in his 2nd season. Player B played less time, made a contribution on special teams and certain situations. Over the course of their career, both get nicked up, take different paths in terms of training, rehab and being available for their team. Now both are juniors and starting LBs. Yes, they both stayed and didn’t hit the transfer portal.. I know possibly unlikely in this day and age..
Now, Player A is physically-gifted and has gained some muscle and got quicker over the last couple seasons. But he hasn’t always been the best student of the game plus a nagging injury resurfaced during fall camp. His dedication to treatment isn’t always the best and misses sessions. These factors cause him to miss time during his junior campaign. He plays about 72% of the defensive snaps, at times has to be subbed out and made some key errors in critical downs.
Player B while still a bit limited athletically has made strides in his football IQ, gotten stronger and quicker, does the necessary film study work to know his job and everyone else’s. He takes care of himself and follows treatment protocol. He not only starts, but plays over 80% of the defensive snaps plus special teams.
At season’s end, Player A realizes he’s hurt his draft stock and is weighing his options. In fact, the NFL Draft Advisory Board advises him to return to school since they do not project him going in either the first or second round of the upcoming draft. Upset now Player A is considering the transfer portal due to his frustration with being taken out several times in games.
So while Player A may look better getting off the bus and possibly passing the eyeball test.. there’s so much more to it than that. Player B worked harder and put himself in a better spot to contribute to his squad. He made All-Conference 2nd team and more scouts are asking about him.
If you were an NFL GM, based on the above scenario, who is the more productive player and someone you would want on your roster? In the end, it’s a production business. At the time of an NFL contract renegotiation a critical factor will be the percentage of snaps that respective player was in on along with his overall production.
On the Play Sheet:
🏈 Speaking about production, listen to HOP Coach Bill Parcells speaking about the process and ramifications of switching quarterbacks. You gotta check out his weekly podcast, Football Doesn’t Lie. Click here and go to the 36:32 mark to hear Coach Parcells’ thoughts on the above-mentioned topic.
🏈 Here’s Steelers QB, Aaron Rodgers speaking on the throwing mechanics which helped his career with Jason Garrett on the Coach2Coach Podcast (great podcast btw).
🏈 We know the business of college sports has changed and is continuing to do so. A great site I came across this week is Business of College Sports run by Kristi Dosh. She is a former attorney and now a sports biz writer, speaker and consultant. A lot of good resources on her site.
🏈 Former college ball coach, Geoff Collins is starting a platform to help people in the football business with networking and professional development opportunities. It’s called Eleven As One and set to launch in early December.
