Recruiting Guys: How to Evaluate

[BeastMan]

That's a question I've gotten a lot lately. How do you evaluate players. I wrote some of my basic rings I do but I'm curious to what some of yall do when you're looking at tapes. I think way too many fans look at stars as an end-all-be-all. "Oh, he only has 3 starz, pass. Give me better talent". I also see too much "Hey [Paul, Steve, Neal, Yancy, Shea, etc...], is _________ any good?


http://3rdand57.com/evaluating-and-rating-an-inexact-science/

[BulldogBear]

Enjoyed that Beastman!

[bulldawg28]

Height, speed, instincts, effort, football IQ...and I'm sold. If a player has those he'll make plays.

[Irondawg]

That was pretty good but another big key that the avg. joe won't be able to evaluate is character. Sometimes interviews will give you a hint, but it's something some of us never know. Mullen has done a pretty good job of fielding the majority of the roster with hard working guys while taking a few chances on high upside guys (Quay Evans and Nick James for example).

A guy like Dak is equally valuable in the lockeroom and in the weight room as he is on the field on gameday. you need some guys that push the other guys to be their best.

[BeastMan]

Great point Irondawg. As the you the average fan doesn't really have the resources to delve into that most the time

[Dawgcentral]

One important omission might be what his Head Coach has to say about him. I'm not talking about what they say publicly. I really believe good relationships need to be developed over time with those coaches.

For example, I feel like Jeff Bower down at USM had some good things going on in this regard. When he was canned for no good reason, the other schools in that nature moved in to fill that void. USM's bread and butter was the relationship Bower had in getting the inside scoop on potential.

You gotta develop that trust and the good relationships in the small towns.

[ShotgunDawg]

Beast,

Nice job in the article. One thing I am going to disagree with though, is the use of stats.

I could care less if the player throws for 3,000 yards or a running back runs for 2,000, but stats can be useful in uncovering the correct questions to ask about the player in order to determine risk, polish, or lack there of about a player.

For example: If you are recruiting a QB, who is supposed to be a good thrower, would it raise some red-flags if he only had a 30% completion percentage? Perhaps that 30% completion percentage is due to him having awful WRs or O-line player, but that 30% could also be due to lack of accuracy, etc.

My point is that, while the stats are meaningless in the final evaluation, understanding the stats and their context can lead you to asking the correct questions and being able to put together more detailed and accurate scouting reports, rather than just looking at measurables & tools.