Matt's Draft Journal

Familiar to most fans are big name programs such as Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas, and USC that are known for playing against the best competition college football has to offer — in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) — and routinely putting prospects in the NFL. Often unnoticed are the programs that dominate at the Football Championship Subdivision level (FCS) also have had success when having players that've proven capable of competing at the next level, as well. The quantity and quality of prospects coming from the FCS level often times is on a smaller scale than that of the traditional football powerhouses, however, that doesn't always mean that a relatively unknown prospect from a small school program will be unable to find success in the NFL that surpasses that of a "can't miss" first round pick who fans and teams are well-acquainted with by end of their college career. To begin the 2017 season there were 160 players on active NFL rosters that compete...

With the NCAA Tournament set, as the last of the conference tournament championship games were played on Sunday, followed by the unveiling of the at-large teams who did enough to secure a spot in the field of 68, it is safe to say, March Madness is here. Following recent allegations of a money scandal within the game of college basketball, the biggest time of year for the sport is in effect as the schedule transitions from the various conference tournaments around the country to the "Big Dance", where teams and players will look to create moments that go down in history and seem to live forever. All season, hundreds of teams and thousands of players have competed day in and day out, both with their teammates in daily practices and workouts and against opponents under the lights of the various gyms and arenas across the country. Those lights don't shine any brighter than at the venues that serve as the sites for the games of the NCAA Tournament, where open practice sessio...

With the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine now complete, as the defensive backs completed their workouts on Monday to bring an to end this year's event, I will be examining each of the different position groups and how different prospects performed throughout the showcase.  Having previously given insight to the edge rushers that were set to participate, I find it appropriate to review how the number of prospects I went into the event with a keen eye on performed and how it may affect their potential draft selection.  Some of the edge rushing prospects were grouped with the linebackers during the combine, as they either played from a "stand up end/outside linebacker" spot during college with the potential to do the same in the NFL, while most were designated to perform amongst the various other defensive lineman who play with their hand in the ground more often than not.  Along with the various edge rushing prospects, I will also examine some of the other defensive line and line...

While many people will marvel and awe at some of the 40 yard dash times and other testing results from many different prospect of the different skilled positions groups participating at the NFL Scouting Combine, some of the best athletes are found amongst the various 300 pound offensive lineman. As the level of athlete has improved throughout the entire league, the quality of athlete on the offensive line has also been raised. Those who follow the NFL were left in awe when John Ross III broke the previous NFL Scouting Combine 40 yard dash record, posting a time of 4.22 to beat the previous record of running back Chris Johnson who ran a 4.24 in 2008.  While that was a tremendous feat without a doubt, now Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle, Aviante Collins running a 4.81 last year at 6'4, 295 pounds may have been equally as impressive considering he weighed in at over 100 pounds more than Ross. However, his top 40 yard dash time for offensive lineman last year at the combine didn...

As nearly all schemes in the NFL today are predicated on gaining favorable match-ups across the field, the specific roles of tight ends and edge rushers are a large part of creating those match-ups from both sides of the ball.  Tight ends in today's game no longer look and play the part of a sixth offensive lineman, as the current athletic profile of the prototype at the position resembles that more of a forward in basketball and performs mostly in the role of a receiver than a blocker.  The speed at the position is as fast and emphatic it's ever been, evident by Evan Engram, who ran a 4.42 at last year's NFL Scouting Combine, being selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the New York Giants despite weighing only 234 pounds, relatively light for a tight end, even by today's standards.  David Njoku, also selected in the first round last year —by the Cleveland Browns with the 29th pick— at the tight end position, was a national champion in track and field wh...

Today being the first day of the third month of the year, the term,"March Madness" is ever appropriate with the current chaos surrounding NCAA Basketball and it's allegations of a money scandal that has brought the attention of the FBI. Whether fans didn't know, didn't care, or already felt that the game of college basketball was "corrupt", the timing of it, while never ideal, definitely doesn't help matters at all, as this time of year is when the attention paid to college basketball is typically at it's peak. It remains to be seen how the fallout of the scandal affects the attendance and ratings of the NCAA Tournament and I'm curious to see the impact it has on a tradition of those across the country filling out their brackets with hopes of winning themselves some cash. To this point most teams across college basketball have played nearly a full regular season, while some prospects conferences have already began the playing of their con...