Article on Mediots Influencing NFL War Room Draft Choices

[maverick4]

Multitude of forces corrupt draft scouting process - NFL - Yahoo! Sports

[Like Mueller, I find it hard to fathom that media hype or scrutiny would have any impact on what player a team chooses, with so much at stake competitively and financially. But some of those on the inside swear it’s so. “You wouldn’t believe how much the media’s involved in this stuff,” the scouting director says. “You know how many times in draft rooms the top personnel guy or head coach will say something like, ‘Well, so-and-so is supposed to be the top-rated guy’? They’ll say, ‘How can we take this other guy? We’ll get crushed in the media.’ People are giving grades the day after the draft, and the best way to get an ‘A’ is to go with the guys who the experts are projecting as the top picks.”]

 

[tuckeverlasting]

man, am i glad the pats don't do that. i couldn't care less what grade john clayton gives us the day after.

 

[Seneschal2]

"Here's the problem," one AFC scout explains. "The coaching staff goes into the process backwards. We watch all that film first and then see them in shorts and at the combine and try to confirm what we saw them do on the football field. Coaches get their first look at these guys at the Senior Bowl and the combine, and then they go back and watch film and try to confirm those impressions. But everything they see on film has been skewed by what they saw in the workouts."

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Here's the Pats way:

Belichick tells his scouts, "Find me the football players." He then tells his coaches, "From those football players, find me the ones who can play in our system."

 

[Deus Irae]

man, am i glad the pats don't do that. i couldn't care less what grade john clayton gives us the day after.

I do. It's all about John Clayton. Everything else pales by comparison.

 

[MetalBleachers]

I do. It's all about John Clayton. Everything else pales by comparison.

What's pale compared to John Clayton? The sun?

 

[stinkypete]

I'm sure the media has a great deal of influence over teams with limited scouting departments. I remember reading a few years back that the Bungles took so many character question guys because they had so few scouts that they didn't know where to find the other talent.

 

[DaBruinz]

I'm sure the media has a great deal of influence over teams with limited scouting departments. I remember reading a few years back that the Bungles took so many character question guys because they had so few scouts that they didn't know where to find the other talent.

Scouting Departments is one of the areas that many teams skimp on. They use the scouting services instead and then rely on the coaches to weed out the players during the informal and formal interviews.

Now, it may have changed, but just a couple years ago, there was only 5 or 6 teams that had full time scouting departments. The Pats being one of them.

 

[maverick4]

It is scary that Mel Kiper might have way more influence over NFL GM's than others realize.

 

[billdog3484]

It is scary that Mel Kiper might have way more influence over NFL GM's than others realize.

yah i definitely agree. kiper does a good job, but hes wrong way too often

 

[MetalBleachers]

Too many GMs play the PR game when it comes to choosing personnel. The Pats wouldn't have their DEs (have to believe they would have taken Wilfork regardless) nor Logan Mankins had BB listened to the "experts."

How the heck does someone get that gig, btw?

 

[Ochmed Jones]

No matter how you slice it, when you have a bunch of guys with different motivations trying to decide what player to take, your going to have trouble.

The thing that I like about the Pats is that we have one voice, one directive and one decider one what happens.

 

[maverick4]

So glad the Pats didn't listen to Ron Borges' rants in 2000.

 

[Synovia]

yah i definitely agree. kiper does a good job, but hes wrong way too often

Everyone is wrong pretty often. Kiper is better than most.

 

[maverick4]

Everyone is wrong pretty often. Kiper is better than most.

Kiper is pretty horrible because he is just a parrot for the misinformation that teams feed him.

Mayock is the best in the business by far, does his own independent analysis and film break downs without regard to other mediots or misinformation.

 

[Synovia]

, ‘How can we take this other guy? We’ll get crushed in the media.’

As far as I'm concerned, the day your Personell guy says that, is the day he should be handed his pink slip. If he can't trust his own evaluation of players, what good is he?

 

[CanadianPat'sFan]

Kiper is pretty horrible because he is just a parrot for the misinformation that teams feed him.

Mayock is the best in the business by far, does his own independent analysis and film break downs without regard to other mediots or misinformation.

Mayock is the top dog when it comes to the draft. He is totally unbiased and does his homework on each and every player. He may watch more film then some coaches in the league.

Just whatever you do please do not listen to Charlie Casserly or Matt Millen (why was he on the pregame for the SB??) on draft advise.