Oct. 8-14
There are a lot of people out there breaking down NFL plays on social media, and many of them are effective, but Tim is as good as anyone when it comes to dissecting offensive systems, especially quarterback play. This makes sense, as Tim not only owns Jenkins Elite, a growing service that trains high school, college and pro passers, but he’s a former QB himself. He starred at Fort Lewis State and went to camp with the Rams in 2013, and one of his pupils, Carolina’s PJ Walker, will be under center Sunday as the Panthers visit the Rams Sunday. For three seasons, he’s taken deep dives into all-22 tape on NFL quarterbacks on his All Things QB YouTube channel.
With seven quarterbacks having received at least one first-round vote in our latest review of mocks, and three passers – Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Joe Burrow – having risen from virtually nowhere to No. 1 overall in consecutive drafts, passers are more popular than ever. Still, no one has cracked the code for success. For that reason, we asked for Tim’s input. We wanted to know what trends he’s identifying in his NFL QB study that will impact who goes where on draft day next spring. Here’s what he told us.
When Neil asked me to write about the changes in NFL QB play that could impact what NFL teams seek, I was intrigued, because I think the direction we’re headed isn’t exactly what everyone believes. To me, this question centers around what most NFL teams want to do under center, and that boils down to five categories:
Run-pass option: Every team on planet earth (except for maybe the Iowa Hawkeyes) wants to utilize RPO, but what makes a quarterback good at them? To me, the top trait needed to execute an RPO system is eye discipline. Eye discipline is the ability of a QB to stare down a defender, recognize whether he is playing run game or not, then make the right decision. The easiest way to identify this in a potential pro is to pull up the tight angle of all the RPOs that he runs and track where his eyes go pre- and post-snap, and give him a plus/minus based on the look.
Run/play action shots: Next up is the run and play action shot game. What goes into this is what we have all been chasing for years: flat-out arm ability. Please, for the love of football, let’s stop basing arm ability on what a guy does in shorts and a T-shirt in March, and start verifying on tape what throws these guys have in their bag. We want to see ‘8’ posts and deep overs, because that is what 85 percent of the league bases its shot plays off of.
Boot/naked/QB runs: We have to get on the move. In the modern NFL, you can’t sit back on a traditional launch point. Instead, you have to move the pocket. Teams are getting this done with boot, naked, and designed QB runs. To me, the most important trait here is ball handling. I want to see guys who can effectively put the ball into their running back’s belly and pull it to get on the move. We also want to see guys who have the ability to slide and get down to protect themselves.
Drive-starters: This, to me, is what most people miss on when scouting QBs. We take it for granted that everyone can throw a stick route, right? Wrong! I can’t tell you how many times I have seen college kids struggle to throw stick, and then, when they get to the NFL, people wonder why they struggle with “accuracy.” Well, the tape told us earlier, but instead, y’all bought inflated completion percentage numbers because of wide-open guys. This trait is accuracy, and it should be scouted and evaluated through NFL quick game concepts like stick, double slant, slant arrow, etc.
Pure and PSL progressions: Processing, to me, is probably the hardest thing to scout. The great ones at processing are always a step ahead. I believe processing comes from information recall, and can be scouted through tape breakdown only. The NFL is moving more and more to PSL-type progressions where we have one side we like against middle of the field closed and another side we like against middle of the field open, but it’s even deeper than that. Processing is what helps a quarterback get in and out of the right run plays, protection checks, etc.
To me the making of the modern quarterback breaks down into these five categories. There are hundreds of different traits that make up an elite-level quarterback. However, if we are going to end up putting them in an offense that will feature those five themes, why not begin to scout accordingly?
Good points, Tim. You’ve given us plenty to think about. We’ll see if the passers who climb the board over the next six months exhibit strength in each of these traits. In the meantime, here’s a look at what else we saw, heard, read and said about the business of college and pro football this week.
Catching Up: Marcus Ungaro, 37, spent only one year in scouting (2018), but spent several seasons (2010-17) coaching with the Saints. We caught up with him earlier this month.
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Where are you living and what are you doing now? “I’m living in Prosper, Texas, and I work at Microsoft in sales. I’m coaching my kids’ teams, baseball, and just being a dad. Since I left the Saints, I coached in the XFL (in 2020). I coached the DBs in Seattle. I told my wife, ‘we’re getting out (of football),’ and then (head coach) Jim Zorn called me, and I grew up watching that guy, so I coached DBs for them. It wasn’t a full-on grind like the NFL. It was fun, just a lot less work. Then after that, I really wanted to coach full-time, so the job at East Side Catholic (outside Seattle) popped open. I jumped in there and they are super-passionate about football at that school. I told my wife, if we were allowed to live anywhere, with my job at Microsoft, I would have stayed at East Side Catholic. It was in Sammamish, Washington. It was fun. We lived in a 1,400-square foot town home, with two kids, both of us working from home. Microsoft allowed us to move wherever we wanted, and my wife is from Louisiana. She had never moved away from home, and she got homesick. We thought about Louisiana, but Texas fit us both a lot better.”
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Do you miss the job? What do you miss most? “I definitely do. I miss the grind with the fellows, trying to figure out what makes a great NFL player. It’s not just watching the player. You have to have a vision for how he fits into your offense or defense. I did advance scouting, too, and you’d go out and try to figure out how does that team do well, how could they beat us, how do we beat them? But the whole scouting team together, it’s just fun, you know?”
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Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues? Absolutely. (Saints area scout) Paul Zimmer was at my house just two weeks ago. We used to be roommates. Greg Castillo is in Kansas City, and (Texans scout) Bailee Brownlives in Aubrey right next to me. He’s one of the reasons we live where we do. We stay in contact with guys in scouting. Then, (Falcons executive) Ryan Pace, who left the Saints to go to the Bears, and (former Bears cap expert) Joey Laine, who was his right-hand man (in Chicago). I set (Laine) up with my cousin, and they just had a baby.”
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Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)? “Yeah definitely. A lot of high school games from when I was coaching, but I like to check them out and see the talent. I love the game, watching it, and bringing my son to the games. Right now, I’m working with a freshman linebacker at Prosper High School. It kind of fell on me. He lives in my neighborhood and I’m training him on film and football IQ stuff. It’s been fun going to freshman games. We also went to some Huskies games, some Cougars games, the Apple Cup. I try to catch a game whenever I can and try to get my son involved. It’s different going to a game now. I mean, I can have a beer while I’m watching. There’s a lot less stress, and you can feel the electricity.”
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Are there any players you love to watch and/or feel close to due to your work in the game? “Absolutely. I root for players. Like with the Miami Dolphins, (offensive coordinator) Frank Smith is one of my guys, and my wife is close to (Dolphins punter) Thomas Morstead’s wife, so the Dolphins, I root for. Then the Saints, all my guys still there. (Former Saints safety) Roman Harper is probably the guy I was closest to when I was coaching (in New Orleans). Also, (Saints defensive end) Cam Jordan, I love watching him. He’s just so consistent and he’s a beast. His conditioning is so good. Also, my guy (former Saints defensive coordinator) Rob Ryan is in Las Vegas. He’s an all-time classic. I just root for guys and hope they have good years.”
Review the latest from other former NFL scouts and executives by accessing our Catching Up archive here. Want to hear from a former scout, or know someone who may be interested in being interviewed? Let us know.
Know Your Scouts: Many of those who read the Wrap aspire to be NFL scouts, and our seasonal series, Know Your Scouts, is aimed straight at that crowd. Each weekday, we break down a team’s scouting department in grid form, listing all the scouts (pro and college) with their respective titles, when they entered the NFL, when they joined the team, where they attended college and many other items. This week, we profiled the 49ers, Bears, Bengals and Bills. Here are a couple things we uncovered this week:
If you’re looking to break into the league, you need to know how others did it. How do you follow a path if you don’t know where it is? We feel it’s worth a look for NFL scouting hopefuls and anyone else who cares about the evaluation game. Trace the construction of all 32 NFL teams’ front offices, going back 10 years-plus, here.
We need your vote: Today, for the third time this year, we distributed balloting for the 2022 BART List honoring the top college (and, this year, pro) scouts in the business. If you’re an active NFL scout, an email with the link to vote just arrived in your inbox. Please take a few seconds to cast your votes. We’re pleased with the volume of voters so far, but we’re far from where we want to be. Help us recognize the top scouts in the game. Didn’t get a ballot? Respond to this email and let us know.
Master class: When we launched our four-session NIL Zoom late last month, we envisioned it as a chance to get every question answered for $100 plus tax over two weeks. Mission accomplished, we think. Vantage Management Group’s Sammy Spina was sensational during our Tuesday/Wednesday sessions over the last two weeks. Whether or not you pursue name, image and likeness as a potential income source or as a necessary evil as part of player representation, we think class participants know exactly what the challenges and benefits are. The best news? We recorded all four sessions, so if you missed it, there’s no reason to panic. Sign up here for a four-hour education on NIL that you can attend at your leisure. Still not sold, and want a taste of the week’s content? Check out our blog post at Succeed in Football from Wednesday, in which we pass along 10 tips from Tuesday’s class.
Ahead in October: It’s been a busy Zoom session for us so far, but we’re not done yet. We have two events penciled in for the weeks ahead.
· On Tuesday, Oct. 25, former Titans Director of College Scouting Blake Beddingfield will join us for his annual list of 50 sleepers he sees as low-rated-but-rising players in the ’23 draft class. Some will be from out-of-the-way schools, while others will be “big school sleepers” who transferred late, changed positions, or only recently began getting significant playing time. Class begins at 8 p.m. ET, and cost is $40 plus tax.
· Thursday, Oct. 27, we’ll have our second New Agent Zoom session. In it, we’ll discuss recruiting, what to avoid, what to expect, what to say, and plenty more. This class will be led by ITL’s Neil Stratton, and is completely free to all ITL subscribers. Not a subscriber yet? Come join us.
Notes on November: We’ve got a lot of Zoom sessions coming next month, as well.
· We’ll be talking to the XFL’s Doug Whaley (and maybe others) on Zoom about the league’s coming draft, which is about a month away. If you’re an ITL client, you’re invited.
· At least once (and maybe twice), we’ll invite all ITL members who are first-year NFLPA-licensed contract advisors to join us on Zoom We’ll discuss recruiting, all-star games, who to recruit (and why), what to expect budget-wise, and plenty more.
· Our NIL class is over, but we’re working on a session with a CPA who will answer questions on what to tell a client about how much money to save, what kind of tax pitfalls lay ahead and more.
· We’re also working on a Zoom session for aspiring scouts. We’ll give tips on how to find openings, what to say in interviews and more.
At ITL, it’s important to provide assistance any way we can, and thanks to Zoom, we get to do that face to face. Look for plenty of opportunities coming soon.
Welcome to the game: This week, we spent Tuesday and Wednesday surveying the new members of the NFL agent community. Here are a couple facts we came up with.
· Frank Bauer of Sun West Sports and Neil Cornrich of NC Sports are the two most senior contract advisors in the game (both certified in 1983).
There’s a lot more to know about the agent community, and we looked at it further in Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s reports. You can access them both, as well as everything we’ve posted in the last 10 years, here.
Next week: The wheel keeps turning over the next seven days. Here’s what we’ll contribute.
· We’ll look at five more teams as part of our Know Your Scouts series: Broncos, Browns, Bucs, Cardinals and Chargers.
· Our Scouts by Area Grid should be completed this week. We’re shooting for Monday or Tuesday. Here’s last year’s grid.
· Voting continues, of course, on the 2022 BART List. Ballots were sent out again today, and will be shipped twice more (Oct. 21 and 28) before we’re done collecting votes.
· We’re shooting for Thursday to have our Agents by Total Clients list for October.
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