Dec. 17-23

At Inside the League, we try to make a difference in the scouting and agent communities by shining a light on less-explored topics as well as people who are doing good work without getting a lot of credit. We used the Friday Wrap this year to focus on topics and professionals that more people need to know. 

As we put a bow on 2022, we thought we’d review our best Wraps of the year so you’ve got one email that references everything you need to know to get better in the business of football and everyone who’s excelling in this space. Here’s a look at what we think represents some of the best nuggets – and people -- in pro and college football. 

Name, Image and Likeness: In January, correspondent Brett Greenberg traced the first-year NIL deals to see which ones did and didn’t lead to NFL representation for the ’22 draft. In June, NIL expert Peter Schoenthal of Athliance discussed the ways players are benefiting and the ways agents are helping make that happen in advance of his Zoom session hosted by ITL. Of course, we also discussed our educational sessions for those people seeking to up their games by strengthening their NIL skills. Peter was joined by Sammy Spina of Vantage Management Group for our August sessions, and we previewed them here.

NFL Scouting: In September, we outlined our expanded awards honoring the game’s best evaluators; we call it the BART List, and they are way bigger this year than last year. With voting completed this fall, look for the results in Indianapolis in March at our seminar. Also, in November, we had our annual review of scouting staff sizes, detailing the movement up or down among analytics, pro and college groups to get a baseline idea of what’s happening in front offices. We also asked several former NFL evaluators to break down the strengths and weaknesses of the ’23 draft class as we entered the season in August. Did they get it right? See for yourself what they said. 

Alternative Leagues: In July, with Year 1 of USFL 2.0 complete, we took an honest look at the league Brian Woods founded. We also brought in key XFL officials for a Zoom meetup with NFL agents, discussing the player pool, the draft, on-field rules and regs and more. We discussed that here. Finally, in November, we previewed the XFL draft – again, courtesy of a Zoom session with XFL officials -- shortly before it kicked off just before Thanksgiving, and discussed it beforehand in the Wrap. 

Agent issues: One of the biggest stories of the year when it comes to player representation was the NFLPA’s testing debacle as would-be contract advisors had significant technical issues in July. We broke everything down here. We also looked at the total number of players by position that saw success in reaching 90-man rosters, 53-man rosters and practice squads (hint: the big guys up front are usually the best bets to represent). 

Best in the game: We enlisted former Falcons scout Rodrik David to give us the best (and worst) of the quarterbacks in Mobile last January.  Also, of course, we had a complete review of our signature event, the ITL Combine Seminar, with a complete list of all the winners and the highlights of our salary survey, in March. In addition, this fall, we reached out to scouts so we could tout the pro liaisons on campuses all over the country that are doing the best job. Finally, earlier this month, we looked at the golden age of all-star games we are experiencing and how the six established games are growing and adapting to the needs of players, agents and scouts. 

Mock Draft Reviews: As we do every year, we began sorting through the players that seven top draft services saw as first-rounders this summer, then followed the evolving mock drafts in September and again in November. Our next review will be next Friday, so look for that in a week.

The big questions: Why were 2022 combine times historically fast? The athletes? Sure. But there are reasons to believe other factors were at play that didn’t get a lot of attention. Speaking of the combine, what if the biggest NFL agencies put on their own event, independent of the league. Would it work? We also came to the defense of scouts after a difficult pro day in Michigan; compared the ’22 class to the last class without a significant QB prospect (2013); listed and saluted the 56 undrafted free agents who made 53-man rosters this year; asked QB expert Tim Jenkins what NFL teams are looking for (or should be looking for) in the modern passer; looked at the teams that have drafted the most active players; and much more. 

Catching Up: We spoke to more than 50 former NFL scouts and executives this year, at times pulling in their sons (who are also in scouting) to help out. Click here to read through them and catch up with talent evaluators from different eras. 

There was even more content in this year’s Friday Wrap that didn’t fit neatly into a category. We encourage you to check out all the topics explored and questions asked and answered in our weekly newsletter. 

Now for a look at what else we saw, heard, read and said in the business of college and pro football this week. 

Catching Up: Mike McCarthy turns 70 in March. He gets there after many years spent in scouting, including stints with the Patriots, Seahawks and Chargers as well as the original USFL, the CFL, various indoor leagues and even the MLFB. We caught up with him this week. 

  • Where are you living and what are you doing now? “We have two homes. One is in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada. It’s a historic town which played a key role in the War of 1812. Our summer home is In the north country of New York state near the Adirondacks and Brantingham Lake. It’s not far from historic Rome, NY, where the Stars and Stripes, Betsy Ross’ flag, flew in battle at Fort Stanwix. Since 2015, I’ve been working on developing MLFB, the Major League Football league, as Senior VP/Director of Football Operations and General Manager.”

  • Do you miss the job? What do you miss most? “I really haven't been away from it. It's a constant, always keeping up with the draft in the NFL, the CFL, college football, and tracking player movement (across multiple leagues). . . Up until Covid, I was meeting other scouts on the road from other clubs, leagues, college coaches. Back in the old-days, the 1970s and 1980s . . . all college scouts would pretty much stay in motels close to universities’ football offices. At the end of the day, we would have a happy hour. Someone would buy a case of beer or a bottle of Bourbon, some cold cuts, chips, cigars, all would share. We would talk about prospects or lie about how much you didn't like the prospect. We would visit with position coaches, trainers, coordinators, and if lucky, the head coach.”

  • Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues? “Yes and no. With the technology we have today, it's much easier. I was in the day of no cell phones and no laptops. We used to have a team car and drive and be on the road for four or five weeks. Then I’d leave the car that I drove from Foxboro-into the Midwest, leave the keys at American Airlines at O’Hare Aiport, and put a note on it tha another scout would pick it up in a few days. A week or two later, I might be flying into Tulsa and i would go and pick up the keys to another team car. Sometimes it was the one I had (previously). But I got off the subject. Some colleagues, yes. It’s been 46 years since I started at Oklahoma. Lots have passed away.”

  • Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)? “Moreso in the CFL due to I live here. Reason is, I’m mostly adding and deleting to the (league) practice roster. They add and delete constantly throughout their season. In August, (I go to) NFL preseason and training camps. High school, not so much as I used to. I used to run high school football camps every spring for Canadian and U.S college coaches.”  

  • Are there any players you love to watch and/or feel close to due to your work in the game? “I watch a lot of football. I’ve got five TVs in the house, plus three or four computers. There's always a player you like. It is great to see how right you are about a prospect’s talents. But it’s really the entire staff, the team needs. The scouts must know what type of offense and defense that will be installed. They must have the knowledge to communicate with the coaches. Does a prospect have the talent to fill a void that will fit into the offense and defense? What are we doing in the kicking game? What are we doing offensively? What are we doing defensively? They have to know what to expect of their offense, defense, kicking game and all personnel. Always have a plan and believe in it.”

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.

2023 Signings Grid: Times are changing. Players’ attitudes toward bowl play, as well as the influence of NIL, mean draft prospects are making agent decisions much sooner than we’ve ever seen before. We haven’t made it to Christmas yet and four of the 10 players who are unanimously believed by to be first-rounders by the seven draft services have already chosen representation. The big story: CAA has three of the four (Clemson’s Myles Murphy, Kentucky’s Will Levis and Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski), giving the agency incredible momentum entering the last big week of player signing. As for the battle for the top pick overall, there’s still some suspense. Both Alabama QB Bryce Young and OB Will Anderson, who together captured six of the seven No. 1 votes in our latest survey, are playing in the Sugar Bowl against Kansas State on New Year’s Eve. Will CAA pad its lead? Will Klutch Sports Group – the only other firm with a unanimous Top 10 player (Texas’ Bijan Robinson) – build its own momentum? Or will another firm surprise? We’ll know more in a little more than a week. In all, with just one week of bowl play complete, 22 of the 59 players who got at least one first-round nod have already signed and wrapped up their respective college careers. Make sure you’re keeping up with all the signings by checking out our big board.

All-Stars by Position: This week, we introduced our feature spelling out the confirmed invitees, sorted by the position each plays, for the Senior Bowl, Shrine Bowl and NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. In it, we see that virtually every position is full for the Senior Bowl, but the Shrine Bowl still has several vacancies at offensive skill positions as well as some pretty big vacancies at defensive back and defensive end. Looking at the NFLPA Bowl, which has still held its cards close to the vest, many positions have only 1-2 players listed (there are no QBs, inside linebackers or outside linebackers listed who are invited only to the NFLPA Bowl). The game also has vast openings at wide receiver, offensive tackle, defensive tackle, defensive end, free safety, strong safety and cornerback. Elsewhere, the other three games are also filling up. As we move closer to the games – the College Gridiron Showcase is about two weeks away – we’ll begin to break out each game with its invitees and their representation. Stay tuned.

Building networks: For the second straight year, we brought our Next Wave subscribers – aspiring NFL scouts who are looking to build avenues into front offices – together with key scouts and executives in an effort to give them an edge. On Tuesday, Las Vegas Director of College Scouting Brandon Yeargan, former Vikings GM Rick Spielman and Chargers Pro and College Scout Tyler Lyon were kind enough to join ITL clients on Zoom. Each of them gave their respective “origin stories,” gave words of encouragement, and answered questions. It’s the kind of opportunity you can only get at ITL. If you missed it, mark your calendar for next December, when we’ll have three more Friends of ITL on to help encourage and build the next generation of evaluators. In the meantime, read a little about what our guests discussed in this week’s blog post here. 

Rep Rumblings: This week, our four reports were chock-full of signing buzz. On Monday, we had three observations about what’s happened so far, including the return of a mega-agency, the collapsing loyalty of NIL clients when it comes to NFL representation, and more. On Tuesday, we had coaching change/search firm news, plus we looked at the going rate for late Day 1 and Day 3 players, respectively. Wednesday, we had an interesting development for next year’s agent exam-takers that will be welcome news to everyone who had technical difficulties last summer, plus plenty of signings rumors. Finally, on Thursday, we looked at a couple of players who may pass up a cherished Senior Bowl invitation (and why). We also passed along an offer for a high Day 3 defensive lineman that has to be seen to be believed and we had signings and coaching representation buzz. Make sure you’re keeping up with everything going on by accessing all our Rep Rumblings reports here.

Next week: It’s the last week of the year, but we’ve got plenty to get in before we say goodbye to 2022. Here’s a look at what’s ahead.


From all of us at Inside the League, we wish the merriest of Christmases to you and yours. We hope the day brings joy and rest as we celebrate the arrival of the The King. We appreciate you, our reader, and all our clients, everywhere. See you next week.