keggerz Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Ouch Todd McShay backlash buildsPosted by Mike Florio on March 31, 2010 12:56 PM ET Many NFL scouts have a sore spot for failed NFL scouts who enter the media and attempt to critique the work of NFL scouts who have not yet failed. Even more NFL scouts have a sore spot for guys who were never NFL scouts, couldn't be if they wanted to, and then attempt to critique the work of folks who became NFL scouts. Once upon a time, Mel Kiper was the primary target of NFL scouts; Kiper has been supplanted by his on-air protege/rival at ESPN, Todd McShay. As McShay's profile increases, and as he takes on the likes of quarterback Jimmy Clausen for reasons that many league insiders believe have no merit, McShay becomes a magnet for criticism. "Most people at my level feel he is a joke," a veteran NFL scout told us via e-mail. "People in the league respect Kiper. He is not a true scout but he does work at it. A lot of his info he gets from connections in the league, and over the years he has made quite a few. When he was younger he used to burn some bridges. He doesn't do that any more." So what about McShay? "McShay does not have any good connections," the source opined. "Higher-ups in the league think he is an arrogant Third Eye Blind. A know-it-all. And he really knows nothing. Whatever he says about a quarterback, take it to the bank, it will be the opposite. Remember, last August he stated that Jevan Snead was better than Colt McCoy and would get drafted in the top five. He has yet to publicly retract that statement. "One of the reasons the kid came out was because of what McShay said. The family thought McShay knew and everyone else was wrong. . . . He has problems with game management, accuracy and leadership among other things, but pretty boy Todd thought he was great because of one good game (the Cotton Bowl) a year ago. McShay is a pretty face who comes across like he knows what he is talking about. He does have good presence, but knows nothing." A common name we've heard when it comes to McShay is Andre Woodson. McShay championed Woodson during the 2007 season. Woodson ended up being a sixth-round pick, and he's now out of the league. The teams knew that Woodson wasn't as good as McShay was saying. The problem is that the player and his family don't have access to what the teams are thinking. The player and his family see and hear the stuff that gets played on television, and they tend to believe it when ESPN attaches to the talking head the phony, official-sounding title of "director of college scouting." But not all draft experts fall into that category. "The best guy in the amateur scouting/draftnik business in Mike Mayock," the source said. "Mike does more film work then any of those other guys put together. He is the only one who has access to the NFL dub center where all the college tapes go before they get distributed to the teams. He watches hours and hours of tape. You might not always agree with his evaluations but he works hard at it and you have to respect that." The source ended with a prediction regarding Clausen's prospects. "On draft day McShay will look like a fool because whether or not you like Clausen as a person he is very talented," the source said. "He has more training and game time in a pro system than any quarterback in the draft. His improvement from '08 to '09 was tremendous. If Notre Dame had a defense, Charlie Weis would still be there coaching. Offense was not the problem. I will agree that Clausen may have some A-hole in him but he is extremely talented. He has a strong arm and is very accurate. Plus he has played a lot in a pro system." In our view, McShay does present well on television, where the requirement isn't to know what you're talking about but to seem like you know what you're talking about. But we've heard from more than a few people who work as NFL scouts that McShay doesn't know what he's talking about. Right or wrong, those voices will only get louder in their criticism as McShay gets more air time -- and as he becomes more pointed with criticisms of players that NFL scouts regard as erroneous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Billy Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Considering the failure rate of first & second round picks, and given the money that is spent on those kids before they even play a down in the NFL, my response to a predominance of the NFL scouts would be: "Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Mike Mayock is outstanding. I've seen him do a couple of Vikings preseason games and the knowledge he shares about all the players on the field is top notch. I wish he had a higher profile in the booth and helped call more regular season games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Billy Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 (edited) Mike Mayock is outstanding. I've seen him do a couple of Vikings preseason games and the knowledge he shares about all the players on the field is top notch. I wish he had a higher profile in the booth and helped call more regular season games. I'm dumbfounded that some team wouldn't pay Mayock substantial dough to head up & train its scouting department. They could pay him millions and he'd still provide a solid return for the money in terms of how much a team would improve (as well as not paying crappy young players bonus money) throughout the short & long period. Edited March 31, 2010 by Bronco Billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Irish Doggy Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Considering the failure rate of first & second round picks, and given the money that is spent on those kids before they even play a down in the NFL, my response to a predominance of the NFL scouts would be: "Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackass Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 "Clausen may have some A-hole in him but he is extremely talented. He has a strong arm and is very accurate. Plus he has played a lot in a pro system." Not exactly a ringing endorsement of Clausen. Hasn't that led to a lot of qb's downfall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 "Clausen may have some A-hole in him but he is extremely talented. He has a strong arm and is very accurate. Plus he has played a lot in a pro system." Not exactly a ringing endorsement of Clausen. Hasn't that led to a lot of qb's downfall? I read the description and Phillip Rivers came to mind...I think he's done pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddahj Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Considering the failure rate of first & second round picks, and given the money that is spent on those kids before they even play a down in the NFL, my response to a predominance of the NFL scouts would be: "Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Agree 100% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowboysDiehard Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 "Clausen may have some A-hole in him but he is extremely talented. He has a strong arm and is very accurate. Plus he has played a lot in a pro system." Not exactly a ringing endorsement of Clausen. Hasn't that led to a lot of qb's downfall? Sounds like Clausen may be in a bit of a pickle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterMan Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 "Clausen may have some A-hole in him but he is extremely talented. He has a strong arm and is very accurate. Plus he has played a lot in a pro system." Not exactly a ringing endorsement of Clausen. Hasn't that led to a lot of qb's downfall? Not being a 1950's class act is the least of the worries for an NFL team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Sounds like Clausen may be in a bit of a pickle! :groan: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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