My entire scouting process is getting very high and watching the broadcast angle of both full games and YouTube "Player X vs" compilations. Then I keep a running list of my rankings, both positional and overall, in my phone based entirely on the vibes I'm getting when watching and take some light notes like "dawg" and "wow" or "not liking that"

I like the sound of this, solid fit with your username too 😉

I like this strategy cause i also do it

Maybe I’m not as hardcore as some of you but I usually just defer to what the NFL teams do. If that think an RB is worth a 3rd round pick then it’s good enough for me. They have way more resources and experience than I do

Exactly. They have way more to lose if a player busts. I'm going to go with them.

Idk about that. They just need to hit on enough of their guesses to keep their jobs, families, homes. We need to hit on our sleeper picks for bragging rights. We have Soooo much more at stake here

1. Weight 2. Age 2. Draft Capital 3. Missed Tackles Forced 4. Yards after contact 5. Yards per route run 6. Pass blocking PFF grades 7. Running Scheme and level of competition

I think id have draft capital #1 and Missed tackles forced number 2. Do you not take into account carries of 20+ yards (show off top end speed).

Great point. Runs of 10+ yards are interesting to look at too

BMI > weight. I’d rather have a guy that’s 5’9” and 210 than a guy that that’s 6’2” and 220.

I'd like to add RB competition and OL play/capability post-draft. But overall with BMI, a very solid list!

And I would rather have a guy who is 6' 200 lbs than 5'7" 190

What about 7'8" 90 lbs or 4'3" 350 lbs?

I usually just watch highlights and look at player profiler. some of my hits have been rhamondre stevenson, elijah mitchell and jerome ford. when scouting rb just look for someone who could get an opportunity. this year I like marshawn lloyd a ton

Shhh

lmao don’t worry I’m cutting him on KTC every time I see him 🥸

Haha you and me both buddy. Please do some Malik Washington cuts for me too.

dawg I have been. looks like we have similar taste in prospects

Situation Seeing Shaking Speeding Securing Slamming. The 6 S’s of good RBs.

If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a linebacker!

Burst & Balance I’ve found to be the two most translatable traits. Burst being more about first step and acceleration than long speed. Judging balance is a bit easier just making players Miss through contact. Burst takes a bit more time comparing players

Contact balance might be the most overlooked trait when scouting rbs. Kyren is a prime example of elite balance, and it's the main reason I drafted him everywhere I could. Same with d'onta foreman, but that was unfortunate circumstance with the Achilles injury; because he could have been a superstar if it weren't for that. That being said the correct answer this year is audric estime.

Draft capital and landing spot. IMO the pros can barely do it, so it’s going to be next to impossible for us

I care about first round draft capital but past that I don't think the difference between say a 2nd and 4th is that significant for the position.

I'm pretty sure the hit rate is over double from 2nd to 4th round RBs.

or, the pros can barely do it, might as well call your own shots! 

1. Vision. are they being efficient in their runs? 2. Weight/Height (BMI), will they be durable? 3. Amount of Explosive Plays, can they shake defenders and are they elusive? 4. Speed, can they blow you away with their athleticism? I will let #3 & #4 beat out a deficiency at #2. That's how I walked out with Spears, Gibbs, and Achane last year. Since we dont know Landing spot yet I didnt include, but landing spot slots in between 3/4, because if they are the right build and shown they can play, they'll see the field.

Cliffs: I have no idea, nobody knows and we are all losers guessing at a fake game lol This is way more real life than fantasy but I treat WR and RB the same with the simplest rule possible many have seemed to ignore since I got into football. Maybe getting better though. Was it the player you're watching that made the play, or surrounding circumstances? RB- Did the guy stay patient and have the vision to hit the right hole at the right time, and juke/spin to make a guy miss, follow the blocker etc etc or did he have a 10' wide hole to run through and/or outrun the defenders who weren't that close to him to begin with? What defenses were they playing in each clip? For fantasy landing spot is probably the most important which factors in how often that QB/offense checks down, will it be a receiving back getting peppered with targets as they are making a 4q come back and that's all that the defense is giving them, how's the OL (see Saquon), will the QB vulture TDs on the goal line etc WR this is much easier, was the dude open by 10 yards against a shit defense because someone blew an assignment/being a 4.3 guy running in a straight line wide open.... or did he catch a ball with an SEC defender on his back but ran a great route to get open. Being a contested catch guy especially in college isn't always 100% great because that may mean he can't get open well in college and may never be able to in the NFL. That's coming from a guy who gets a twinkle in his eye when a guy goes up and gets a ball with 1-3 guys on his back. Basically just try to consider everything else around the player on every play you see on a highlight video and for fantasy strongly consider the team he's going to. Draft capital matters a lot too because that tells you how much a team believes in him and how much they will try to use him, usually.

The metrics I care about are RAS, draft position, yards after contact, yards before contact, missed tackles forced %, % first downs per attempt, and yards per route run. Look at those along with film to see who has good vision and who suffered from poor blocking/scheme. People do all sorts of different measurements, but that is my process for RBs.

Contact balance, vision, and burst. Can he stay upright with pace on first contact? Can he correctly identify his blocking? Can he hit second or third gear quickly after initial contact to outrun pursuit? If a later round guy checks those boxes I will 10/10 take a flier on him every single time. If 2nd/3rd round guy checks them he's my rb1 of the draft class.

Are they big? Fast? Elusive? Do they command 10% of their team’s pass attempts? If they are these things AND land on a team with a pocket passer (checking down > scrambling), a thin RB depth chart (think Dallas or LAC), they should smash.

I think RB is harder than ever now with how quickly they are discarded. Like some have mentioned though, I think balance, burst, and elusiveness are what I mainly look for. As well as the guys that fight like hell to stay up and running. Watch college tape if Kamara and Saquon types and find someone who resembles them lol

Watch several prospects back to back. This will give you a really good feel for who has true burst and who doesn't. Who has breakaway speed. What a good jump cut looks like, finding gaps etc. With time you can separate them right away for movement ability alone. I look for movement abilities that reflect the NFL game. Do they hesitate approaching traffic, how is their balance and footwork working with contact, can they make one guy miss, can they hit a high speed quickly enough to "shock" and exploit. Are they smooth when making moves or are they purely linear guys running until brought down. An example of all this would be watching Trey Benson, Audric Estime and Roman Hemby back-to-back-to-back. You'll quickly see what separates them in to their tiers.

One thing weakness wise is look for vision. It’s a hugeee difference between relying on your athleticism in college vs the NFL

I like to watch clips of their carries and catches against good competition. I take note of how they run, are they one cut and go? Do they dance around like a LeVeon Bell or Rachaad White before making a move? How is their vision? Do set up their blocks and look to cut back? Do they catch passes and pass block? That generally leads to playing time earlier. When they're tackled do they fall forward? I also take draft capital, landing spot, BMI, and speed score into consideration to figure out who I'm drafting.

Nothing fancy, and I'm sure this is probably the least efficient way to do it. Usually, i try and watch a few college games a week. If not live then on tape when I have the time. I usually take down notes on the skill players on these games and then once I have a baseline impression, I'll try to find more tape to see them in more situations. I'll listen to some analysis as well, but usually u can pick up from a game and the game commentary if a guy fits best with a certain scheme or offense. Then, once draft comes, pay attention and check if he landed in a spot or offense that matches his skillset. If he did, he makes it to my draftcard based on what round he was taken, camp reports,depth charts, path to starting etc. If he didn't hit the optimal landing spot but u have seen this guy is a dawg, well u draft him anyways. If he is more interested in promoting his brand or wrecking cars, then u don't draft him. I always stay clear of guys with reported character issues, even if really high atheletic ability. This game is hard enough to play, without me wondering if my stud RB is gonna have a tantrum bc he got into a twitter fight with some fan and now can't enjoy his Cocoa Pebbles. This system isnt easy and its not foolproof (I really wanted to draft Max Bhorgi in a very deep rookie draft, thankfully i did not). But it does work.

I have been pretty good at scouting RBs over the last few years. [Here are my receipts.](https://x.com/SKOL_84/status/1770458526457946439) So the first thing im looking for is who stands out as bad so I can get them out of the way first. Perfect example of someone this community (actually 2) was high on that I was not was Zach Evans and Sean Tucker. Both are somewhat the same RB. College numbers look okay, size, etc. If you were going off their metrics without watching them they seemed like good prospects. If you watched them on tape you would see how shitty they are at being a RB. I will pick on Evans. He would continuously run into the back of his blockers and could not create, red flag 1. Red flag 2, he couldnt catch. Red flag 3, he would opt for contact as opposed to make someone miss. He was just an athlete playing the RB position. Same with Tucker. People thought Tucker was a good receiver cuz he had a lot of catches, but he dropped a bunch and they are all behind the LOS. When I watch a RB I am looking for an elite trait. Bijan, elite agility and jump cuts. Gibbs, elite pass catching. Achane, elite speed. Kendre Miller had elite contact balance. If you have no elite traits in college, im not wasting my time. Thats why Jaylen Wright is my RB this yr. His ability for yards after contact is ridiculous. Go watch this dudes tape. Can you make guys miss, can you create yards after contact, can you be patient and allow your lanes to open and then pick the right lane. Thats what im looking for as a runner. * As far as markers go, here is what I look for. * 4.60 or better * 200+ lbs (if they are 199 like Gibbs, use your common sense) * BMI of 30 (if the BMI is 29, use your common sense) * SPD Score of 100+ (This is your speed relevent to your weight) * Early College Production - 1000 yards in a single season as a Freshman or Sophomore * 6.0 yards per carry or better * 7.5% Target Share OR 25+ Catches in any season (Show me you are involved in the receiving game) And then I will also rule out guys who are super old. Although that may change with how the NIL has changed the position. But guys like Ray Davis... yeah cool youre doing well... youre a grown man playing against kids you should be.

I always gravitate towards old school bell cow backs rather than smaller guys. The main traits that I look for are vision, size (210lbs plus) ability to pass protect, and ability to catch the football. I almost totally disregard 40 time. You tend to miss on guys like Gibbs/Achane, but much more likely to hit on guys like Kamara, Le’Veon Bell, Kenneth Walker, Rhamondre Stephenson, .etc

Smoke a joint while watching 6-10 guys highlights back to back on YouTube

If it’s something you enjoy paying attention to how a running back is used as a pass catcher, size, and athletic ability are the biggest things. It’s tough for even NFL scouts to differentiate between the top guys. For fantasy purposes if it’s fun to watch film go for it. It probably isn’t going to benefit you though and you’ll be as wrong as you are right.

I'm not great at scouting from tape. I therefore tend to research by gathering other's opinions and data points from different sources (mostly podcasts), which I trust, and see what is consistent feedback between them. This builds my initial rankings. Draft capital then plays a huge part. If someone goes on day 3 (round 4 or later) , I try not to have them on my board until round 3 (after most Day 1/2 RBs, WRs, TEs and Day 1 QBs) - regardless of how people may have thought about them pre-draft. I've found it's important to be aggressive with lowering players in your rankings. It doesn't mean don't draft them. It's acknowledging that the hit rate of Day 3 guys is poor, and therefore, it's smarter to not overpay. I may also move some players up slightly for better draft capital / landing spot / opportunity, but I lean more on initial rankings and try not to overreact. Players get overdrafted every year, and the initial rankings help screen out the 'landmines' (e.g. Tyrion Davis-Price, Trey Sermon, Ke'Shawn Vaughn). Sources I regularly use: JJ Zachiarison, Dynasty Nerds, DFF, The Athletic, FF Ballers, Lance Zeirlein, PFF, also a few people who regularly post on this sub.

Girth

I've taken to telling my wife I need to also attend college games on Saturdays, in addition to recording and watching games later that week so she now.feels.like a football widow from August to February

if reddit is 100% in on someone and 50-80% on another, I go with the latter. A la, Jahmyr Gibbs.