Learning the NFL Draft
My best practices for enjoying and studying the NFL Draft
Jan 28, 2019, 7:00 am
Learning the NFL Draft
"Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean,
Needs not the painted flourish of your praise:
Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye,
Not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues:
I am less proud to hear you tell my worth
Than you much willing to be counted wise
In spending your wit in the praise of mine.
But now to task the tasker: good Boyet,"
We've often heard the phrase, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Truer words could not be spoken in regards to the NFL Draft. Many eyes will peer through hours of tapes of talented NFL prospects but the opinions on what they see will differ.
If this is your first year watching the NFL Draft and the months of coverage leading up to it or if you've been following along for years, I believe this article will help you further understand the coverage and varying opinions.
I started following the NFL Draft in 2003. By 2004, I was fully ingrained in reading, studying and spending all of my time understanding how the best evaluators watched film and came away with differing opinions. What made the great evaluators, great?
By 2009, I was ready to take a bigger step in my evaluation process and my learning of how to evaluate more effectively. I took a "scouting" course that year that was delivered weekly by former NFL front offices personnel and scouts. After completion of the course I was more determined than ever to cut out my path as a top-tier evaluator.
Since 2009, I've worked every year to improve my evaluations from the year before. In this article, I'll let you know of some of the land mines that will trip you up if you're looking for coverage, entertainment or even possibly starting your pursuit as an evaluator.
I can't speak for everyone else, but for me, there are positions I excel at when studying prospects on film and there are some that my margin of error is greater.
For me, my biggest misses come at the quarterback, inside linebacker and safety positions.
Quarterbacks - I'm still not certain if my huge misses on quarterbacks in the past are mostly based on a blind spot I have for the position or if it's more to do with the extensive variables that surround the position.
Quarterback's success depends on the head coach of the team that selects them, the playmakers he has to get the ball to, the offensive line protection, his maturity and if he can lead men, etc.
Oddly enough, my offensive line evaluations are easily my biggest strength. I routinely hit on unheralded guys while warning on more highly coveted prospects. After offensive line, I would lean on my cornerback evaluations, followed by running back.
While safeties are listed on my weaknesses, I can usually find a diamond in the rough like John Johnson. Receivers are hit and miss. I warned against guys like Kelvin Benjamin and Corey Coleman but missed on guys like Michael Thomas and Stefon Diggs.
Whether you're looking to just follow along during the draft process or learn to evaluate, yourself, steer clear of group think. A common misconception is that "group think" during the draft process is only for those on twitter or in the media. It's been a huge flaw for many NFL teams.
When evaluators all start discussing what they see as opposed to other evaluators, some will get persuaded by a different evaluation because they wonder why the other individuals in the room all agree and they are just sitting on a lonely island with their opinion.
Several years ago, I was destroyed on twitter for not having Jake Matthews and Greg Robinson in my top three offensive line prospects. Robinson went number two overall to the Rams that year. I warned that if the Rams made that selection he would be Jason Smith 2.0.
I was ridiculed for having:
All higher than Matthews and Robinson. As an evaluator the general public will typically remember your misses and not your hits. If you don't fall victim to group think, they'll remember your misses even more as you were on the island instead of with the masses.
To help you better understand the NFL Draft coverage of the next couple of months, you'll need to understand manipulations that happen with information during the next couple of months.
I hope this article helps you enjoy the next few months of the NFL offseason, leading up to the 2019 NFL Draft.
Starting next week I'll be posting my positional rankings. First group up for 2019?.....you guessed it, offensive tackles.
Look for "Jayson Braddock's 2019 Offensive Tackle Rankings" next week, only at SportsMap. One of these prospects could be protecting Deshaun Watson's blind side come week one.
Cal Raleigh approached the All-Star Home Run Derby like a day on the lawn. Dad was on the mound and baby brother was behind the plate.
Only this time, there were tens of thousands looking on at Truist Park and a $1 million prize.
“It goes all the way back to him coming home and me forcing him to throw me a ball and hit it in the backyard or in the house or something probably shouldn’t be doing,” a beaming Cal said, flanked by Todd and Todd Jr. after defeating Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in the final round Monday night.
Todd Raleigh, former coach of Tennessee and Western Carolina, threw the pitches and Cal’s 15-year-old brother, Todd Raleigh Jr., did the catching. A first-time All-Star at age 28, Cal became the first switch-hitter and first catcher to win the title. He’s the second Mariners player to take the title after three-time winner Ken Griffey Jr., who was on the field, snapping photos.
“Anybody that’s ever played baseball as a kid dreams of stuff like this,” Cal’s dad said. “I dreamed of it. He dreamed of it. When you’re a parent, you look at it differently because you want your kids to be happy.”
Leading the major leagues with 38 home runs at the All-Star break, Cal almost didn’t make it past the first round. The Mariners’ breakout slugger nicknamed Big Dumper and the Athletics’ Brent Rooker each hit 17 homers, and Raleigh advanced on a tiebreaker for longest long ball: 470.61 feet to 470.53 — or 0.96 inches. At first, Cal wasn’t aware whether there would be a swing-off.
“An inch off, and I’m not even in the final four, which is amazing,” Cal said. “So I guess I got lucky there. One extra biscuit.”
Raleigh totaled 54 homers. He won his semifinal 19-13 over Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz, whose 513-foot first-round drive over the right-center field seats was the longest of the night.
Cal Raleigh's #HRDerby by the numbers:
Total HR: 54
HR of 425+: 31
Top distance: 471 ft
Avg distance: 430 ft
Total distance: 23,212 ft
Top exit velo: 112 MPH
Avg exit velo: 102 MPH pic.twitter.com/0pV6nGWLsA
— MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2025
Cal’s brother, nicknamed T, kept yelling encouragement to the brother he so admires.
“His swag, the way he plays, the way he hustles,” T said.
Hitting second in the final round, the 22-year-old Caminero closed within three dingers — MLB counted one that a fan outfielder caught with an over-the-wall grab. Using a multicolored bat and down to his last out, Caminero took three pitches and hit a liner to left.
“I didn’t think I was going to hit as many home runs or make it to the finals,” Caminero said through a translator.
Cal was just the second Derby switch-hitter after Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman in 2023. His dad was a righty and wanted both his sons to hit from both sides.
“Did it from the first day, when he was in diapers, literally,” Todd Sr. said. “I would take that big ball and he had a big red bat. I’d throw it slow and he’d hit it. Then I’d say stay there, pick him up, turn him around, switch his hands and do it again. I was a catcher. I played a little bit, and I just knew what a premium it was. I didn’t want either one of my boys to ever say, am I right-handed or left-handed?”
There was a downside.
“I don’t recommend it if you have two kids, they’re both switch hitters, if you want to save your arm, because that’s a lot of throwing,” said dad, who had rotator cuff surgery.
Raleigh hit his first eight homers left-handed, took a timeout, then hit seven right-handed. Going back to lefty, he hit two more in the bonus round and stayed lefty for the rest of the night.
“Was grooving a little bit more lefty so we were like, since we have a chance to win, we might as well stick to the side that’s working a little better,” Cal said.
Caminero beat Minnesota’s Byron Buxton 8-7 in the other semifinal. Atlanta’s Matt Olson, Washington’s James Wood, the New York Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Rooker were eliminated in the first round of the annual power show.
Cruz’s long drive was the hardest-hit at 118 mph.
Wood hit 16 homers, including one that landed on the roof of the Chop House behind the right-field wall. Olson, disappointing his hometown fans, did not go deep on his first nine swings and finished with 15, Chisholm hit just three homers, the fewest since the timer format started in 2015.fter it was all over, the Raleighs headed out. Stephanie, the boys’ mom and Todd Sr.'s wife, is surrounded by baseball.
After it was all over, the Raleighs headed out. Stephanie, the boys’ mom and Todd Sr.'s wife, is surrounded by baseball.
“We kind of leave it in the cage. We’ve got a cage at home, a building,” Todd Sr. said. “Or we leave it in the car on the rides home. There’s probably been a few times where she says, yeah, that’s enough.”