Over on chicagobears.com Larry Mayer had his usual Wednesday one on one with Bears GM Jerry Angelo. This weeks topic; Prepping for NFL Draft an ongoing process for Angelo.
Angelo's drafting success, or lack thereof (depending on your view) is always a popular topic. After the jump some highlights of the sit down...
JA and his staff are scouting year round and on a daily basis.
We create the base for a player coming into the draft by watching his junior year, and then seeing the development that he made during his senior year. Some players get hurt when they're seniors, so you have to rely on their junior-year tape. In some cases there's been a coaching change, meaning a scheme change. So you have to recognize how the player performed in one scheme and how he's now doing in another. It has a lot of different purposes, but when you're doing a two-year study on a player, it takes time. That's why I say it's a year-round job.So whatever time permits during my day, I'll do as much as I can. Some days I'm able to do more than others depending on what's going on. I probably spend a few hours a day watching tape, and I try to continue that habit throughout the year because, like I said, it's an ongoing process.
I wonder what they do when an early entry candidate elects to enter the draft? Do they go back and look at Sophomore year tape?
When asked what regions he personally scouts his answer surprised me...
I focus on the Midwest, which encompasses the Big Ten and the Mid-American [Conferences]. I'll try to do the Big 12 North and also teams like Cincinnati and Kentucky. Then I'll try to do the west coast-all the Pac 10 and the WAC. That's my base for the year. And then once we determine our needs at the end of the year, I watch the positions of need in the other areas.
Isn't the best football played down south? The SEC seems to be the breeding ground for many of the elite athletes entering the NFL, I'd think the GM would look at these areas first.
He goes on to explain what he looks for when watching tape and how they look at a players character. It's an interesting read for sure.