Character

[Mingo]

I envy Draft Crazy at this time a year. Whatever I find out about a player is usually his playing stats and his size and skill measurements. Draft Crazy gets to interview lots of prospects and network with other guys who interview and see prospective players with the more three dimensional views that involve character assessment. So those who interact with players and work with others who do as well - a character assessment is an important factor in predicting player success.

So the question is - how much should you value the player's character and motivations against his numbers?

A case in point is the Denver Bronco's draft. It is an easy shot to trash how the Broncos spent their resources in obtaining the players that they did - from our studied point of view.

The Broncos may have looked at their roster and said - they need more bricks and mortar guys on the roster. For Brick and Mortar guys the Broncos went out looking for high character - high motivation guys who will inject an enthusiasm for the game throughout the roster. Their player evaulations were obviously weighted heavily toward character. The weight of character in the player grade was the stealth component in this draft for the Broncos.


All of the draftees (with a few exceptions) were over achievers - beloved teamates - team leaders - smart and enthusiastic football players - with no agenda but to play the game right. Osweiler wasn't an over acheiver, but he has all the other qualifites listed above. Hillman was the heart and soul of his offense - not an over acheiver, but a sensational yet still developing player. Wolfe, Trevathan, Bolden and Jackson were team leaders for their defenses - guys who pulled others along with them to acheive. Blake was the leader of the Baylor Oline. These guys are football Eagle Scouts - valuable not only as roles players with potential, but Bricks and Mortar for the team.

It may be time to consider that the Broncos wanted this kind of guy - and weren't going to take anyone onto this team who would distract the focus on play execution, practice and dedicaton to the game - and were willing to pay for it to obtain those guys.

[CEH]

I think if we weren't burned by Cox and McCheat we could take a flyer on a guy like J Jenkins but right now the organization needs to stay on the straight and narrow

[LGM]

I think as much as character, this draft was incredibly high motor. Non stop, red line, over revving, nitrous injected motor.

[Draft Crazy]

I don't mind taking a guy with a character concern here and there. I don't want to be like Cincy and take a lot.

We all forget that Cox had character issues but we did take him in round 5, not the top few rounds. For instance I'd never want my team taking a guy like Jenkins and burf in the same year, but if we took one (and obviously at a decent round) I could be ok with that. For instance, Jenkins in round 1, If CB was a dire need and we are picking late 1 I would consider it, but in round 2 I'd take the chance no problem since as of now we don't have a lot of character issues on our team. But if that was the case and just using Burf as an example, say he was gonna go in round 4 (in this case we knew he may go undrafted) then I wouldn't touch that 2nd character issue in the round 4. It is kinda like a D2 team, they will tell you if they give one character issue guy from 1A a shot that they won't take in another guy with an issue.

Of course as we all know it depends on the issue at hand, but I think you get my point.

I can tell just by interviewing some guys who I wouldn't want on my team. There was a guy in the draft this year who was suppose to go in round 4, who fell and went undrafted, and I can see why after talking to him. I think and interview can tell a lot. Obviously, a guy can be smart and sound good, and get into trouble. But there are a few guys each year who I can tell just have no clue as to how to act.

[Mingo]

Thanks DC. There's a difference between making a mistake and having a character issue. I think there is a difference when you want to take chances of that nature and when it is not advisable.

[LGM]

Just curious DC, but what kinds of answers do you get from those players and what questions do you ask that make you think that? I think we'd all love to hear about some of your inside information without revealing names, of course.

[Draft Crazy]

Well from a player this year he asked me to ask him how many girls he had slept with on the radio show. That is one major flag.

A lot of this is off the interview. Guys complaining about their girlfriends calling them some nasty names. Telling me how they find a new girl every night. Just random stuff like that. ( I know good guys do that too, but just the fact that you are so open about bragging about that). I really don't ask players personal questions as I don't want to get caught up into that sorta stuff, but when you go out of your way to tell me about stuff related to that I find it a bit odd. lol

A lot of people you can tell when they talk they are not the brightest and just the way they approach a question compared to other guys. Some guys don't even give an answer with anything that matches the question as it just makes no sense to me when I go back and read it.

Some guys will give one or two word answers even when asking their strengths, which that might not mean a lot, but I find it odd. I wonder if they are answering teams the same way. A lot of agents want players to do interviews with our site because it helps prepare them in interviewing with teams who interview them. We ask them very basic questions.

One guy from this year told me he had 12 workouts and turned down 8 of them. That guy went undrafted. Same guy told me he had to make sure the Lions and Browns knew he would not sign with him and would ask to be traded if they drafted him and would hold out if they selected him. Keep in mind this guy also has a very well known agent. I just don't know what these guys are thinking sometimes.

Then you have someone like Eric Decker, Alterraun Verner, Brett Roy among others who just blow you away with a great interview. I do most of my interviews over the phone, but I do, do a few via email, there have been a handful of players who have typed out an interview like they speak to me, I then have to take a lot of time editing that for them so it looks look English. I actually did my interview with Decker through email as he was pretty busy when I called him and he said if I emailed it to him he would do it when he got back from a visit. Decker was the first player that did an interview through the mail that I did not have to correct one thing on. It zipped right through the old speller checker just fine. That was nice. lol

It is not even so much the interviews I do with players that make me question them but rather what they say away from the interviews.

You would be shocked at the amount of players who said they would hate to play for the Cleveland Browns. (I hope they don't give the Browns that feedback)

There are also guys who have no speaking skills when I interview them and half the time I have to ask them to repeat or I feel like I have to spoon feed them answers, to get a complete answer sometimes I will have to expand. "Ok why do you feel you are similar to Champ Bailey? "You say you have good speed, what are your other strengths? Surely you can say more than my speed. Just little things like that, that i think a player needs to work on.

All in all I have some really good interviews and player comments and see great approaches by players, but there is always one here and there where I think to myself. I would take this guy off my draft board if these teams knew what I knew.

This year I was helping Cameron Chism the CB of Maryland, real good guy. He had told me prior to the draft what 7 teams had contacted him. He has a pretty good agent from what I know so I think he was fine without me. But when the draft was over I had focused on all of the teams that offered him a contract as an UDFA, came to the conclussion that the Colts who have a dire need at CB and who took no CB's really was a good situation for him. I broke them down compared to the Browns, Texans, Falcons, Jags and Chiefs, Eagles who were all interested and he said he has talked to his agent and his agent agreed that the Colts would be the best place for him. In this case I think many kids unlike Cameron fail. Their agents don't do that work for them. Most players don't understand depth charts and break down who has been drafted at their clients position and get their guys in the best situation. I feel agents need to do a much better job of that for some clients. But the other thing is a lot of players wouldn't even care, they will go to the team that shows the most interest during the draft not even caring about what is in front of them because they have that attitude that teams over looked them and that they will be a diamond in the trough, truth is very few are. I look at Donovan Warren who was projected high a few years back and he had several offers and went to the Jets after they had Revis, Cromartie, Lowery, Drew Coleman and had just taken Kyle Wilson in round 1. I question what is the agent doing? No background information was ever given to Donovan and he got very poor advised, some kids just don't care as they think they can beat out anyone.

That isn't a character story, but just something I wanted to talk about that I have experienced.