Police raids, Instagram scouting video and tales from the NFL draft fringes
The sprawling and wildly unscientific NFL draft evaluation process is defined as much by the underdog stories as the star power. The allure of the draft inherently lies in its annual ode to humility, as franchises spend millions to evaluate knowing they’ll inevitably under-value, overlook and miss on players each season.
The lore of the hidden gems from the 2020 draft class are likely to have their own pandemic-inspired narrative. When their stories are told and retold as they sign lucrative contracts, win Super Bowls and emerge as Pro Bowlers, they’ll have similar overlays — police busting into their impromptu pro days, their film being scouted from Instagram and their parents taking iPhone videos of their workouts.
Welcome to the fringes of the 2020 NFL draft, as the cancellation of the estimated 70 percent of pro days has made the long road to the NFL for fringe prospects even trickier to navigate. It’s led to an uptick in promotional videos, homemade YouTube workout videos and virtual pro days, the kind they’ll be showing on “30 for 30s” if a player emerges from an Instagram 40-yard dash to stardom.
For the players who weren’t among the 337 invited to the NFL scouting combine, becoming one of the 255 players selected will be increasingly difficult because of a lack of verified medical records, measurements and the traditional pro day workouts.
“A lot of these guys will slip through the cracks,” said former NFL scout Richard Shelton, “which is unfortunate.”
Makeshift pro days
Brandon Polk is a former wide receiver at Penn State who transferred to James Madison for his final season to get more touches. After playing behind KJ Hamler for the Nittany Lions, Polk emerged as the FCS version of his former teammate.
But after scoring 11 receiving touchdowns and catching 74 balls for 1,179 yards, Polk didn’t garner a combine or Senior Bowl invite. At 5-foot-9 and 171 pounds, he needed to pop with his 40-yard dash time at his pro day at James Madison to further establish himself on NFL radars.
When that pro day got canceled, his family and agents with EMG Sports went into scramble mode. They came up with a solution — flying to Atlanta to film a pro day with Ken Herock, the former Falcons general manager who helps prospects prepare for the draft process.
“I felt like it was very important to show my speed and skill set,” Polk said. “I felt like the big thing for me is speed. That was something that definitely needed to be showcased.”
Polk and his parents entered a spookily empty Dulles International Airport in late March and flew to a similarly vacant Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. They waited a day in a hotel because of rain and found out they couldn’t use two different practice fields before discovering one in Cumming, Georgia. Even that required some negotiation.
“We were on the field, cops were telling us to get off,” Polk said. “I’m thankful that they gave us time to get it done, or I’d have had nothing.”
Polk ended up running a 4.28, a blazing time. Having Herock clock it and tape it provides credibility to the NFL, as Herock said he shot the video in a way that teams can time the run themselves. (His son, Shaun, is a Cleveland Browns scout and said he timed it at 4.3 off video, which is still extremely fast.)
Check out JMU WR/KR Brandon “Big Play” Polk running a 4.28 40 verified time in front of former Falcons GM Ken Herock @TheKidd603 ⚡️⚡️⚡️ pic.twitter.com/gHjGjATZq6
— Ed Wasielewski (@ed_waz) April 10, 2020
Later that day after the video was distributed to NFL teams, the Tennessee Titans called Polk.
“I don’t know exactly how much [we paid Herock],” Polk said, “but it was worth every penny.”
Polk’s risky journey amid the COVID-19 pandemic is emblematic of the desperation of fringe prospects who couldn’t meet with teams at their facilities or do individual workouts. For the late bloomers, the underrated and small-school players who need a visibility boost, the shutdowns of the pandemic have dimmed their NFL chances and forced them to boost their ingenuity.
“I think there’s a lot of kids like [Polk] that will get overlooked right now,” Herock said. “It’ll all come out in the end, if they’re good players.”
The problem with unofficial videos
Former Memphis offensive lineman Scottie Dill sent out a virtual pro day video that his father filmed to all 32 NFL teams. Dill has some intriguing measurables, as he’s 6-8 and gained nearly 30 pounds since his season ended to weigh in at 320. (When Dill spoke to Yahoo Sports this week, he was on his way to refill two propane tanks because he’d grilled so many steaks.)
When his pro day got canceled, he picked the brain of his agent, Jimmy Sexton of CAA, and some of his father’s friends who are NFL coaches about what the league would want to see. Scott Dill played 10 seasons in the NFL and helped his son get in touch with Baltimore Ravens line coach Joe D’Alessandris and Browns assistant line coach Scott Peters for advice.
The tips included specific drills to showcase flexibility, footwork and hand punches. Dill hoisted 225 pounds 35 times and said he’s also taken up long-snapping with the hopes of becoming a backup long snapper to help his roster versatility.
“Crazy times and unexpected,” Dill said of the necessity to have an impromptu pro day. “I wish we could have had our pro day and scouts could have seen me in person. We have to make the most out of what we got. Luckily, I got those videos before everything got shut down.”
Scouts have been inundated with videos like the ones Polk and Dill put together. Many aren’t verified by former scouts or general managers, which puts the scouts in an awkward position. One NFL area scout told Yahoo Sports that he has received about 30 such videos, including about eight that were shot on iPhones. The results are greeted with skepticism.
“I don’t think the scouts are going by the timing numbers,” the scout said. “Guys who run 4.59 at the combine all of a sudden can’t go 4.3. That doesn’t happen.”
An NFL national scout told Yahoo Sports that his franchise essentially instructed the scouting staff to not put a ton of stock in the videos. Some nuances are missed, like when measuring a player’s arm before the vertical jump, if the elbow is bent the measurement is inaccurate. If a player’s hand is a half-yard in front of him before he runs the 40-yard dash, that’s a time NFL scouts wouldn’t use as valid.
The information void
For scouts, the information void — everything from heights and weights to medical records — will reverberate through the league for years. Every team keeps a database of every player, and this means a lack of baseline information. Some teams rely on an algorithm of compiled data to help them sign undrafted players, which won’t be available this year.
“You’re going to take a lot more football players than specimens,” the NFL national scout said.
Not having medical data will also hurt the players who didn’t go to the combine. Typically, teams have players in on so-called 30 visits and can put them through a medical examination, but those visits didn’t happen this year. It will be interesting to see if teams trend toward combine players in the later rounds or pick players without verified medical history.
“At the end of the day, it’s an investment,” Shelton said. “You don’t want to buy a brand-new Cadillac and find out there’s no engine in it.”
For some players, the environment for their virtual pro days wasn’t ideal. Temple wide receiver Isaiah Wright arranged with his Connecticut high school, Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford, to use its field on March 31. It was a brisk 44 degrees, which led to Wright heading to the field an hour early to stretch and warm up in the chilly conditions before running a 4.58.
He’s heard from more than 20 NFL teams thanks to his productive career at Temple and said he can’t complain about the circumstances.
“All I can do is continue to work hard and see what pays off,” he said. “I’m humbled and grateful to have this opportunity.”
FIU corner Ike Brown was amid a heavy leg workout day — hill sprints followed by lifting — when he was told to drive three hours across the state of Florida for a pro day the following day. Shelton put him through a workout, which included a 4.46 40-yard dash, which Brown said was a tick slow because his legs weren’t fresh. He hopes the scouts judge him off film from games like FIU’s upset win over Miami this season.
“There’s a little anxiousness, but never nervous,” Brown said. “Just anxious to see where my future lies. I’m excited to find out wherever it does. I’m blessed to be in this position and to experience this has been amazing. I’m ready to get to work.”
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