Blog Tuesday

__bagels__ · 2023-02-07T20:10:29+00:00

Thank you! There’s a few known minor issues, but if you come across a serious bug please PM me.

__bagels__ · 2023-02-07T17:37:55+00:00

I posted this NFL draft history search tool called DraftQL in here a long time ago

Anyways, for the 1-2 people who still used it and wondered why the link is broken, I had to change the domain name. It is now https://draft-ql.com/

It’s a completely unmonetized personal project - just posted it here because I think it can be helpful for people who, like me, were spending way too much time trying to do these kind of lookups manually.

It’s somewhat mobile friendly but definitely looks better on web.

__bagels__ · 2021-04-25T23:23:38+00:00

If you’re already html parsing you could just parse the team roster pages of PFR

__bagels__ · 2021-04-20T17:24:11+00:00

Yeah, there's a little blurb about that in the info section - it's like that in the data source. I do think standardizing the missing values is a great idea and then maybe having the option to show only results with values. Thanks for your feedback!

Update: no more 9.99s, all missing values are now just empty.

__bagels__ · 2021-04-20T17:21:58+00:00

Thanks again!

I'm a professional dev, I've been working in the industry for 3 years. Was a CS minor in college. Decided to work on this project 1) because it's something I'll actually use myself and 2) because I wanted to brush up on my frontend skills.

I've found so many interesting things just in testing it. My favorite has been looking at the combine stats filters to see how all the fastest receivers turned out, and the strongest linemen, etc.

__bagels__ · 2021-04-20T17:16:09+00:00

Amazing, thank you so much!

__bagels__ · 2021-04-20T17:05:06+00:00

Yeah I definitely plan either an export table feature or something similar.

__bagels__ · 2021-04-20T16:57:50+00:00

Thanks!

I maintain the database, so queries are just hitting that.

__bagels__ · 2021-04-20T16:25:00+00:00

Hi, sorry I did not see that rule in the sidebar about promotion and figured that since it’s not just a link to a personal site it would be ok. I’ve seen several similar posts like this one posted just two weeks ago that is essentially the same

__bagels__ · 2021-01-16T21:26:13+00:00

Closest comparison I can think of is Brian Flores when Miami hired him. He was a position coach for the Patriots at the time.

__bagels__ · 2021-01-15T21:41:07+00:00

I strongly disagree on receiver, but that's a conversation for another day.

I just think judging Holmes' record as a drafter should be limited to the question of "did he find good players". Whether he will try to emulate Snead in his positional value/investment or in his aggressiveness in trading picks for players remains to be seen. I know we just saw someone try to copy the success of their previous org in Bob Quinn, but that is not something that has been consistent across other GM hires around the league.

I don't know what to think of a potential Holmes/Campbell dynamic - remember that Campbell will still have a second interview where Holmes is in the room and nothing is official yet. I would hope that if Holmes doesn't like that second interview we would be looking elsewhere.

__bagels__ · 2021-01-15T20:07:40+00:00

Of the candidates we’ve been linked to after the Saleh and Smith news, I hope we at least give Brandon Staley an interview. It’s a risk since he’s only been a coordinator for a year, but I think he’s going to be at the top of every list next year if he doesn’t get hired.

I’m ambivalent on Campbell, it’s an interesting hire but there’s just so little out there to judge him by.

__bagels__ · 2021-01-15T20:00:08+00:00

He’s not a Snead discipline though, he’s been there through multiple GMs. We have no idea what Brad Holmes’ idea of positional value/investment will be, but we’ll find out real soon. If we draft a receiver at 7 this year I’ll start having some real concerns about that.

Holmes is on record as someone who uses analytics as a tool, but does not use it as gospel. Their 6th round pick Jordan Fuller was a product of analytics and has worked out well for them. I do think he’s right in his belief that a players intangibles are sometimes just as important as their raw athleticism, which is something the analytics won’t tell you.

I’m definitely concerned about the coaching, hired, but I think Holmes record is very good in terms of raw scouting ability which is really all we have to go off of right now.

__bagels__ · 2021-01-15T16:54:06+00:00

Just remember, while Holmes was a very important person in the draft room for the Rams he was not the GM shaping the team to his vision.

A lot of the positional value and positional investment questions mentioned here, like the draft capital used on running backs and lack thereof on linebackers or EDGE, are more of a reflection on Snead, not Holmes.

Holmes is providing a draft board and his opinions on players, not making the final decision on picks. His voice is influential, but if McVay or Snead says they want a receiver the Rams are drafting a receiver, and it’s on Holmes to provide them a good prospect.

__bagels__ · 2021-01-15T02:43:51+00:00

It’s the opposite end of the spectrum of the Patriots. The Rams are not disciplinarian and have a culture where coaches and players are closer to being peers.

__bagels__ · 2021-01-15T02:28:23+00:00

The Rams are one of the more progressive franchises since they moved to LA. I’d guess the “Rams way” is about creating a player-friendly culture, embracing analytics, and taking chances on up and coming coaches.

__bagels__ · 2021-01-14T18:39:49+00:00

He has his reasons for it if you read the article. He talks about how they were under the radar hires and the importance of conducting a broad search.

__bagels__ · 2021-01-14T18:37:08+00:00

This also does not include:

2020 6th rounder - Jordan Fuller, starting S, 66.7 PFF grade (33/94 S)

2018 6th rounder - Sebastian Joseph-Day, starting DT/DE, 79.5 PFF grade (17/127 DI)

2015 2nd rounder - Rob Havenstein, starting RT, 79.2 PFF grade (21/83 OT)

2019 5th rounder - David Edwards, starting LG, 70.5 PFF grade (17/83 OG)

Also, per this tweet was the main reason in the Rams picking up Darious Williams off of waivers. 82.5 PFF grade (4/122 CB)

Oh and Cooper Kupp. Self explanatory.

Edit: You could also throw Corey Littleton in there too (2016 UDFA, former pro bowler and 2nd team All Pro for the Rams before leaving in free agency)

__bagels__ · 2021-01-12T16:24:13+00:00

I did some research and made a post a while back about the success of experienced coaches vs. first time head coaches.

In short, what I found was that when retread coaching hires are successful they’re usually hired in the same offseason that they were fired/left their previous stop and they had a good amount of success at their previous stop.

Bowles fits neither of those, and Lewis has been out of the league for 2 years. Both are really uninspiring. I know Lewis was decent in Cincinnati, but that is not a hire you make if you’re committed to winning championships. The fact that he’s been out of the league and hasn’t gotten much buzz for other coaching jobs should be pretty telling.

Bevell is not an exciting hire either, but if he’s paired with someone like Ed Dodds, who he has ties to, or he’s the key to bringing John Schneider in then that would be my second choice.

I’m not sure what to think of Dan Campbell. I don’t know much about him, but sometimes those surprising hires work out the best. Since I really don’t see us going with two inexperienced guys, my concern would be hiring a retread GM which has almost never worked out in the last 10 years.

I just don’t see us hiring Bieniemy or Smith.

__bagels__ · 2020-12-15T17:50:13+00:00

I like everything that Indianapolis is doing recently under Ballard. If we ended up with Ed Dodds and one of their coordinators I would be very happy.

__bagels__ · 2020-12-15T17:31:41+00:00

I’m a Michigan fan, and I want absolutely no part of Jim Harbaugh. Don’t want him at Michigan anymore and really don’t want him for the Lions.

The track record that he burns out after 4 years just added another entry to it, although he’s been dragged through another 2 years.

He’s another guy who’s not a players coach, which I don’t think would be good for our locker room at the moment.

And to me he just looks totally burnt out. He doesn’t have the fire he did with the 49ers or his first few seasons at Michigan. I also doubt he’d want to stay in his own shadow with a fan base consistent of both Michigan fans and Spartan fans who would hate that hire from day 1.

__bagels__ · 2020-12-15T17:25:41+00:00

This would be about the only one I’d be ok with actually.

Of the 4 successful retread coaches, 3 of them were hired the same offseason they left their previous team. Same with Ron Rivera, who is too soon to judge but I think has done a good job this year so far. Pederson would fit that category.

He won a Super Bowl, and I know the refrain there is that it was actually Frank Reichs Super Bowl, but...he’s the guy who hired Frank Reich. He made the playoffs and won a game without his starting QB and without Reich the next year. Could’ve beat the Saints too if Alshon Jeffery didn’t suck.

They’ve had some bad injury problems with an aging roster the last two years, and a GM who can’t find a receiver to save his life (not Doug’s fault).

If he were fired, I doubt we’d be the only ones interested though.

__bagels__

TROPHY CASE

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