[Rapoport] Gruden and Mayock sent all their scouts home one week before the draft. Belief is they didn't know who is trustworthy

[Lucky Colts Fan]

6 minutes ago, ColtsBlueFL said:

"Played pretty good for us," Brandt added, diplomatically, "but he wasn't Joe Montana."

 

 

6 minutes ago, ColtsBlueFL said:

I'm not so sure that wasn't a tactic to get other teams to bite on a player they really have no interest in so they can get another player to slide through.

 

The cloak-and-dagger stuff this time of year is so crazy.  I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out teams employ former CIA agents to help out.  Or the CIA utilizes NFL lifers as "consultants"...

[Narcosys]

On 4/19/2019 at 6:54 PM, stitches said:

 

From the looks of it, the colts don't mind.

[ColtsBlueFL]

2 minutes ago, Narcosys said:

From the looks of it, the colts don't mind.

 

Colts have been tight lipped about everything.  It appears they have a close net on potential 'leaks'.  From FA, to trades, to draft.  Still, it would not surprise me to hear the scouts not actually in the draft room until day 3 though.

[ColtsBlueFL]

I might not have really understood the whole story when I first chimed in, if what follows has any semblance of truth. There's more to this story, the take from the scouting side, which I've become privy to.  This take is likely going to ruffle some feathers, but it is not mine, but from one who was a scout, still has access and knows people, and who states they talked with Raiders personnel in the know.  I'm not direct quoting, but shortening it and often paraphrasing it without losing sight of the focus of the article.

 

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The head coach has to coach his coaches.  The GM has to scout his scouts, and coach them. GM's that were scouts get respect of the scouting staff.

Here is the Raiders scouts / draft saga.  C. Landry says teams do not send all of their scouts (10 or 11) home for the week. Yes, it's true some teams don't have the scouts in the draft room, just a handful of guys.  Raiders situation - Mike Mayock has no background in coaching or scouting. He got his information (and good info too) from inside trusted sources and rehashed it on TV.  True scouting is not just spotting and mentioning good traits, you have to be able to explain how a player exhibits those traits by examples, and place a numerical grade to it.  Like math where you have to show your work, so it is also in scouting. Detailed reports and a quantifiable grade. Now, some Raiders scouts had feathers ruffled that a 'TV guy', a media member, gets the GM job. Probably as a favor from ex media guy Jon Gruden.

 

As Raiders had draft meetings, there were thoughts that Mayock was lost in those meetings. He would comment about a guy, but couldn't properly defend it when discussions/objections came up. {we even saw in Colts productions teasers that Ballard wants opinions, even dissenting, but it has to be backed up... show your work. But don't be quiet, don't be a 'yes' man} So, they'd put on the tape and Mayock's assessments weren't backed up.

It is felt/known that Mayock watches film, and lots of it.  But it is also felt in the pro scouting community that he doesn't have training or knowledge on the full details to look for, or experience at it. He gleans traits, but cannot break it down in the depth necessary for a detailed scouting report.  Nobody (in those meetings) ever said anything directly about his lack of film room ability, but he was often embarrassed in film sessions (objections/rebuttals) and the scouting staff by and large felt he was clueless, or at the minimum improperly evaluating. And a TV scout is different than a real scout pervasiveness permeated the draft room meetings.

The building tension between the scouts and GM moved Mayock to remove them, and yes, to reduce the potential for leaks. But these scouts really already know who Gruden / Mayock like.  If there was any potential disloyalty, sending them home (if they are essentially fired) possibly poured more fuel on the fire. Keeping them in the building (but not in draft room/meetings would have been better stance.  They could keep tabs better, and other teams would view it as disloyal if those scouts tried to spill any beans, weakening their chance to land jobs at other teams if fully let go.

It is felt the Raiders will difficulty hiring 'good scouts' now (if those others are truly fired). And the GM doesn't have the knowledge or ability to 'improve' any of their new scouts they may have to hire; which may be less experienced and not as good as veteran scouts.

If these scouts were truly let go, (basically fired) they are more likely to spill the beans now (even though scouts contracts last through the draft), and other teams probably won't look at it as disloyalty, which they likely would have if the scouts were kept in the building and leaked info, even if excluded from any/all further draft proceedings.

Gruden controls it, and thoughts are he hired a GM to do his bidding. The scouts were Reggie McKenzie's. And it is thought it was Mayock himself that leaked the story of the scouts being sent home.  And those scouts were probably located and asked later, and possibly even confirmed the story.

 

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I remember the stories about Rapoport's news flash-

 

"On Friday, Rapoport reported that the Raiders new GM Mike Mayock and head coach Jon Gruden sent home their scouts for the weekend and through the lead-up to the draft. While Rapoport said some teams send their scouts home early, in the Raiders' case, the early dismissal is over concerns of trust.

"Mike Mayock does not know who he can trust with his draft secrets," Rapoport said. "He does not know who he can talk to, who he can kind of confide in. It's no surprise there's gonna be some significant turnover in the scouting department for the Raiders after the draft."

 

There hasn't been any media follow up on this since.

[JPFolks]

On 4/23/2019 at 3:37 PM, Lucky Colts Fan said:

 

 

 

The cloak-and-dagger stuff this time of year is so crazy.  I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out teams employ former CIA agents to help out.  Or the CIA utilizes NFL lifers as "consultants"...

I've heard about some actual cloak and dagger stuff that I can't share on a site like this.  It is anything but funny.  More bummer than anything.  

[Lucky Colts Fan]

1 minute ago, JPFolks said:

I've heard about some actual cloak and dagger stuff that I can't share on a site like this.  It is anything but funny.  More bummer than anything.  

 

Football related?