01-17-2017, 08:34 PM
What are your plans for the Senior Bowl and the combine?
I'm your man on the ground in Mobile. So I'll be making the rounds with the front office and coaches, on the record and off. Hopefully run into some agents. Unfortunately since it is just me, I have to pick and choose where I go and who i spend time with. But I'll do the best I can.
Paul and I will both be at the Combine.
Can you give us some insight into who scouts the NFL free agents to target in the off season? When do they begin that process? Do they have someone dedicated to evaluate potential FAs during the season? Or is it something they start after the season ends? The coaches are just getting into evaluating the draft eligible players. Are they working on evaluating NFL FAs, also? Then communicates who they like to the front office? Or does the front office do the heavy lifting with the NFL FAs? If the coaches are traveling to college pro days to scout the draft eligible college players, who is in Cincinnati working out the NFL FAs? Sometimes it seems like there is a disconnect between the coaches and the front office when it comes to free agency.
The short answer is that the Bengals have a small staff. You can see it under their "team" tab on Bengals.com. Basically Duke Tobin and those scouts and other Bengals staff see the college and pro guys. The coaches spend 2 weeks self-evaluating, but are also being fed information on the upcoming draft class. They also get input on the unrestricted / restricted FAs, guys who could be cut, etc. It's a small staff, but one that works well together in handling it all. It sounds like a lot, but with DVD cutups, etc. it actually be parsed down pretty quickly.
When you say disconnect - is there someone you're referring to? They tend to focus on re-signing their own players, then doing plug-and-play type of stuff with guys like Hawk, Gilberry, Dansby, LaFell, etc.
Any insight on developing anonymous team sources. IMO, Adam Schefter is good at it. Is it trust? Is it network resources ($$$ for the story)? Combination of both?
One word on developing relationships: Time. You have to spend it. You have make room for it. Calls. Email. In person meetings. Just talking. Trust is earned over time. I've been fortunate that relationship-building is a skill of mine. I broke A.J. Green's contract extension in front of the national reporters five months into the job. From an airplane. I'll brag on myself a bit because local beat guys rarely get those this day in age. So they're feathers. We lose more than we win in that regard. Some of it is the mechanics of the sport. Agents like to go to the national guys because they can get favors on the back end. But in the end, all you can do is spend time, and hope it pays off.
Noticed any differences between team's approach to the media.
Not from 2015 to '16. Curious what happens in 2017 when longtime PR man Jack Brennan hangs 'em up. Hopefully it stays the same.
I'm your man on the ground in Mobile. So I'll be making the rounds with the front office and coaches, on the record and off. Hopefully run into some agents. Unfortunately since it is just me, I have to pick and choose where I go and who i spend time with. But I'll do the best I can.
Paul and I will both be at the Combine.
Can you give us some insight into who scouts the NFL free agents to target in the off season? When do they begin that process? Do they have someone dedicated to evaluate potential FAs during the season? Or is it something they start after the season ends? The coaches are just getting into evaluating the draft eligible players. Are they working on evaluating NFL FAs, also? Then communicates who they like to the front office? Or does the front office do the heavy lifting with the NFL FAs? If the coaches are traveling to college pro days to scout the draft eligible college players, who is in Cincinnati working out the NFL FAs? Sometimes it seems like there is a disconnect between the coaches and the front office when it comes to free agency.
The short answer is that the Bengals have a small staff. You can see it under their "team" tab on Bengals.com. Basically Duke Tobin and those scouts and other Bengals staff see the college and pro guys. The coaches spend 2 weeks self-evaluating, but are also being fed information on the upcoming draft class. They also get input on the unrestricted / restricted FAs, guys who could be cut, etc. It's a small staff, but one that works well together in handling it all. It sounds like a lot, but with DVD cutups, etc. it actually be parsed down pretty quickly.
When you say disconnect - is there someone you're referring to? They tend to focus on re-signing their own players, then doing plug-and-play type of stuff with guys like Hawk, Gilberry, Dansby, LaFell, etc.
Any insight on developing anonymous team sources. IMO, Adam Schefter is good at it. Is it trust? Is it network resources ($$$ for the story)? Combination of both?
One word on developing relationships: Time. You have to spend it. You have make room for it. Calls. Email. In person meetings. Just talking. Trust is earned over time. I've been fortunate that relationship-building is a skill of mine. I broke A.J. Green's contract extension in front of the national reporters five months into the job. From an airplane. I'll brag on myself a bit because local beat guys rarely get those this day in age. So they're feathers. We lose more than we win in that regard. Some of it is the mechanics of the sport. Agents like to go to the national guys because they can get favors on the back end. But in the end, all you can do is spend time, and hope it pays off.
Noticed any differences between team's approach to the media.
Not from 2015 to '16. Curious what happens in 2017 when longtime PR man Jack Brennan hangs 'em up. Hopefully it stays the same.
Beat writer for Cincinnati.com & The Enquirer. Follow along on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Periscope.
