Who Are Scouts, Inc?

According to this statement, ESPN's Scouts Inc. has "analysts and talent evaluators that watch games, break down film and use their extensive experience and contacts in their respective sports to provide the deepest and most detailed scouting reports available anywhere."

Well, that's just great. In theory.

The trouble is I've rarely read a Scouts Inc. article that wasn't full of misinformation. For example, tonight ESPN.com posted their in-depth off-season overview of the Seattle Seahawks.

As you know, I'm a (big) Seahawks fan and not a day goes by where I don't ponder what the Seahawks are lacking and how they can best address the situation. So it might not be entirely fair of me to take an article written by a national writer, or in this case, Keith Kidd, who spent 14 years working in NFL front offices, including "key roles in the personnel departments" for teams like Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots.

Keith writes: "WR Deion Branch is not a No.1 receiver, but he is Seattle's go-to-guy and should have a better season in 2007 now that he will have an offseason to get acclimated to the West Coast offense."

Mac responds: Yes and no. Deion Branch is not a No. 1 receiver and his numbers should improve in 2007 after a full off-season to familiarize himself with the offense, but he's not Seattle's "go-to-guy". Not as long as Darrell Jackson is on the roster.

Keith writes: "The Seahawks do have three key players who have not been re-signed and are still available. WR Bobby Engram has been a productive No. 3 receiver in their offense, while OC Robbie Tobeck and ROG Chris Gray have started a lot of games for the Seahawks over their careers."

Mac responds: Seattle re-signed Bobby Engram on Friday, but I can overlook this because I'm sure Mr. Kidd wrote this article in the middle of the week. But the inclusion of Robbie Tobeck in this group is troubling because he, well, retired. In January. Also, according to statements made by Seahawks top guy Tim Ruskell, the team is actively attempting to bring Chris Gray back for one more season.

Keith writes: "Tobeck began the 2006 season as the starter before getting injured and he it seems likely that he won't be back. Gray is 36 year old and also seems unlikely to return. As of today, Rob Sims (LOG), Chris Spencer (OC) and Ray Willis (ROG) are slated to be the starters. The Seahawks need some depth along the offensive line in case there players don't perform up to expectations."

Mac responds: Well, we know that Tobeck won't be back, because I mentioned above, he retired. Kidd mentions that Gray is unlikely to return, but as I also mentioned above, the team is attempting to bring him back for 2007. Kidd's insertion of Ray Willis to the starting right guard spot is beyond troubling.

First of all, Kidd omits the recently re-signed Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack in his article. Womack opened the 2006 season as the starting left guard, but once again, injuries opened the door for another player (Sims) to step in and lock down a starting job on the interior line.

Secondly, Ray Willis is a tackle. While tackles and guards can sometimes be interchangeable, I can't find any empirical data that suggests Ray Willis has ever played guard at any level. Moving him to guard now, after two full seasons in the NFL, wouldn't be unprecedented, but Willis is a natural tackle whose name has never been mentioned as a possibility at the guard position.

So why do I mention this? Well, I think it's important to clear up the rather obvious errors within this article published by "The Worldwide Leader". It's also important to point out that while this particular article is free, most articles featuring the Scouts Inc. "experts" require you to pony up the $40 annual subscription fee. So just because you think you're getting quality information for that fee, that may not always be the case.