Any Matt Waldman fans on the Vent?

[Georgia Knight]

I've been a subscriber to his Rookie Scouting Portfolio for several years now, and I know he used to work at UGA and has spent a lot of time in Athens. Was wondering if anyone else here was familiar with his work as I'm wasting time browsing his 2025 guide. The amount of depth he has in there is pretty awesome.

Been a fan ever since he had Nick Chubb graded higher than Barkley coming out in the draft. For anyone who is a big dynasty fantasy guy, his guide is great for trying to find overlooked gems. He only does fantasy relevant positions, so no OL or D grades in there. He has no problem with planting some flags on unconventional takes, so his rankings tend to look very different than conventional draft guides.

For anyone interested, his Elevator Pitch for Dawg prospects:

Trevor Etienne RB11:

Trevor Etienne is the best running back in his family. His brother, Travis, has speed, receiving chops, and a determined running style. Trevor has those three qualities and more nuance and craft between the tackles.

Trevor reads leverage and sets up creases better. Although Trevor is also best-suited for gap plays, he is more adept at running Duo and Zone schemes at this stage of his career than Travis. Trevor has sudden deceleration, good lateral cuts, pace changes, and curvilinear speed to set up blocks and work away from unblocked defenders. He alters angles of pursuit well enough that he’s running through reaches and wraps instead of hits—if he’s getting hit at all.

At his size, Trevor is more momentum-based with his power than raw strength. Because he accelerates fast, he generates the power to run through contact, drag defenders, and even push them downfield – most of this happens in the second and third level of the defense.

Although a good receiver—and getting the ball into open space is how teams will want to use him—Trevor must clean up his attack. He has lapses with how best to attack targets based on their location. He catches most targets, but the sharper the details of a player’s game, the more bandwidth is available for him to take on new information – and rookies often suffer because of information overload.

Overall, Trevor has the skills to contribute immediately to a backfield as a change-of-pace runner and receiver as long as a team minimizes his blocking early on. There are things to clean up with his game, but he also has the athletic ability and talents as a runner to have an immediate impact in an offense.

There’s some boom-bust to his immediate prospects but long-term, he should fare well as a committee back with starter production thanks to his versatility. If D’Andre Swift has had the success he’s had, Etienne offers more as a runner and similar as a receiver

Arian Smith: WR36

If Smith’s hands were more reliable, he’d have a borderline starter grade. The potential good news is that Smith only has one issue with his technique and that’s his hands get too wide at the point of attack when he extends his arms to the ball.

This leads to clap-attacks where Smith either fights the ball or the ball flies between his hands and he completely misses the target. When Smith’s hands are close enough to win the ball, he’s capable of acrobatic adjustments high, low, away from his frame, and against tight coverage and hits.

Smith is a frustrating player for fans because they see the game-changer he can be when things are going right. He’s a breakaway speedster with vision, agility, and functional power for his size.

Unfortunately, when a receiver drops a deep pass, especially when they are open or nearly make tough play that should have been caught, the disappointment factor for fans has more psychological gravity than dropping most short and intermediate targets. My theory: Most deep passes can change the game while few short and intermediate targets have that gravitas.

So what’s the potential good news, Matt? Because Smith only has one issue with his hands, it should be easier for him to correct it. He doesn’t have a tracking problem. His choices of how to attack the ball are sound. And focus drops don’t plague his game.

Smith will need to identify this problem and do the daily work until it’s ingrained into his game. This could take a while and the discipline and patience required is easier said than done—especially for a young player with all the changes that an NFL contract will bring to his life.

If Smith can do it, he can become a viable starter with big-play upside. His route skills aren’t top-notch, but he’ll be competent enough for what a team requires of him and most of what he has to learn doesn’t require him unlearning bad habits.

Because Smith offers value as a return specialist and YAC receiver in space, he’s a good investment for an NFL team based on what he can offer them right now.

Dominic Lovett WR45:

Lovett is a short-area receiver with the athletic ability and burgeoning technical skills as a route runner to become much more. Lovett must expand his route game to include more breaks with optimal technique and improve his plan of attack as a boundary receiver against man-to-man coverage.

Lovett’s greatest potential obstacle to playing time is his hands. When forced to extend his arms away from his frame, he’s prone to clap-attacking targets. Lovett also lacks skill with earning advantageous position against defenders in contested scenarios.

Lovett must also become wiser as a decision-maker with the ball in his hands. Too often, he tries one move too many and misses opportunities to move the chains for his offense.

There are players ranked below Lovett with higher ceilings—and more attainable ones. Still, Lovett could find a role with anNFL team and have enough indirect impact that he builds a career.