The 2022 college football season is the next crucial milestone in the 2023 NFL Draft’s evaluation period. Looking ahead to April’s draft, we sat down with Eric Galko, Director of the Shrine Bowl, to learn about their processes.
2023 NFL Draft Scout Talk: Week 0
College football is back. Week 0 is already in the books, and Week 1 is upon us. This time comes every year — the time where CFB fans and draft junkies rediscover the sport’s biggest stars. But for Eric Galko and the Shrine Bowl scouting staff, the discovery process is already done. They’re on to the next step, a step marked by the start of the new season.
“What’s really important for our staff, coming into the year, is knowing these guys in the preseason. So I harp on our entire staff: You should not be starting Week 0 or Week 1. Figuring out how a guy moves athletically, strengths and weaknesses — that’s what the preseason is for. If you’re restarting by Week 0 or Week 1, you’re already way behind. We take a lot of time in saying: ‘Hey, what exactly are we looking at?'”
Knowing what you see sounds like a simple task. But as the age-old history of the NFL draft has told us, looks can be deceiving. The margin of error for Galko, who has to put together a team of 130 rising prospects for the next Shrine Bowl showcase in early 2023, is slim. And time is of the essence. Thus, a schedule has to be maintained. That schedule makes it clear. Preseason is for discovery. The season, meanwhile, is for re-evaluation.
Already after Week 0, Galko has an example to draw from: Calvin Tyler Jr., running back out of Utah State.
“I read [Tyler’s] report before watching the game, so I know who Tyler is,” Galko explained on a call with PFN. “What I learned from that game was that Tyler — as expected, but more than I had thought — gives incredible effort. I did not expect, when I read the report, that he would be such a high-effort blocker in the run and pass game. His ability to use his hands, to escape tackles and get upfield. So I was noticing those small things because I already know what Tyler is. And that’s what our staff does.”
That’s the name of the game for the Shrine Bowl. Not just acquiring knowledge, but establishing impressions of players and building on those impressions with added game film. Everything has to build forward, because eventually, the evaluation ends, and the decisions begin.
“We’re going to invite players in October and November, so we don’t have time to re-learn 3,000, 4,000 players in the country and find the best 130. We’ve gotta know those guys in advance.”
Week 0 opens a window into the Shrine Bowl’s process of evaluation
There’s a distinct undertone of thoroughness in Galko’s work, and his words. It’s an attention to detail that’s no doubt helped the Shrine Bowl grow into what it is now. But at the same time, that kind of detail is necessary to sustain what’s been built. For Galko and the Shrine Bowl, however, it’s not simply a tool for survival. It’s a habit of nature. A mode of operation.
Ask about a specific prospect, and you’ll not only get a wealth of knowledge about that prospect, but also a lesson about scouting itself. That much is clear from the start, when asking Galko about his initial takeaways from the Week 1 action. A conversation on Stephen F. Austin prospects BJ Thompson and Xavier Gipson turned into a discussion about how to view strength of competition within a scouting lens.
Level of competition matters most when prospects are playing up
During the early weeks, Galko likes to get a look at FCS squads. It’s the time of year where many FCS teams go up against FBS and even Power Five opponents. While the scouting process runs year-round for every player, some FCS prospects see their toughest tests come within this window.
Galko makes clear that he’s not a fan of penalizing players at small schools for their competition level. To Galko, there’s a range of variability. Success may be more attainable for prospects against FCS opponents, as opposed to SEC ones. But no matter what, there are translatable football situations that arise and allow for proper evaluation.
For Galko, the most important caveat of competition comes when FCS teams play up. When it’s a David and Goliath situation, who stands out and makes an impact? In the words of Galko himself, “who steps up?” For Galko, one prospect from the 2022 NFL Draft cycle comes to mind as a perfect example.
“Decobie Durant basically cashed his invite to the Shrine Bowl in Week 1 against Clemson when he had two interceptions and played his ass off that whole game,” Galko said of the South Carolina State product. “After that game, I’m like ‘hey, this kid’s really gotta screw something up to not be invited.’ He ended up being a top senior, ended up being a fourth-round pick to the Rams.
“When you’re an FCS kid, you know those FBS games matter. Everyone does. To play well and to make big-time plays that are not just great situational plays — it matters. Durant, for example — his second interception in the Clemson game was a jump-ball, contested, in traffic. That was a high-pressure, NFL-level play that he made. And not only was it great, because people in the media saw it, but because that was his one big game of the year for most of the season.”
Regardless of competition, prospects who dictate schemes show promise
As ideal as it would be for each FCS team to have a chance against the FBS gridiron, not every prospect gets that opportunity. But even with level of competition notwithstanding, Galko says there’s another indicator open to observation: Whether or not a prospect passively impacts the opposing team’s scheme, with his mere presence. That’s something Galko noticed in Week 0 with Gipson and Thompson from SFA.
“I wanted to watch BJ Thompson and Xavier Gipson,” he said. “That was important. They’re both, in our grades, draft picks. Gipson is an outstandingly quick, twitchy athlete — with the ball in his hands and as a receiver. Had a great double-move for a touchdown. Thompson, meanwhile, is an A, A+ athlete.”
One thing that impressed Galko, beyond the individual play of Gipson and Thompson, was how Jacksonville State actively schemed against them, and the respect that scheming showed for the two players. It’s not the end-all, be-all, but how a prospect impacts a scheme, and the degree to which he impacts that scheme, does matter. Because it can be a precursor for his impact in the NFL.
“You see Jacksonville State roll out right or roll out left opposite [Thompson] quite a bit,” Galko elaborated. “Using the quick game when they have one offensive tackle on him. Having the quarterback do quick steps as opposed to going up, because they know BJ’s best when he’s working on the perimeter. His counter rush inside, however — not quite there. So the A-gap will be more protected than the C-gap.”
It’s the same for Gipson. Stack coverages, safeties over top, preventing Gipson from getting free too often. In the words of Galko, “when you see other teams scheming for that, that should be a little bit of a tell.”
There’s still room for both Thompson and Gipson to improve. Thompson, in particular, needs to add more weight to his frame and improve his pad level if he wants to maximize his length on bull rushes and speed-to-power conversion. But on offense and defense, Galko says that players who can naturally compress space for the opposition with their physical tools — like Gipson and Thompson — can be very valuable in the modern NFL.
Nebraska vs. Northwestern a showcase of natural talent
The headlining game of the Week 0 slate was Nebraska vs. Northwestern. Though it wasn’t quite a matchup of Big Ten blue bloods, it was a housing contest for 11 Shrine Bowl 1000 prospects — as well as several others who made their mark.
Galko was excited to watch Nebraska WR Trey Palmer heading into the action. And Palmer was able to carve out a role against the Wildcats with his natural talent. But the eyes soon turned to the unit he was facing — the Northwestern secondary. Galko was very complimentary of the entire unit, but spent the most time talking about breakout star Cameron Mitchell.
Cameron Mitchell making it look easy on film
Mitchell was the MVP of Northwestern’s defensive performance in Week 0, notching a pick and two pass deflections in coverage. Mitchell helped make Casey Thompson uncomfortable all game long, but for Galko, the interception was his defining moment.
“His interception was a great example of who he is,” Galko said of Mitchell. “He was patient, he’s got the hip fluidity to go across the field on those delayed post routes. He plays with great knee bend, despite being a bit taller. Really controlled, well-balanced. Makes plays on the ball. He baited the QB there at a very impressive level. I always appreciate when guys are making plays in the air. He caught it like a receiver. He was in such good position. And that shows that, even if he didn’t pick that pass off, he would’ve knocked the ball away.
“I always tell our staff: ‘When someone makes a play look easy, notice that.’ And he made that play look easy. He was extremely balanced, and if you watch the play again, he’s in control that whole route. Based on his backpedal, his hip turn, and his adjustments, he was begging for the QB to throw that pass.”
For Galko, “making it look easy” isn’t an instinctive trait. Rather, it’s an athletic trait. There are so many different muscle reactions happening on every given play, that the athletes who can autonomously flow through those reactions with little delay can be truly special.
“If you have a cornerback or an offensive tackle, and they’re making things look easy at the collegiate level, it’s probably because they’re pretty athletically gifted,” Galko extrapolated. “That balance, that control. They might not be an elite tester, but balance and body control are as important traits as speed for almost every position.”
That kind of balance and control is something that former Northwestern CB Greg Newsome was lauded for, before being selected by the Cleveland Browns in Round 1 of the 2021 NFL Draft. Early on, it seems to be a trait that Mitchell shares.
Natural talent a necessity at defender positions
Making it look easy, in a vacuum, is a valuable trait for any prospect. But Galko mentions two specific positions when using that phraseology — cornerback and offensive line. Why those two?
Galko refers to those positions as defender positions, as opposed to creator positions like wide receiver and edge rusher. If you’re a WR or an EDGE, you’re trying to create space, or create pressure. If you’re an OT, you’re defending your QB from pressure. If you’re a CB, you’re preventing a WR from creating space.
That’s why, especially at CB and OT, having the natural athletic instincts to “make it look easy” can be so important. Working backward, things happen fast. You have to process fast. Your muscles have to react even faster. And one mistake can mean a move down the depth chart.
As it turns out, making it look easy doesn’t come so easily to every player. In fact, one could argue there’s an overall dearth of natural talent and depth at both tackle and cornerback in the NFL. That same struggle between supply and demand impacts the Shrine Bowl each draft cycle.
Evaluating offensive linemen for the Shrine Bowl
Everyone gets drawn to the athletes who produce elite testing numbers at offensive tackle. But according to Galko, it can be very difficult to develop special athletes into sound football players. That sentiment rings true with a quick glance at the NFL draft’s first-round history. Too many teams have gotten burned by banking on traits, then failing to develop. Galko keeps that in mind when considering linemen for the Shrine Bowl.
“It’s much easier to go for the guys who are really technically sound, because at offensive line, if you’re perfect technique-wise, you’ll win more reps than if you’re a freak athlete.”
Nevertheless, Galko doesn’t turn away over-reliant athletes at offensive tackle. Galko’s priority is balance, and that’s something that’s reflected on past rosters. From the most recent 2022 NFL Draft cycle, Galko uses UDFA Obinna Eze and fifth-round pick Austin Deculus as examples. Eze was still learning football while Deculus had an abundance of multi-positional experience and natural ability.
To Galko, neither mold is necessarily better than the other — you have to look at them through their own lens.
“They’re very different guys,” Galko explained. “For guys like Austin Deculus — a guy who’s very safe, has played multiple different spots, efficient — does he have the right body type, enough length, enough athleticism to rise to the level of a draft pick, a guy who enters the rotation and eventually starts? In Obinna Eze’s case, it’s ‘is he getting better every year?'”
There’s always risk involved with considering traits-heavy prospects like Eze, who perhaps lack the necessary refinement. But according to Galko, there are ways to categorize those kinds of players, so that the risks you take are calculated ones.
“We always tell our staff to ask: Are you raw, or are you under-developed? If you’re raw, it means you have a good reason to not be a finished product yet. You’re new to football, you’re a first-year starter. You have a reason to be not there yet. Under-developed means you’ve had every opportunity, and you’re just not a good player. You’re a good athlete who never put it together. I think not taking the guys who are under-developed is really important to us.”
When looking at players who need further development, you have to ask yourself: Are they raw, or are they under-developed? They may fall into the same bucket on the surface, but there’s a difference. With raw athletes, you can see progression and project further improvement. With under-developed athletes, there’s a sense of stagnation that settles in, when consistent opportunities yield minimal results.
The Shrine Bowl isn’t averse to taking a chance on tools-rich prospects. But when they do, they make sure there’s a reason a prospect still relies mainly on his tools. Those are the prospects you can project growth more easily for.
Quarterback evaluation and isolating NFL plays
It wouldn’t be 2023 NFL Draft scout talk without a section on quarterbacks. Galko is partial to quarterbacks, in fact — he watched the performances of Austin Reed, Jordan Travis, and others in Week 0. And ahead of Week 1, excitement is building for Shrine Bowl 1000 passers like Will Levis, Hendon Hooker, and Jake Haener.
Quarterback evaluation can be a bittersweet endeavor, but Galko approaches it with optimism. While acknowledging how difficult it can be, Galko is proud of the work the Shrine Bowl has done at the position in the past. He cites Miami Dolphins QB Skylar Thompson as a source of confidence.
“Production-wise, I’m not sure a lot of people would have loved Skylar Thompson. But we did. Thompson had all those traits, and Thompson was a classic guy for us where, you watch the tape and you see five or six really impressive throws from different scouting standpoints.”
Those five or six throws aren’t just any throws. In a modern football landscape where quarterbacks can dish out 40 passes a game, there are times where less than a quarter of those passes are actual NFL throws that require fully translatable skills. Galko makes a point, to himself and to his staff, to key in on those NFL throws, and extrapolate from there whether a prospect has next-level ability.
“The key for us, in terms of QB evaluating, is isolation of plays. We try to throw out as many plays for QBs, using data analytics, as well as our eyes. When our staff sees an RPO throw, forget that play even happened. That’s one way we’ve found success — being able to isolate those throws correctly, and just watch NFL-style throws that are really going to be differentiators. You watch those in succession and watch those more intently, and you’ll pick up if it’s a lucky play, or if it’s a trend.”
As for what constitutes an NFL throw, that depends on the situation. Maybe it’s a multi-read throw. Maybe it’s a throw with 5+ rushers or a throw where the QB has to improvise or anticipate coverage windows downfield. The common denominator is that those throws place more pressure on the QB’s shoulders to dictate the play and make something happen. If he can do that, it’s a good indicator of what can be.
Time is limited, but the attention to detail can’t be
Galko and the Shrine Bowl staff only have so long before they need to make decisions on prospects. But that pressure to get work done doesn’t mean it’s okay to gloss over details. Ultimately, every little detail matters when deciding whether or not a player is worthy of a Shrine Bowl invite. And the process — even down to the grading scale — covers every possible combination.
“Our scale runs from fringe, second-tier league prospect, to NFL Hall of Famer,” Galko said. “It’s a wide grading scale that our staff grades on. Today, we talked about some players who went from a minicamp grade to a fringe NFL roster player. That’s about a 0.5 difference on the grading scale, and we talked for 10 minutes about that one player. Because that 0.5 matters to us. If he goes up 0.5 again, then he’s draftable. 0.5 again, and then he’s a Shrine Bowl invite.”
The Shrine Bowl staff has a system and a flow in place for grade changes mid-season. And if there’s a reason to say “yes” to a prospect, they make sure they have it documented. Obviously, some prospects need more tape before a decision can be finalized. But more than anything, Galko emphasizes confidence in one’s evaluation.
“Don’t wait to make the right decision.”
He’s done this long enough, and has enough receipts, to know what a right decision is. And soon enough, many more decisions will be on the horizon. Just as they always are, the Shrine Bowl staff is prepared.