You cannot take a person to a place you have not been yourself. Therefore, if you want to raise up leaders in your church or organization, you need people who have been there before – People who have built teams, made hard decisions, created strategy, leveraged resources, persevered and had the character needed to have sustained success.
In short, it takes leaders to raise up other leaders in your church and organization.
This is why I want to point you to one of the smartest leaders you can read on Twitter, Louis Riddick of ESPN. Riddick if a former NFL player, scout and Director of Pro Personnel for the Philadelphia Eagles. Therefore, he has a unique perspective on talent acquisition.
As the NFL Draft approaches, I want to provide you 75 leadership posts from Riddick’s Twitter account over the last 30 days. As you will read, he knows communicates information you will get nowhere else in a concise and descriptively compelling fashion. If it takes a leader to raise up another leader, the following are just 11 of the qualities we learn Riddick looks for in a player:
- Organizational Fit
- Functional Intelligence
- Motivation
- Current Production
- Competitive Toughness/Resiliency
- Ability To Execute Under Pressue
- Chemistry With Team
- Good Decision-Making
- Minimizes Risk
- Hard Workers
- Identify And Attack Personal Weaknesses
If you want to read what leadership intelligence looks like, then check out 75 of Riddick’s tweets from the last month:
April 12th
- “Tier 2 QB’s” looking more like successful NFL projections than “Tier 1” from what I am seeing/hearing.
- Late game LSU vs ‘Bama’13, LSU had to throw/were 1-dimensional & ‘Bama brought variety of pressures, Mettenberger decision making suffered.
- Not much not to like about how Aaron Murray plays the QB position. FL game in’12 great example of his resiliency, as was Auburn ’13.
April 11th
- Tape does not “lie” so to speak, but it never tells the whole story by itself alone, not even close.
- Test-taking intelligence is never a bad thing as far as I am concerned, but it is the application on the field that matters.
- Have played with/against many book smart intelligent guys who crumbled under pressure and played less than intelligently under duress.
- 3 step frm under OC, catch & release quick game frm gun, 5/7 step frm under OC, sprint/boot action, pocket navigation, 3-level accuracy…courage under pressure, movement in pocket, situational execution, multiple pro-style offense…..Aaron Murray, Georgia.
April 10th
- The context in which QB evaluations are talked about is so vague @ this point that the suggested draft day values have little correlation.
- Putting “round” grades on players is a waste of time anyway. The emphasis needs to be on evaluating players “within a specific context”.
- Rounds only matter on draft day, & when that day comes, the selection process is so affected by emotion, that it takes on a life of its own.
April 9th
- Biggest challenge during top 30 pre-draft visit process is getting kids to trust you so they show as much of their real self as possible.
- Been saying….there is something special brewing in Jacksonville w/
#Jaguars. They get it. Spend 30 minutes actually talking to someone on the#Jaguars staff and getting your mind around how they think about player development….and then repeat with multiple other teams. Then you will understand what “it” is. - Has to be better at converting contested catches.
April 8th
- There is no “secret” 2 separating a cluster of similarly graded players like this draft has. Secret is what u do w/them after u have them.
- Pointed out to me…”How many times does Manziel have what looks to be his first read available BUT still won’t deliver the ball, and why?”
- Evaluate what really matters. Not what is easiest to quantify.
April 7th
- Young players that identify weaknesses in their game and attack them stick out to me. Great sign going forward.
- New HC for NFL team = head start for off-season conditioning program “should” = near 100% 1st day attendance.
#1stimpressionsmatter
April 5th
- Good “teams” are under-appreciated until it is those same good teams that rise to the occasion when it matters the most.
April 4th
- Coaches r largely responsible 4 driving the train when it comes 2 draft decisions at QB, especially those that have real credibility. Their expertise is essential. They look far beyond “arm talent”. Why I say that it is a must that you get exposure to their way of thinking.
- Who is E.J’s sounding board, his go-to guy in the meeting room other than the coach, who can really help him with his development?
- New coach, lose the respect of the staff and players in the locker room=you are on your way out the door as soon as they can make it happen.
April 3rd
- “2nd-tier” QB’s in ’14 draft, if there is such a thing, generating as much/more intrigue internally than those QB’s receiving more publicity
- Deep drafts w/many prospects grouped together from a value perspective make the emphasis on functional scheme fit/program fit the priority.
- From those who played with/against LT: Forget how gifted of an athlete he was; His football intellect & competitiveness was transcendent. he knew what was going to happen before it would happen. Combined with his physical gifts, he was unstoppable.
March 31st
- At some point in your career u r able 2 realize that the best fit 4 u is not always the place willing to pay you the most $..
#NFLFreeAgency
March 28th
- Hardest thing to obtain when making veteran player acquisitions is accurate information.
- Ideal situation = when your best players are also your best character guys/best workers. When they aren’t, roster-avalanche can hit at any moment.
March 27th
- The volume in terms of fundamentals, recall, functional execution, etc. for non-pro-style QB’s to learn once they get to the
#NFL is huge. - Have had QB coaches/ex pro QBs explain that getting a QB’s footwork, under duress, to be “2nd nature” is not close to being a given.
- 65.3% cmp and 8.3yds/att from the pocket for Russell Wilson in ’13. Only Philly as a team, Rivers, and P. Manning had better yds/att.
- Russell gets pushed down to 3rd rd, and there are prospects in this class w/o the same context being pushed up into the top 10.
#Backwards
March 26th
- “Doing the best deals within the market place that minimize risk to the club.” Interesting how differently teams view this ideology.
- “There is a difference between diagramming plays/concepts and installing/teaching the game.”
- Where/by who this class of ’14 QBs are drafted/ coached will largely determine their relative success/failure more than anything else.
March 25th
- Elway mentioning the type of competitive “mentality” of the new players signed as UFA’s very telling.
- Mornhinweg the best I have been around at designing the downfield passing game. Has great feel for what “stresses” secondary defenders.
March 24th
- Tends to be a natural variance between coaching & scouting evaluations w/draft prospects, particularly at QB.
- The reason Y Foles is an Eagle is because of coaching evaluation. Andy Reid’s evaluation.Watch film/listen 2 Andy coach QB’s, u see why. Bill Walsh felt the same way when it came to the role of coaches in the QB eval. process.
- There reaches a point when players just are who they are, and no “change of scenery, fresh start’ etc” is going to make a difference.
- You don’t put enough time and effort into player “makeup” as it pertains to evaluation, you are missing more than 1/2 of the point.
- You don’t downgrade a prospect for being a good player on a team with other good players. Makes no sense.
March 23rd
- 1.Good decision making. 2.Timing/accuracy within offenses that are being run at NFL level is what those who have played/coached QB in NFL…have told me they want to see.
- I keep coming back to that when watching this group of ’14 QB’s …how they play the position, like it’s played in NFL under duress.
- Examine Zuttah’s game at OC, you see exactly why he is ideal for Kubiak’s scheme. Will struggle 1 on 1 vs power in pass pro, but VG trade.
- Makes sense philosophically, but only philosophically (if that makes sense).
March 22nd
- Always more that is going on behind closed doors of an
#NFL franchise than you can possibly imagine – good and bad. - Team building is very delicate. Winning/losing not just a talent thing. Chemistry/camaraderie not as “fun” to talk about, but equally impt.
March 21st
- Because you are a veteran and happen to play QB does not automatically equal veteran leader…
- When I see a QB take a vicious hit in a scramble, then the very next play convert on 3rd down thru the air, it tells me 2 things….He has competitive toughness, and the coaching staff believes in his ability to execute when he is not “right”. Big indicator for me.
- Vick will walk in the door knowing Marty’s version of the West Coast Off. better than anyone in that locker room. Huge positive.
March 20th
- Finally getting to watch QB Tom Savage closely, and as some have told me, he makes some serious big-time throws. This should be fun..Considering circumstances – background, play history, character, scheme, talent played with….Savage should be getting much more attention. No QB in this draft class making the 18-22yd opposite “college” hash corner and comeback throws like Savage can. Mad I am late watching him.
- How many QB’s in this draft can work from under OC, get thru 3 progressions play side, then come backside to his 4th read & complete it?
March 19th
- Workouts either confirm game action..both good and bad, or cause you to continue evaluation. Not do a 180 degree turn.
- Their “rings” and past performance value means nothing. At all.
March 18th
- Two keys 4 personnel depts this time of year: 1: Current real-time data/evaluation entry from scouts @ pro days. 2. Knowing more about less not less about more. Have to have your “eyes” on the right guys and not chasing ghosts all over the country.
- Coaches on the road at Pro Days play crucial role this time of year as well. Have to be sent to the “right” places.
- Competitiveness issues very frustrating when watching him play. Should be so much better than he is. Needs strong group around him.
- Can’t see signing a bunch of 29+/30+ veteran UFA’s without anyone currently in the development pipeline ending well.
- 50% hit rate in the draft won’t be close to being good enough.
March 16th
- Can’t think of too many things more overrated in the pre-draft scouting process than a scripted, controlled QB workout. Largely a waste of time as far as I am concerned.
March 15th
- It’s about 1 thing w/Peppers for me. Is he motivated to play at a high level anymore.
- NFL front offices apparently seeing Jared Allen’s past vs future performance value as being much different.
- The team is the side assuming risk in this particular situation when it comes 2 having a plan 4 utilization/reducing risk of it not working.
- A lot of new high priced/high profile parts that will need to be integrated w/
#Broncos in ’14. A lot of risk involved.
March 14th
- Leadership matters in certain positions down the middle of the field.
- Emmanuel Sanders, all things being equal, would be a very good schematic and WR-composition fit for the
#Chiefs. - If: 1) You don’t draft well &/or 2) Switch to a scheme that you don’t have players to run effectively & 3) Face make/break season…you over-pay in free agency for average players.
- Selling “hope” only goes so far. It gets old quick..
- Big difference between agreeing on the evaluation and valuation of a player, particularly in 1st wave of UFA’s.
March 13th
- It’s a team-builder’s league above all else.
- Really like what the
#Jaguars are doing. Have made no secret about the fact that I am a big believer in their program building approach. - Look at the PT% of the top 5 highest paid veteran DT’s in the league the yr b4 they signed new deals, and all were above 50%. In fact, all were above 65%.
March 12th
- Fit is everything in free agency. Watch how
#Steelers play, and you see why they coveted Mitchell’s skill set at FS. By same token, look at what#Redskins need most..leadership/intelligence at the safety position, and you know why Ryan Clark is on his way.. - Every move in the off-season seems like the right move until players actually start playing. On the field. In real games.
- 1. Evaluation 2.Valuation & selection 3. Development & utilization. UFA’s no different than the draft. No. 3 is what REALLY matters.
#Seahawks top 6 secondary players in ’13: 1st rd, 5th rd, 5th rd, 6th rd, 4th rd, and 6th rd. Home grown.#howquicklyweforget
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