← Draft Sickos
Dictionary · NFL Scout
The vocabulary of the Draft.
Bend, leverage, half-slide, processing, three-cone. The scout jargon used in NFL war rooms, explained in Spanish without diluting it. Read it through or look it up when you need it.
38 terms
A
2 entries- Anticipation
- Throwing before the receiver breaks — trusting the route and winning the window before the defense reacts.
- Arm talent
- Mix of arm strength, release speed, and ability to change trajectories (touch, drive, fade).
B
4 entries- Ball skills
- Ability to track the ball in the air, play it, and turn targets into INTs or PBUs.
- Bend
- An edge rusher's ability to turn the corner at a low angle without losing speed — the pass-rusher holy grail.
- Big Nickel
- Defensive personnel with 3 safeties instead of a nickel CB — trades coverage range for tackling and matchups vs TE/RB.
- Burst
- Explosive acceleration through the first 2-3 steps. Critical for edges, RBs, and CBs.
C
4 entries- Catch radius
- The volume of space a WR can attack the ball in — function of height, arm length, and body control.
- Comp (comparison)
- NFL player the prospect stylistically resembles. We use high/likely/low comps.
- High comp = the ceiling if everything breaks right. Likely comp = the realistic projection. Low comp = the floor if development stalls.
- Cover 2
- Two deep safeties splitting the field in halves, five underneath defenders in zone.
- Cover 3
- Three deep defenders (1 middle safety + 2 CBs) with 4 underneath.
D
2 entries- Day 1 starter
- Projected to start from Week 1 as a rookie.
- Developmental
- Prospect with upside who needs 1-2 years of development before contributing.
F
1 entry- Floor / Ceiling
- Projected floor and ceiling. The floor is what he almost certainly becomes; the ceiling is what he could become.
G
2 entries- Gap integrity
- Disciplined commitment to your assigned gap in run defense.
- Gap scheme
- Run scheme with pulls and trap blocks designating a specific hole (power, counter, GT).
H
1 entry- Half-slide protection
- Pass-pro scheme where half the OL slides in zone and the other half blocks man.
L
1 entry- Leverage
- Physical positioning relative to the opponent — winning leverage means a better angle or pad level to dictate the rep.
- On defense, keeping leverage means forcing the ball-carrier toward your help. On OL/DL, leverage = lower pad level wins.
M
2 entries- Man-free (Cover 1)
- Man-to-man with a single free safety patrolling deep — max pressure, max risk.
- Motor
- Effort and persistence play after play. A "hot motor" chases until the final whistle.
N
1 entry- NFL Combine
- Annual event in Indianapolis where ~330 prospects go through measurements, drills, interviews, and medical physicals.
O
1 entry- Off coverage
- CB plays 5-8 yards off the WR to read the play and break on the catch.
P
5 entries- Play action
- Run fake before the pass to freeze LBs and safeties and open downfield windows.
- Pocket presence
- A QB's ability to feel rush he can't see and slide within the pocket while keeping eyes downfield.
- Press coverage
- CB plays in the WR's face at the line to disrupt the release and the timing.
- Pro Day
- Private workout each college hosts so scouts can measure their prospects on the school's own campus.
- Processing speed
- Mental speed to read coverage pre-snap, diagnose post-snap, and pull the trigger on time.
R
4 entries- RAS
- Relative Athletic Score — a 0-10 metric comparing a prospect's athletic profile against the historical pool at his position.
- Combines height, weight, 40, vertical, broad, three-cone and shuttle on a normalized scale. A RAS of 9+ puts the player in the 90th athletic percentile at his position historically.
- Red flag
- Serious character, medical, or on-field concern that impacts the draft evaluation.
- Route tree
- The set of routes a WR has mastered and can run at a high level.
- RPO (Run-Pass Option)
- Play where the QB reads a defender post-snap and decides to hand off or throw the pass.
S
3 entries- Separation
- Distance between WR and CB at the catch point. Top WRs average >3 yards.
- Shuttle (20-yard)
- 5-10-5 drill measuring lateral acceleration and ability to decelerate and redirect.
- Stack & shed
- LB who absorbs an OL's block, sheds it, and pursues the ball-carrier.
T
3 entries- Tape
- The prospect's game film. "The tape doesn't lie" is the scout mantra — above measurables or combine numbers.
- Three-cone
- Combine drill measuring change of direction and lateral agility on an L-shaped three-cone pattern.
- Sub-7.0s times are elite for skill players. Critical for CBs, edge rushers, and receivers that live off the release.
- Two-gap
- DL responsible for controlling two gaps simultaneously (typical of a 3-4 NT).
Y
1 entry- YAC (Yards After Catch)
- Yards gained after the catch. A marker of post-catch creator ability.
Z
1 entry- Zone blocking
- Run-blocking scheme where the OL blocks zones in unison, opening cutback lanes.