Freethinker, I realize a lot of these pre-season articles are merely fluff, mostly put out by "
super fans", with limited or zero real access to teams. SI.com, USA Today's affiliated
Wire, Bleacher Report, SBNation and even NFL.com have pretty much all gone on the "cheap" and are outright exploiting "
super fans" who fantasize about becoming sports writer *****
For real news, you really have to rely on local, bigger city beat-writers and other opinions from true "insiders", which are not easy get, as most of these publications are subscription only. But here's a decent free
article related to Connor O'Toole
Biggest takeaway from it isn't exactly the writers words, but him putting forth O'Toole's R.A.S. score:
So, reality is, O'Toole R.A.S. came out in the top 5th (or so) percentile of players at his position over a span of almost 40 years?
Sounds like the Hawks got themselves a 2nd to 3rd round caliber athlete on the cheap, undrafted free agent? However, for the foreseeable future O'Toole will have to deal with the "
scarlet letter" of being undrafted. Hence, year after year, DWF's will demand a "upgrade". You know a real athlete, named Leshondon or D'Anthony or mixed-breed named Keegan!
Also, I suppose your typical DWF would say O'Toole's R.A.S. is meaningless, because he did not post those numbers at the Combine? That's how the Caste system works, ignore these players when it comes to All-Star games and the Combine, therefore their superior Pro Day showing can be ignored?
**** I know Reddit is basically garbage, but here's a
decent discussion how these sites work. The quote below is the most informative in the discussion thread. Only thing, is I doubt they are allowed in "press boxes". My guess is they "cover" games the same as we do -- in front of TV's!
