Diamonds in the Rough

Bill Chachkes is an independent football scout for the New York City area. In addition to his job as a high school teacher and assistant football coach, he watches games at Columbia, Fordham, Hofstra, and SUNY Stony Brook, waiting for the next Marcellus Wiley, CC ’97, or Jay Fiedler to take the field. He evaluates the players who he thinks can play at a professional level and publishes his opinions in “The NFL Draft Bible.” The derogatory name for his job title is “draftnik”—he’s one of the guys who fuels the gossip fire in the weeks leading up to the April NFL draft.

The road from Ivy football to the NFL may be longer than in a major conference, but the league has its share of gems. Chachkes has been at two Columbia games this season and already has some thoughts about some Lions’ future potential.

What do you think about the level of competition in the Ivy League?

Obviously, with the Ivy League, nobody’s leaving early like in the Big Ten or PAC-10. It’s good to be able to watch a player go through multiple seasons and watch the progression. I’ve seen Craig Hormann’s progression from last year to this year despite coming off an injury. He was marked for the next level and still is, which some people thought would not be the case.

Who have been the most successful Columbia players in pro football?

We could go back and talk about Marcellus Wiley. It’s a big news story that Steve Cargile (CC ’04) got bumped up to the Broncos’ active roster. Also Jeff Otis (CC ’05), he was on the Cardinals’ roster when we were out at Cardinals training camp last summer. He had just as good a spin on the ball as Kurt Warner. That was incidentally the first day that Matt Leinart was signed and at practice. You could obviously tell the difference, that Leinart was going to be the better quarterback, but believe it or not, Otis was throwing the better ball. Obviously talent comes out of the Ivy League and gets to play. There’s talent at this level.

When do you first hear about players and take an interest in how they’re progressing?

We’re looking at guys as far back as 10th grade. We wrote Marques Colston’s [252nd draft pick for the Saints] coach when he got to be a freshman at Hofstra, and saw that he had a great deal of talent. The kid had been a star since 10th grade. There are a lot of guys that come out of the New York City area that are great players that don’t get the recognition.

Given the difference in the level of competition between the Ivy League and the Big Ten, are some positions easier to scout than others?

Absolutely. Wide receiver, tight end—the offensive skill positions. It’s harder to scout talent on the line. Coaches talk about flexibility. You look for that on the offensive and defensive line. Flexibility in the major joints—hips, ankles, knees.

Looking at the back seven, you have to look at how well they adjust to backs coming out to catch passes. Jojo Smith, he’s a great cover corner. He may not be the tallest corner, but he doesn’t get burned easily. Whereas other guys, they can get faked out. [Austin] Knowlin made a couple moves against Daniel Diaz from Marist, who was highly regarded in small school circles.

Besides Tad Crawford, who plays free safety for the British Columbia Lions in the CFL, was anyone from Columbia’s 2006 team considered for a professional football league?

I just don’t know why Adam Brekke’s (CC ’07) not playing at the next level, unless that was a personal choice of his own. He had a tremendous senior season, and was one of the best tacklers on the defense.

Also Matt Barsamian (CC ’07). He was fantastic. I don’t understand it. I know he had a couple looks, but we didn’t hear anything from him. He just crushed defensive ends, got underneath their pads, knocked them off their stances. If we could have recorded how many takeout blocks he had last year, it would be in the high double digits.

It’s early to say, but who are you evaluating from Columbia this year?

Craig’s developing into a nice prospect. He would be a good find as an undrafted free agent. If Jojo were a few inches taller, he’d be a good find—again as an undrafted free agent. I’ve been looking at your center, [Mike Partain, CC ’08]. He’s done very well. He’s the anchor on that line right now as far as experience. They lost a lot in Barsamian and [Uche] Osadebe. Offensive line is not a position you learn overnight.

The tight ends are fabulous. Jamal Russell (CC ’08), if he can stay healthy, he’s definitely a possibility. The future is very bright for Troy Evangelist(SEAS ’09). He’s huge, has good hands. I saw him in the spring game and he was dominating, absolutely dominating.

Is it a plus for a player to come out of the Ivy League, to come from such an intense academic environment?

Absolutely. The playbook at the next level is 1,500 pages. They’re not even printing it out anymore, they’re putting it on a DVD, loading video on your iPod.

Does your job ever surprise people when you tell them about it?

Being at Columbia previously, sitting in the stands taking notes, people say, “What are you doing,” and I say, “I’m scouting,” and they say, “Why? Why are you scouting at this level?” And I say two words: Marcellus Wiley. Or I say Jeff Otis, or Jeff Terrell. If they knew who these guys were, they wouldn’t be asking the question.