When former Dolphins Nick Buoniconti started falling, he knew something was wrong. What he and his family didn’t know was that they’d take a winding path to figuring out what.
Self-scouting is common practice in the NFL. Coaches mostly do it, but players and personnel execs do it, too. They comb through old game film to learn about their own tendencies on certain downs, in certain situations, and out of certain formations. The goal is to spot your weaknesses and make improvements.
The sport of football, in 2017, is in a state of intense self-scout. The reasons are many: self-preservation, love for the game, fear of the game, concern for the livelihood, a desire to find concrete answers to nebulous questions.