Introducing the FO 40 | Football Outsiders

NFL Draft – The football world does not need more NFL draft coverage. The football world needs better NFL draft coverage. And that’s where we come in. 

There’s immeasurable tonnage of draft content available on the Internet. Some of it is brilliant, much of it is boring, and a lot of it is both. A little of it is written by folks who did their homework and know what they are talking about. The rest of it is paraphrased by folks who read what was written by the folks who know what they are talking about, like dozens of last-minute term papers. Vagueness is a genre convention, jargon an expectation. The most complete and comprehensive scouting reports are almost inherently self-defeating: carefully-crafted content by and for folks who devote a shocking amount of time and interest to the footwork of collegiate interior offensive linemen who are likely to be drafted in the NFL, plunked on a bench and never written of or thought about again.

Football Outsiders strives to provide the same experience with our draft coverage that we offer during the football season: accurate, in-depth, interesting, data-driven and sometimes offbeat analysis, columns and features. We also know that you are busy, discerning and much more interested in how a potential draftee can help an NFL team (or perhaps one of your future fantasy teams) win games, not just scouting for scouting’s sake. So we’re proud to introduce the FO 40, which has been tailored to give you what you really need:

• Quick, punchy profiles of the top prospects (FO 40) and top skill position prospects (Fantasy 40). You know: the players you will still care about when training camp rolls around; 
• Links to Derrik Klassen’s Draft Film Room, where you can enjoy deeper dives on top prospects like Kayvon Thibodeaux and Garrett Wilson. A new Draft Film Room will drop each week throughout draft season;
• Easy access to our exclusive Football Outsiders QBASE, Playmaker Scores, SackSEER and BackCAST projections as they become available. There are some projected ratings in place now, but be sure to check back after we have some combine results to bake into the data. There will also be a new “Travis” projection system debuting soon: guess what position it covers!
• Frequent updates to the player profiles as combine results become available, Pro Day results trickle in, and so forth. New players will climb into the FO 40, others may drop from the list, and there are sure to be lots of risers and fallers. We will also add updates and analysis in the weeks to come based on deeper statistical dives into the Sports Info Solutions database, further film/tape study and the occasional expert whispers which filter their way into Football Outsiders HQ now and then. 

But wait: there’s more! The FO 40 and Fantasy 40 will be a delicious part of a nutritious Football Outsiders breakfast which also includes Draft Film Room, the projections, Monday Walkthroughs, mock drafts, Benjamin Robinson’s Grinding the Mocks, and other content. Also, stay tuned for the Football Outsiders Draft Livestream (I brainstormed for 11 hours to come up with that title), featuring Derrik Klassen and I, every Tuesday at 1pm Eastern starting on March 8th. All of our draft coverage is presented by Underdog Fantasy.

Our goal with all of this souped-up draft coverage is to entertain, inform and provide you with draft content that’s as much fun to make as it is to read and watch. And just maybe we’ll help you win a few draft bets and some future fantasy leagues as well.