About Ourlads NFL Scouting Services

Ourlads NFL Scouting Services is an organization which has been scouting, evaluating, and rating college football talent as it pertains to the NFL Draft since the early 1980's. In 1983 it produced its first publication, Ourlads' Guide to the NFL Draft. In recent years, as a service to its client base and because of free agency, Ourlads has had to expand to include monitoring, evaluating, and rating of established NFL players.

What are Ourlads' products?

Ourlads offers several products to its subscribers. In addition to the Guide we publish two booklets in December and March which cover a variety of topics. We also publish post-draft analysis in our thirty-six page Review issue, which comes out in late June, as well as our thoughts on the upcoming crop of senior draft prospects in our Preview issue, a booklet released in late September. A more complete description of publications can be found elsewhere on the Ourlads website.

Who are the principal subscribers to Ourlads?

NFL clubs, executives, and scouts are numbered among Ourlads' clients, along with agents and media representatives. However, the main subscribers to Ourlads are fans, some of whom are striving to become knowledgeable about the draft and free agency, and others who are already very knowledgeable and wish to maintain an edge over the rest of the crowd. The common link is that both groups demand fair, impartial, high quality coverage. There is no shortage of draft coverage, particularly these days where it seems like all one needs to do is put up a website with a mock draft to claim to be an "expert." But there are very few who have a documented track history of providing thorough, unbiased, first-rate coverage. Ourlads is proud to count itself among this exclusive group, and is proud of its subscribers as well for recognizing the quality of Ourlads' publications.

What makes Ourlads different from other publications that address the draft?

The principal difference is that Ourlads' evaluators not only spend hours upon hours viewing video tapes but we go on the road to appraise players close up. Ourlads' scouts are to be seen at the practice weeks of the Shrine Game, and Senior Bowl to mention but a few. Whereas most others in this business scout with their ears and read numerous college press releases, Ourlads' policy is to reach independent conclusions based on what is seen. Over the long haul, those conclusions have generally served our subscribers well.

Ourlads' Scouting Services was the first to use computers to monitor, evaluate, and rate the talent. It has developed complex algorithms through the years and also has developed a comprehensive set of databases to be harvested. Ourlads was also the first to produce newsletters pertaining to the draft dating back to 1987.

What is the origin of the name?

The word "OURLAD" is a combination of the words "Our" and "Lad." Its origin is Irish and is a colloquial reference to one's brother. It is indigenous to the eastern coal region of Pennsylvania, more specifically, Schuylkill County, north of the mountain. We began referring to the computer in use early on as Ourlad and the name has stuck. There have been a number of Ourlad computers over the years as the software and data have of necessity migrated from system to system. For the record, the first Ourlad was a Datapoint 2200, which we employed in the early 1980's.