By Sheri Trapp
For Riderville.com

When it comes to the off-season the biggest and most important initial undertaking from the football operations perspective, is the evaluation of the current roster. Many will be surprised to know that there is an actual formula used by the coaches and management here in Riderville when it comes to analyzing each and every player.

The complete roster is assessed – top to bottom, starters to practice roster players– leaving no player omitted from the procedure. As they sit and analyze the team there are four main factors which come into play, all of which are listed below but not necessarily in order of importance.

The first factor is ability. What does the player bring to the table in the area of ability on the field? Will their contributions during games help the team win? Is there enough confidence in the player’s ability that coaches trust and rely upon? Or on the flipside, are they a risk and more opt to aid in the team losing?

Secondly they look at injury. What type of injuries has the player sustained in the past? Are they injury prone or are there concerns about the current health status of the player? Sadly injury is a part of sport that can never be avoided. You can train extensively, but injuries just happen. It may be looked upon as an unfair factor to include, but it is reality and must be considered.

The third factor is an all-encompassing one and vital to all team sports – character. Are they a leader? Do they have a positive attitude? Are they a team player? Do you trust in them to properly represent the team and organization? Character may not always be visible on the field during a game, but it shines through on the sidelines, in the locker room and in the community. Team chemistry is imperative to a team’s success, which is why character must be evaluated in this process.

And last but not least is the almighty dollar. Do all the other listed factors justify paying the player a significant amount of money? It is the reality of the salary cap era. Money and salaries always comes into play. So in order to justify paying a player on the high end of the pay scale, their contributions to the team need to be equivalent. I do believe that no elaboration is needed on this as it remains to be the most self-explanatory factor in this process.

Now after rating each player on each factor listed above, coaches and management must sit and look at their findings and come up with a conclusion for each. Does the fact a player had a previous injury not factor in as much because of his extensive character? If their ability is lacking, obviously a high salary cannot be justified. This is where all elements must be weighed in a pro and con type of fashion. This process involves extensive conversations between coaches and management until they determine a final rating for each player, which will in the end determine their future with the team.

Realistically there will always be some players left with question marks. They are the ones many would refer to as ‘on the bubble’. In addition, free agency always plays a role as you may not always get your priority players back. So yet again it turns into somewhat of a chess match. The team must have a strategy and back-up plan in place, but at least the process and listed factors do offer a more concise direction needed to take with each player. That’s just professional sport.