31 years of front office experience has given Rams senior personnel executive Brian Xanders a wealth of knowledge in NFL player evaluation.

He spent 13 years with the Falcons in various roles across personnel, coaching and football operations, then went to the Broncos to serve as assistant general manager in 2008 followed by a four-year stint as general manager. From there, he became a personnel executive with the Lions for four years.

That diverse background has helped Xanders make a distinct impact with the Rams over the past eight years, during which he's come to appreciate just how innovative and intentional the Rams' scouting process is compared to other organizations.

"I would say we have more cutting-edge principles (than most teams) in terms of the evaluation calendar, the process, the early preparation, the long-term approach to the process of building the draft day call sheet," Xanders said. "There's a lot more quality film work being done instead of compressing it into the spring."

Xanders scouts players at every position throughout the year, with a specialty in outside linebackers. Recently, he did extensive film study and sourcing on Jared Verse, the reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He also works with pro personnel and creates matchup-based scouting reports during the season, among other research projects.

Responsibilities

As soon as each draft ends in April, Xanders immediately turns his focus to the upcoming class. From May through July, he watches film on around 20 players from each position on offense and defense, including 25-plus outside linebackers, his designated cross-check position, which is different for each senior personnel executive.

"What that preparation allows us to do is build the baseline report, really get down to the athleticism and the physical qualities and the intangible qualities," Xanders said, "and basically have a lot of the reports built out before the 2025 tape comes in during that season."

The scouting summit starts during training camp in August, where the department presents research projects highlighting either league-wide or college trends and how they could impact the team's draft strategy. Xanders also visits schools during August and March to gather his own character evaluations on different prospects, similar to what area scouts do throughout the season.

The programs he visits are reliant on Xanders' relationships with sources. For example, Xanders played linebacker at Florida State from 1989-92, and he uses his connections in that building to get extensive character background on prospects. He covers most Florida schools during the visitation period for senior personnel executives.

Xanders focuses on discovering each prospects' personal character, football intelligence, passion and learning styles during those visits.

"We weigh (character) differently, I believe, than some other teams," Xanders said. "The mental and learning research is at a premium. Obviously, everybody does their own character differently, but we've got a really interesting system for recording that information and not typing huge paragraphs."

The data from every scout is aggregated in a program called Joint After-Action Review System (JAARS). It produces color- and symbol-coded profiles that rate character and positional traits and also produce a consensus prospect grade. That said, they "tilt a heavy percentage" on the film, which "is a legitimate advantage," Xanders said.

"It is a group project that builds up to the draft-day decisions. The best thing about what we're doing is we have a great group of guys working as a team, and so the collaboration of the area scouts and the over-the-top scouts and then the general manager's processes are very innovative."

When the current season's tape starts rolling in during September, Xanders adds to the profiles he began post-draft and creates new profiles for any player the area scouts input during their school visits, again going position-by-position throughout the college football season.

December through February involves late-season film analysis for outside linebackers, including additional scouting for players invited to the all-star games and/or the combine. Follow-up conversations with sources, data analysis and more film study provide a deeper dive into specific areas such as production and athleticism.

For outside linebacker film, Xanders looks for football instincts, counter moves, hand use and mental processing. The latter two traits are significant for Xanders, as they will dictate a player's ability to be proficient against both the run and pass in the NFL.

"I'd start with more of the intangible side of the mental processing," Xanders said. "The central nervous system, the vision, reactive angles, instincts and game savvy."

"And within those intangibles you also have physical toughness and mental toughness and then also the competes, which is the urgency and effort, finish ability throughout the game. Then I… look at the physical traits (like) the athleticism, the explosiveness off the ball, the play speed and then the play strength."

As the draft board is turned over to the coaches during April, Xanders hones in on the late-round outside linebackers who haven't gotten an extended look. He usually watches tape on 20-30 prospects that L.A. doesn't have grades for.

The whole process starts anew in May, but college scouting isn't the only thing on Xanders' plate. He also works on pro scouting during August at his cross-check position, as do the rest of the senior personnel executives.

He'll watch 100-150 professional outside linebackers consisting of veterans who don't have recent grades or Day 3/undrafted rookies from the most recent draft. That helps the team build a short list of players who they would like to add if injuries mount at the position.

During the season, Xanders does extensive data research in preparation for each game in addition to his scouting responsibilities. He sends out an email to the coaching staff detailing how the Rams can use their strengths to exploit other teams' weaknesses, and avoid the vice versa.

He uses various data websites to find "mismatches, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats" prior to each matchup. Xanders' experience with coaching, football operations and game management make him uniquely suited for that type of predictive analysis.

"It is interesting how some teams don't even do a thorough job of self-scouting themselves, and they end up having these major tendencies or major weaknesses in coverages or player issues based on their performance and so you can end up targeting (that)," Xanders said.

Verse's Evaluation

Verse could have declared for the 2023 draft, but wanted to play a second season at Florida State after transferring from Albany. So, Xanders had been scouting Verse for two seasons.

His "physical violence" jumped off the tape, Xanders recalled, playing with a "tenacity and physicality that stood out better than most OLBs at the college football level," Xanders said.

"That's the one thing that stood out about him is I really like the balance between run and pass D. Some of the other rushers are good at rushing the passer, but they got hooked and blocked in the run games, where (as) this was the win-win where I thought he could be an optimal long-term sam backer or will backer for the Rams."

Verse brushed off tight ends like irksome flies in run defense, and offensive tackles struggled to stop his explosiveness off the line of scrimmage. His pass rush repertoire was deep, and his baseline speed-to-power was nearly unstoppable.

When Verse didn't win with pure athleticism, he knew how to use his hands to "gain an edge," Xanders said.

"We talk about gaining an edge through instincts, power, or explosiveness – and he had the ability to convert with the fast hand use and get past the offensive lineman," Xanders said. "So he really had a multifaceted game with the disruptive power and urgency."

Verse's agility was never in doubt, so when he showed off high-IQ hand use, Xanders knew he'd be a special talent on the field. Here he is beating projected first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft Will Campbell with a swift swipe to sack 2024 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels in 2023.

In two seasons at Florida State, Verse tallied 21.5 sacks, 29.5 tackles for loss, 89 total tackles and three passes defended in 25 games.

"Production values verify the subjective opinion with objective facts, backing up the scout's evaluation of the film," Xanders said.

The other avenue to confirming a player's process matches his production is through character evaluations. Xanders, knowing most of the coaches and staff at Florida State through his lasting connections to the program, confirmed that Verse's zest for competition and determination was just as obvious in his personality as it was in his film, if not more so.

"They were just like, 'you could bet on him, he's a great fit, he's an A-plus person, he is a feisty guy in practice, he has an edge, he's vocal, he has that swagger you want on your defense that has that competitive toughness in practice, and then he brings it in the game,'" Xanders recalled.

Having an impact player with an extra gear both physically and mentally is something L.A. became accustomed to with Aaron Donald, and Verse's vigor provided a similar jolt to the team.

Verse’s high energy and trash talk were intrinsic motivators that the Rams were intrigued by. It takes more than one opinion to decide on a first-round pick, but the scouting department's consensus supported Xanders' high opinion of Verse, and his stellar rookie season proved the Rams right.

"He was an interesting combination type guy where you're getting run and pass D with this competitive edge and dog mindset as a football player, a pure football player," Xanders said.