Oliver Connolly

Senior Editor, Guardian US at The Guardian

Newsletter-er @ReadOptional | Writer @GuardianUS | Previously: NFL/CFB Scout; recruiting analyst

Articles

The Read Optional Pod: Ranking NFL Organizations - Tier 2

5 days ago | jonledyard.substack.com | Jon Ledyard |Oliver Connolly

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Ranking NFL Organizations: Tier 1

6 days ago | jonledyard.substack.com | Jon Ledyard |Oliver Connolly

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The Read Optional Pod: What Teams Jumped To Playoff Expectations This Offseason?

1 week ago | jonledyard.substack.com | Jon Ledyard |Oliver Connolly

Jon & Ollie discuss the teams that made enough offseason improvements to vault into the 'playoff expectations' tier, while also tackling a few with more mixed evaluations on their improvement. Jaguars - Should Liam Coen’s squad have playoff run expectations this offseason? What are the main reasons for skepticism?
The Read Optional Pod: Analyzing All 16 AFC Draft Classes

2 weeks ago | jonledyard.substack.com | Jon Ledyard |Oliver Connolly

Jon & Ollie offer their evaluations and insights on all 16 AFC draft classes, including the fall of Shedeur Sanders, which classes aligned most closely with their boards and much moreListen to this episode with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to Audibles & Analytics to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
Evaluating every AFC draft class

2 weeks ago | open.substack.com | Oliver Connolly

Jon and I run through every pick, from every AFC team, evaluating how they worked the board, the talent haul they landed, and the scheme fits for their prospects. How did the Titans do in putting talent around Cam Ward? What are the Bengals thinking? Which teams have clear alignment between the GMs and coaching staffs? Which rebuilder grabbed the most talent? Which contender added the most immediate value?
Shedeur Sanders’s fall exposed the cruel heart of the NFL draft industry | Oliver Connolly

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Oliver Connolly

The NFL draft can be cruel. Shedeur Sanders, a polarizing prospect in a weak class whose profile was magnified by the fact that he is the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, had to sit and wait for his name to be called in Thursday night’s first round. He waited. And waited. By night’s end, Sanders had fallen out of the first round entirely. Only two quarterbacks were selected on Thursday.
The Read Optional Pod: 2025 NFL Draft Round 1 Pick-By-Pick Analysis

2 weeks ago | jonledyard.substack.com | Jon Ledyard |Oliver Connolly

Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to Audibles & Analytics to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
NFL Draft: Pick-by-pick analysis -- first round

2 weeks ago | readoptional.com | Oliver Connolly

Jon and I go pick-by-pick, breaking down every selection from the first round of the draft. We discuss the Jags trading up to land Travis Hunter, Tet McMillan in Carolina, whatever it is the Falcons are trying do, who played the board best, the most questionable picks and everything in-between. Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to The Read Optional to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives. Smart Football. Explaining Why.
2025 NFL Draft Horizontal Board

2 weeks ago | readoptional.com | Oliver Connolly

It all comes down to this. Here is my full horizontal board for this year’s draft class, featuring some 280 eligible prospects. If you have any time, you can listen to the full series I’ve done with Jon Ledyard breaking down these prospects and tiers, featuring full evaluations, what is valuable (to the league) at each position and scheme fits. You can find those shows here.
NFL 2025 draft predictions: the stars, the needs and the lower-round gems

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Oliver Connolly |Doug Farrar |Andrew Lawrence |Graham Searles

The No 1 overall pick should be …Travis Hunter, CB/WR. Any team picking No 1 overall needs a quarterback. And Cam Ward is the top quarterback prospect in the class. But the No 1 pick should be Hunter, the electrifying hybrid corner/receiver. Whether he can play both ways in the league is an open question, but wherever he lines up, Hunter will be a gamechanger at a premium position. OCTravis Hunter. I am not entirely sold on any of the quarterbacks in this class, so that’s that out the window.