The lower case alphabet:
First, there is a twelve-letter lowercase alphabet. These are known as 'alerts'. A lower case 'a' does not stand for excellence; a player gets that if there are concerns about his age, too young or too old. A 'c' is for a character concern. An 'x' is for an injury problem. A 't' is someone who will make special teams coach [Scott O'Brien] happy. A 'tt' is a STer so good that he can make the roster for his ST ability alone. A report, for example, reading "6.50ly" should be clear to everyone: that's an overachiever who is a 'Make it+' player, which is a solid pro. He is a transfer student and finished his college career in either Div 1-AA, Div 2 or Div 3 (the 'y' is transer, the 'l' is someone who finished his college career at a lower level of competition).
The upper-case alphabet
The scouts also use 13 letters in the uppercase alphabet, although you can double or triple the letters in some cases to make your point. The top two letters - 'A+' and 'A' mean exactly what you think they would - future HOF players. A 'Q' is someone who happens to be 'height deficient'. 'C' is for circumstance - it could be anything - that has restricted a very good players production. A 'P' is for players such as Adam Archuleta, Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel. They are top projection players who will play a different position in the pros than in college. To quote Pioli: "Bill can do things with 'P' types if they're good enough. We've got two starting linebackers who were projection players.
Grouping players
Scouts are also asked to put players into a specific box, and they have eight groupings from which to choose:
1. Starter: A+9.00-9.99, A8.00-8.99, and Q (height deficient) 8.00-8.99
2. Circumstantial starter - a first year NFL starter whose production has been restricted by circumstance - NCAA rule violation, problems with an agent, personal/family conflict. C7.00-7.99
3. Make It + - a player who won't start right away in his first season but is expected to contribute in year one and an eventual starter: 6.50-6.99
4. Dirty starter - could start, but something about the player is restrictive (maybe not enough speed/athleticism). The manual says this could be the category for over and under achievers 6.00-6.49
5. Make it - a backup who won't win or lose a game for you. 5.50-5.99
6. Free agent - not expected to make the team but could rise to 'make it'. Practice squad or [now defunct] NFL Europe: 5.00-5.49
7. Pats reject - a reject by Patriots standard, but could land somewhere else in the NFL: 4.90-4.99
8. Reject - doesn't belong in the NFL: 1.00
The three dimensions:
Three dimensions of a player - major factors, critical factors and position skills - are graded on a scale from 1 to 9: 1 being a reject and 9 a HOFer. Highlighted in red, atop the grading chart, is a reminder: "The key number is 6. If a player gets a 6 in factor or skill, we will be satisfied with his performance of this skill or critical factor. He is not going to dominate. However, this is a solid level of performance or competition. This is the type of grade that leads a player to the 'Make it +' level".
Major factors are the same for all positions. All players are judged in seven categories: personal/behavior, athletic ability, strength and explosion, competitiveness, toughness, mental/learning, and injury/durability. Critical factors and positional skills vary depending on the position.
