Other than your eyes and ears, the most essential tool for an NFL scout is your stopwatch. The first thing I did when I became a scout in 2013 was buy this. It fits perfectly in my hand and it doesn’t beep—scouts hate beeping—and I literally take it everywhere I go. I’ve even taken it on vacation; there’s no good reason to have it there, but a good scout always has a stopwatch.

Playing in the NFL is every prospect’s dream. They’ve dedicated their entire life to the game—peewee, high school, college—and a fraction of a second can determine whether or not they make it. When they run the 40, the pressure is enormous: A tenth of a second can mean the difference of millions of dollars. At a tryout, they finish the 40, they look at me, and I look at this watch.

~ Sae Woon Jo, area scout, Atlanta Falcons; Riverside, CA