Was that the cliff notes? http://www.optionseducation.org/getting_started/options_overview/leaps.html
Just curious. Have you ever tried weighted pistol squats? If so, what do you think of them? I know they don't quite involve virtually the whole body as do barbell squats, but I think they have their virtues.
I've never done them as I had broken my ankle in my early 20s. It would place too much stress on it. The ankle limits my max a bit. I suppose they would help with balance and isolating the calves. You're also hitting the deltoids quite a bit, but not enough to avoid working those with overheads. Likely a good sports-specific movement.
Regarding your delt reference, I'm not sure how you figure I'm doing them. The way I do pistols is with dumbbells held down at my sides. At the bottom of the movement, I move the dumbbells slightly forward and bend my elbows just enough to prevent the dumbbells from touching the ground. Presently, the combined weight of the dumbbells is half my body weight, and I'm good for 10 reps per leg on my first set. As I had noted earlier in this thread, that's butt to heel, heel on the ground and knees not moving forward beyond the toes. As it happens, I don't do any "direct" delt movements anymore because of lingering joint and rotator cuff issues. So I hope for the best with indirect involvement using compound pulling and pushing movements for upper body work. Yeah, it's a compromise, but there it is. Regarding your ankle, I can't comment because my ankles and knees are perhaps the only joints that have thus far escaped unscathed. However, I did read that people who don't have sufficient ankle (and possible hip) flexibility can compensate by having a 2.5- or 5-pound plate under their heel, about the thickness of a flip flop. However, that may not be addressing your specific issue. One of the things I like about pistols is that you can identify (and hopefully correct) imbalances. Until I started doing them, I wasn't really aware that my right leg was weaker. I'm not sure about your comment regarding isolating calves. I didn't even think they were being meaningfully addressed, which is why I still do calf raises -- the only isolation exercise I do. As it happens, I now only do 6 different exercises in total, excluding ab work. And this for a full body workout.
OK, the way I've seen them done is with a full fwd-raise on the DBs. The movement is less "forward" in contrast to a back-squat which is "ass-out", so you seem to be activating calves a bit as they support when you go past parallel. You're not loading the spine, so it's more of a balance exercise and not something meant to be done heavy. Almost all of lifts are olympic/powerlifting oriented. I wouldn't think it's a mass builder and it's not something I can do with the ankle.