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This article is a good read, especially for this time of year when teams build their rosters. I pulled out some interesting quotes from BB that give us some insight into his thinking.
The attitude of "we do what we do" is not as prevalent in the NFL as it once was. The best teams are able to change week-to-week depending on opponent. The New England Patriots, as Dungy points out, may have one week where they feature a fleet of linebackers and safeties prominently and leave some defensive linemen inactive. The next week, against a power team, those defensive backs may be sitting and the defensive linemen are back in.
But coaches are also trying to establish what they are about, says Whisenhunt.
"It's about having an identity and answering the question, 'What will you try to be?'" he explains. "There's a number of free agents or draftable players out there that are good football players, but we don't want them on our team, while on another team they can be very successful."
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"You've got to be careful with how many (specialized) guys you have because you still need players to do the things everyone else at the position does," he explains.
Belichick uses his team's running backs to illustrate his point.
"Even if you have Laurence Maroney (a semi-rugged everydown back) and Kevin Faulk (a slight and quick third-down back), you still need a backup that can do what Laurence does and if that's not Kevin, then you need somebody else," he explains. "When you have a really specialized player that's a lot different from the other players at the same position it gives you flexibility situationally but it would be hard to have Laurence, Kevin and another different style player. Then what do you do if something happens to Laurence? Now you can't do what Laurence does and you have no backup to Kevin. You can only go so far."
Unique skills are nice. But not too unique, Belichick explains.
"Say you have a blocking tight end and a receiving tight end," he begins. "You run one set of plays with the blocker and then these other plays with the fast guy. Then something happens to one of those guys. Then what do you do? Do you have the blocking guy do the receiving? Do you have the receiving guy do the blocking. Now you need two more backups. You need an overlap of skills so it doesn’t eliminate half the plays if you have guys go down."
It may seem that dressing 45 players for every game should give a coach plenty of depth. But it doesn’t. A team really needs the 22 starters, the three dedicated special teams players (kicker, punter, long snapper) and backups to each position if someone goes down. Using a roster spot for someone with unique skills is a luxury.
Belichick explains that, a few years back, the team procured a defensive lineman to create speed mismatches. When it became clear that he wasn’t able to give an appreciably better result on the plays he was used, the cost-benefit of keeping him made him expendable.
"He's got to be productive or it's not worth it," Belichick notes.
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"Belichick explains that, a few years back, the team procured a defensive lineman to create speed mismatches. When it became clear that he wasn’t able to give an appreciably better result on the plays he was used, the cost-benefit of keeping him made him expendable. "
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Belichick explains that, a few years back, the team procured a defensive lineman to create speed mismatches. When it became clear that he wasn’t able to give an appreciably better result on the plays he was used, the cost-benefit of keeping him made him expendable.
"He's got to be productive or it's not worth it," Belichick notes.
Klecko? Other options that I'm not thinking of since I'm only on cup #1 of Joe?
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Klecko? Other options that I'm not thinking of since I'm only on cup #1 of Joe?
Not much benefit, but hardly any cost (except for the roster spot -- and maybe that was the point since he couldn't play NT). I can't think of anyone else.
Belichick uses his team's running backs to illustrate his point.
"Even if you have Laurence Maroney (a semi-rugged everydown back) and Kevin Faulk (a slight and quick third-down back), you still need a backup that can do what Laurence does and if that's not Kevin, then you need somebody else," he explains. "When you have a really specialized player that's a lot different from the other players at the same position it gives you flexibility situationally but it would be hard to have Laurence, Kevin and another different style player. Then what do you do if something happens to Laurence? Now you can't do what Laurence does and you have no backup to Kevin. You can only go so far."
Unique skills are nice. But not too unique, Belichick explains.
Lamont Jordan can back up both Maroney and Faulk with only slight deficiencies. Good acquisition.
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This is known as "bad luck." RAH
Roster management is such a tremendously interesting part of the game, I wish Curran could have gone on for many more pages with insights from around the league. I may be reading too much into it, but Lane Kiffin's comments seem steeped in frustration; I'd love to hear some of Al's remarks in response. Or to hear more from other GMs regarding this topic.
For two pages, though, Tom Curran killed it. Good read and good job.
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But coaches are also trying to establish what they are about, says Whisenhunt.
"It's about having an identity and answering the question, 'What will you try to be?'" he explains. "There's a number of free agents or draftable players out there that are good football players, but we don't want them on our team, while on another team they can be very successful."
This is where fans totally miss the boat. All we see are stats and that FA "x" is better than current roster player "y."
INSTANT UPGRADE, everyone screams. WORTH TAKING A LOOK, HOW CAN IT HURT? etc etc etc etc
Fact is, it is a lot more about how a coach perceives the FA will fit into the mix, and that is something we fans can only guess at. (Doesn't stop us from trashing BB for not doing what we think he "should do, of course. )
Belichick uses his team's running backs to illustrate his point.
"Even if you have Laurence Maroney (a semi-rugged everydown back) and Kevin Faulk (a slight and quick third-down back), you still need a backup that can do what Laurence does and if that's not Kevin, then you need somebody else," he explains. "When you have a really specialized player that's a lot different from the other players at the same position it gives you flexibility situationally but it would be hard to have Laurence, Kevin and another different style player. Then what do you do if something happens to Laurence? Now you can't do what Laurence does and you have no backup to Kevin. You can only go so far."
Unique skills are nice. But not too unique, Belichick explains.
2) Lamont Jordan can back up both Maroney and Faulk with only slight deficiencies. Good acquisition.
1) Or maybe David Nugent? Casey Tisdale? Steve Martin? Ethan Kelley? Rodney Bailey? Jeremy Mincey? Kareem Brown? It's probably Klecko, though we'll also probably never know, at least not from the HC.
2) I don't think that Jordan is nearly as shifty & elusive as Faulk. Jordan is more a bowling ball, whereas Faulk is more a pinball. Jordan's hands may be as sure as Faulk's, but is his blocking? I'm still disappointed that the FO didn't try to attone for one of its mistakes in the '04 draft by signing Mewelde Moore as the backup RB/3DB & as the primary Returner.
This is a nice take on "versatility," which we often talk about as Troy Brown-style cross-position flexibility. But for most players, intra-position versatility is the real key. Jordan is a great example, a very versatile player who only plays one position. Jabar Gaffney may not excel at any one WR role, but he can handle them all. Etc.
A great thing about Tom Curran as a football writer: he actually writes about football.
NFL's winning roster mix
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