Can you teach good route running?

[cstjohn17]

Can Chad Jackson or Doug Gabriel become as good a route runner as Deion Branch? Is this something that can be learned?

I guess my opinion is, "why not?" We all seem to have this idea that a wide receiver's route running ability is as static/unchangeable as size or speed, is there any basis for this? What's to prevent CJ and Gabriel developing the same ability to run routes and get open as Branch?

Yes, it can be practiced and improved. A good case study is David Givens, not the fastest or biggest guy but my studying the offense a working his butt off he was able to understand the correct pattern to run based on the defense. This allowed him to get open and be a very effective secondary receiver for the Patriots.

Physically Jackson has more gifts which will allow him to get open easier than Givens but time will tell if he ever becomes a professional WR. One that understand the dynamics of an NFL passing attack and how route rounning and adjustments are critical to offensive execution.

 

[patchick]

Jackson matched up well with The Twig in the running times, Jackson was quite a bit faster in the 40 (4.32 vs. 4.47) and, in a weird coincidence, their 20 and 10 yard splits were identical (2.56 and 1.51).

The cone times were slightly in The Twig's favor, 6.71 to 6.74. The Twig has a sizeable edge in Shuttle times, 3.76 to 4.03.

Yeah, I'm not going to say that Jackson is just as quick as Branch (he is bigger and heavier, after all). But FWIW I wouldn't compare their times head to head because the surfaces at the combine changed between their years. Shuttle times across the board were MUCH slower in 2006 vs. 2002. The main thing to me when Jackson was drafted was seeing that his speed wasn't of the Bethel Johnson straight-line-only variety. So I remain extremely optimistic....

 

[DCPatriot]

The learning of routes takes lots of work and practice. It takes a lot of understanding of defenses. In the patriot schemes, the wr and qb need to read the defenses the same. Also, the wr needs to learn to feel the defenders and understand where the QB is likely to throw the ball.

Yes, it can be practiced and improved. A good case study is David Givens, not the fastest or biggest guy but my studying the offense a working his butt off he was able to understand the correct pattern to run based on the defense. This allowed him to get open and be a very effective secondary receiver for the Patriots.

Physically Jackson has more gifts which will allow him to get open easier than Givens but time will tell if he ever becomes a professional WR. One that understand the dynamics of an NFL passing attack and how route rounning and adjustments are critical to offensive execution.

Exactly. Many valid points made here about quickness and the physical dimension of route-running. But many designed routes (I wish I knew what percentage) have to be changed on the fly. It seems to me that Brady's comfort level is a function of his confidence in a WR's reading of the defensive coverage -- and his choice on when and how to break off the base pattern to the open space given by the defense in a particular coverage scheme, especially but not only in secondary blitzes. The receivers must learn to think as Brady thinks, and maybe vice versa. I don't how you measure this execpt by the number of times Brady throws to a particular guy. Here's hoping Chad Jackson has been watching a ton of tape with Brady and that he's a tad brighter than Bethel Johnson.