Hopefully it fit or you're probably still on the pot with no feeling in your legs.
Oh I clean up quick
can you expand on this "is it worse in the NFL" ?
I was wondering if the transition to pro-play for American football is the largest gap between college -> pro, in terms of both skill and scheme. I remember a few years ago there being a lot of talk about how Olinemen were having a harder time than ever adjusting to pro-blocking schemes, and how the jump in expected QB play was huge relative to most sports. The thought being that, this makes drafting difficult - a lot of times a player stands out in college. For some it's that they could rely on athletics easily and then they get to the NFL and realize you need more than
just that. For some, it could be that - if that gap in play from college to pros is true - they're having difficulty with the pace/scheme/level of the NFL.
College & NFL are the same but very different in some regards. I've talked about this a few times but the size of the field is the same, 53 1/3 but the hashes are much different. NFL is a little under 20 feet, I forget exactly but roughly like 18.5 - 19 feet. Whereas in college it's double that, like 40 feet.
That makes a big impact on where the ball is spotted. How you might line up. What you might call. Easier to run spread.
I've talked to enough players and read enough about it to know it affects certain players at least in the short term. Mostly WR/TE who work in the middle of the field. Spacing is a huge part of football so you can imagine it might mess with someone a little initially. The lines are a little blurred today with the rule changes, more teams running college stuff. Its still a man vs man equation in the NFL. Man vs space in college.
It matters a lot. It's something rarely brought up if at all that's a big difference.
Seems like you're speaking to what I'm discussing, and even bringing up field differences - I didn't even consider that. I could see that being huge in offenses that were like the Brady days and timing is everything.
As far as RPO. The NFL is still adapting and getting used used the RPO. Make no mistake there are some wonderful coaches in the league but it's a thick shell that's tough to penetrate in terms of change, new ideas, new coaches. We see a ton retreads with little change when you think about how vaste football is.
So basically in college you can take a few steps (3) while in the league it's one. You really have to be creative with design and on point with timing. Like we know why we wouldn't run any with Harry. So teams might be afraid of penalties but there's no evidence to suggest refs are looking for this. And even if the throw a flag make them throw it every time. We've seen DB's and DL take advantage of physical play outside and other things. you have something that works why not take advantage? It's not against the rules.
It'd be interesting to not how much penalties affect a college-pro transition. I don't know how you'd measure that, but especially with DB's, you have to be
so damn good and smart. You have to really learn how to be as physical as possible in a position that is under a microscope. This is why I loved Gilmore. Nearly flawless technique. Rarely did he have a great pass defended where I was holding my breath, waiting for a flag to come out. Every time he played the ball, it was too damn clean to dispute.
I want to inject this now - I do not watch much college ball. So take my points more as posed questions. And thank you for always answering in length!
I have no stats on this but I would have to believe you have a higher % of a positive play with RPO vs a regular run, especially one between the tackles. There's just so much built in that helps you succeed vs a normal run. I mean how often do we see an "illegal man" downfield on regular runs not called.
Teams should run more rpo with slants bc of how easy it is to complete and the yac opportunity. Tua built a career around that play.
There's plenty of room for growth there and NFL teams should be pushing the envelope not dusting off the old playbook.
I'm personally getting excited for seeing how defenses transition into attacking this - and seeing what the scheme trends out to be. One of the biggest things I've seen is actually a
player transition - LB's who have to do it all. Be fast, drop into coverage, etc. - it'd be cool to hear how
scheme has changed. Lighter fronts have definitely popped up.
It's tough bc Bill has supreme job security. The NFL is a turnover machine. It's a little tough to compare and contrast between someone rebuilding from scratch vs Bill but definitely useful.
A huge huge huge thing in the NFL. Not sure if other pro sports are the same, but owners do not have patience in the sport that, of all, demands patience. So many coaches, so many philosophies, so many moving parts at once. Bill said that you can't judge a HC until at least year 3 of their job. Changing the organization of a football team is a systemic undertaking.
Again there should be a lot more talk, accountability and transparency in the draft space. Comparing GM's, media, draft geeks. I welcome an unearthing here.
There's so many layers here.
Coaching matters. A lot. Especially when the margins are super thin.
First off let me say how wrong I was about Tomlin. I admitted this last year when AB was going nuclear and that only grows stronger. AB, Ben, Harrison, Bell and on and on and he just kept winning. Hats off.
I think we all hated Tomlin to the point where we don't give him enough credit. I kinda feel the same about John Harbaugh.
I'm still very much player > coach. You wont see a good or even great coach move the needle on a bad team but we've seen good-great QB's or teams drag guys like McCarthy, Pete, Rex and others to the playoffs. But yea they matter. Back in the day players were soldiers in some cases. Literally responded to orders. Today players would go into trigger tweeting crying from their mansion. The chemistry has to be there today.
Players win games, coaches lose them. One of the few constant truths in this world.
Look into who's good drafting between RDS 4-7. Who's good in the media? Does any team draft one position better than everyone else (like Pitt and WR)
Almost anything would be useful bc there's still so much to learn in that space.
I wish I had the gusto to do research on this stuff like I do city budgets. Because there is a dearth of analysis that is actually worthwhile in the NFL while sexy stats inflate viewership. A historical and analytical compendium of drafting would be stellar. Also, a book that details the progression of the NFL offense by examining the transformation of the fullback position, but I'm biased about that one
Sorry about the late response. Life has been hectic. Thanks again for your responses.
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