I am very ignorant so before someone tells me I don't know **** about football for saying this, just know I agree.
I don't know why it's so hard for rookies to catch on. Other than becoming a professional and all the other side things that being paid to play football brings, how much different is the principle? Learn the playbook, learn your job. Is that really so hard that rookies need a whole damn year to pick it up? Do they really need months upon months of offseason workouts that bad to know "when this play is called, I do this." I just don't really get it
I've read and been told
most teams try to get a player acquainted / acclimated to their system year one. Practice habits, how they like you to run routes/rush the passer, film study, playbook - big difference in some cases, others not so much. But a lot more situation stuff. Lot more details. Teams want you to be a
Patriot or Steeler or w/e team you're on.
Year two is when they really focus on the players traits and development. So when you see rookies perform right away it's usually a good thing.
More specifically for a CB/WR for example - spacing. Hashes are different in college/pro. Generally a lot more space, things are a lot tighter in the NFL. Press man is a lot better. Again in general you're going against a technical sound corner who's fluent in all coverages. Also it's a lot more physical but guys are so good at hiding it. There's a big jump for those two positions imo but I know from talking to people and reading that spacing is something some have to adjust to at first.
Defense - Defense matters more in college. I tried explaining this to Andy before but he just heard college > pro and put his fingers in his ears.
You might go a season or 5-6 games without seeing an NFL defender never mind 11 great defenders. Recruiting, Coaching preferences etc and you'll generally see, year after year talent/certain players will go to certain schools. So you'll see the lopsided effect in many ways but defense is a big one. So when you have a good sound defense in college it's matters, a lot. Everyone in the NFL is good. Think about it right now, who's got the best defense in the NFL? I'm sure you can pinpoint rankings but the drop off isn't huge. Certainly not as big as it is in college. This is something that can't go understated in the jump. You're going against grown men who do this 24/7.
Expanding here the talent level across the board is just enormous. The backups are really good whereas the backups in college
might be playing another sport or working at some firm, maybe coaching. Everyone in the NFL is good, unbelievably good. I think the biggest disparity is at WR/CB though. The technique, refinement, patience is top notch every snap. Everything is tighter, again this is where spacing comes in. You don't have as much space or time to work.
QB's - something I always hear is tempo, command in huddle and snap cadences. Some haven't taken snaps from under center in live action or really huddled up. Even if you practice these things, lice action is so different. A lot of time you're just outscoring teams in college. NFL is a lot more situational to might have to huddle up, burn time, change a play but keep an alert, hurried up pace. NFL defenders will eat up your cadence if you're not careful. Again all this pre-snap stuff that might not show up but matters a lot between plays.
You go from every coach, school official, teacher wanting to protect you. To coaches who need production and all-world athletes looking to take snaps from you. Adversity sets in and you don't have the same support system so it's important who you let around you. Your inside circle or we. That's very important.
Offensive line is another one. For years even now its tough finding well rounded, versatile OL. More specifically guys that can play along the line. Take care of business driving people off the line using core (hips/stomach) then hitting the second level. Footwork, core strength. You have some great athletes that can get in space and move but a lot of time they're not being taught the hand usage either.
I'm sure there are books written or chapters dedicated to this bc it's enormous jump.