After stepping away from blogging for a few months I decided to go ahead and toss out an idea that goes against the most traditional logic in the NFL; that games in the NFL are no longer won simply by fitting college players into complex schemes, but instead are won by finding, and taking advantage of your players individual athletic, and mental strengths. Then building an offensive, and defensive scheme based around them.
The game of football is constantly changing. Looking as far back to the time before the forward pass, football coaches have spent hours hunched over notebooks drawing up formations, and plays they feel will outwit their opponents own formations, and schemes. Decades have gone by, and coaches become very good at fitting players into their game plans, and the best coaches have risen to the top. This has been the status quo for as long as I can remember. The game has changed. Coaches, and organizations will either adjust, or suffer the consequences.
In todays NFL we are witnessing players who are bigger, stronger, and faster than at any point in our history. During the 1960's and 1970's you were considered a big player if you weighed 230lbs. There are wide receivers in today's NFL who weigh 230lbs, and they can also run as fast as world class sprinters. You have tight ends like Rob Gronkowski who played the game at 6'7 and 270lbs going out for passes against linebackers, and safeties sometimes giving up 7 inches, and 70lbs to him. There have always been "special" players who seem to operate on another level than their competition. Players like Jim Brown, and Earl Campbell come to mind, but these players were the exception, not the rule. As players continue to get bigger, and more athletic the game has had to change to accommodate their skill sets.
I would argue that in today's NFL having players who can play multiple positions, in multiple schemes is just as important as having players who tend to specialize in one scheme. Having that ability is probably more evident right now on the defensive side of the ball. Having linebackers who can play physical against the run, but also are able to cover running backs, and tight ends is becoming mandatory. We are seeing safeties having to be able to cover a wide receiver on one play, and be the eighth man in the box on the next play. I think this is a trend we are going to see continue to become what is considered the "norm".
We are starting to see this in the most innovative offenses of today as well with players like Christian McCaffery, Alvin Kamara, Tyrek Hill, and others. These are players who are incredibly gifted athletically, so much so that they can play another position on offense and create glaring match up problems for opposing defenses. Tight ends have always been used as the proverbial "offensive multi tool". The best guys like Shannon Sharpe, Tony Gonzales, or Antonio Gates were rare in that they were excellent blockers, but could run routes like a wide receiver. As offensive coordinators become more creative we will probably see wide receivers who can line up and play tight end, tight ends who can play fullback, and whatever other match up problems they can exploit based on the physical abilities of their players. Make no mistake, having a good offensive, and defensive scheme is still important. However, probably more so now than at any time in the history of the game, the ability to create, and take advantage of mismatches based upon the athletically ability of your players can be the deciding factor between winning and losing the game.
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