The game has changed?

TW

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Excuse me! The game hasn't changed. Coaching just moved away from using RBs in the passing game. It was a cyclical thing, not some revelation last year that; "Gee! What if we used RBs in our passing game?"

The fact is, over the last several years, the RBs coming out of college just didn't seem to have the "hands" if you listen to some coaches talk about it. "They weren't taught to catch a football!"

Guess what? You could teach them when they get to the NFL, can't you? If you don't, all the talk of them being part of the passing game is pure hogwash, except in one other area, that I think is essential to being a quality RB in the league.

You need to develop good blocking technique, and how to use what is usually a lower center of gravity than that 300# coming at you, to turn your lack of size into a positive. You don't need to stop a speeding bullet, just divert a freight train, and that's 90% of your job in blocking as an RB What do we usually see? An RB getting into a semi-fetal position, hoping the guy won't maim him as he runs him over.

Realizing this is straight from Packer Pravda Central, it's great for motivating cheerleaders, but it also does show that their intent is to bring more attention to the shorter passing game which the Packers have lacked for some time now. Even the short crossing routes had been eliminated. Let's see how they actually go in this direction. Let's also see just how good our batch of RBs actually can play in the Le Fleur game plan.

RBs need to catch the ball!
 
Excuse me! The game hasn't changed. Coaching just moved away from using RBs in the passing game. It was a cyclical thing, not some revelation last year that; "Gee! What if we used RBs in our passing game?"

Can't agree on the game hasn't change because the inception of the spread has changed the game and not for the better IMHO. What is being taught now conceptually isn't the same in anyway shape or form that was taught 20 years ago.

Keep in my mind Hodkiewicz is a homer writer and his pieces have historically been powder puff type stories. I am not really sure where all these writers/bloggers are pulling this crap the past month but they sure haven't been studying ML approach to offensive football much.... sick(
 
Yes, the spread has changed the game. The problem is, like anything newer in the game, coaches tend to avoid giving it too much credence. That's a mistake.
 
Yes, the spread has changed the game. The problem is, like anything newer in the game, coaches tend to avoid giving it too much credence. That's a mistake.

Not really, I spent the better part of 5 of the last 12 yrs defending that offensive scheme. It's not rocket science and it was solved by Urban Meyer way back schematically. An example of why the so called magic bullet O isn't magic. The great Rodger Barta in 2003 faced a spread team averaging 70 points a game in the KS HS playoffs, given no chance running his Barta bone O he won that game 55-6 . How ? He had 8 plus minutes of possession each time they got the ball.... by the late 3rd the other team had enough and folded. Don't play their game..make them play yours.

Regardless of scheme. Run the FB, control the line of scrimmage, play sound defense and don't make stupid mistakes.

You'll win more than you lose most of the time following that recipe. sb(tc(
 
I've been away from the coaching end of the game long enough that I never actually did get involved with the spread. But, as far as defending it, like you said, once you understand it, it looks defensible. The biggest thing is that the options seem to force defenses to cover sideline to sideline more than they do against most offenses.

I do laugh though when I see teams use the Wildcat, knowing it ends up more of a cluster than a valuable play more often than not. Then I look at Detroit, and their version of a spread offense over the years, and realize.... it ain't getting you to the promised land. But, that's just my opinion. Calvin Johnson made any offense look good. He was sick!
 
The spread also changed player development on both sides of the ball. RB are not part of the passing game, guys who should be playing safety are LB’s at the college level and guys who should be RB in some cases are moved to WR. When these guys get to the next level they are not prepared in so many ways.
 
One more point on this. College coaches are not paid to “develop” players for the next level, they are paid to win championships. So a kid comes to the pro level it’s so difficult to “teach” how to block or catch a ball since 4 to 8 years of poor technique has been ingrained into kids and it’s habit. And with the limits the CBA puts on practice you don’t have the time to install a system and teach fundamentals. It’s more about winning than development
 
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