Mar 06 2008
Does the NFL Lack Creativity?
Here’s a subject that ought to raise everyone’s hackles.
A few weeks ago, Jaguars.com editor Vic Ketchman moaned about the lack of creativity in the National Football League. Here’s what Ketchman wrote:
It’s a shame so many of those athletic-type quarterbacks are not having their talents fully utilized in the pro game. They have to make a position switch because their talents don’t fit the game. When is someone going to take a chance on fitting the game to their talents? Atlanta did some of that with Michael Vick and they did it with success, but there was a constant undercurrent of criticism that Vick wasn’t a true quarterback. Nobody likes a true pocket passer more than I do, but a true quarterback is a player at that position who leads you to victories and championships and I don’t care how he does it. Antwaan Randle El had to play wide receiver and Michael Robinson had to become a running back. What position will Pat White have to play? It all doesn’t make sense to me. Why struggle with retread quarterbacks who aren’t going to take you anywhere but down? Why not try something bold and creative?
It’s an interesting topic, because we talk a lot about creativity in other forms of football — especially in soccer, where many countries value creative play over strength and speed, and players highly regarded for their creativity earn praise. In the NFL, though, boldness and creativity are not valued, and for a very simple reason — the last time someone did something bold and creative in the NFL, they lost games and got fired.
Remember the old run & shoot offense? That lasted for less than a decade before everyone realized that no team that utilized it would ever win a Super Bowl. Want to know why no one will ever try to run the spread-option in the NFL? If it fails, the coach who implemented it will be blackballed by every team in the league and will end up at some WAC school because it’s the only job opening left.
Actually, that’s just half the story with the spread option. The other half is that defenses are too fast in the NFL. Rich Rodriguez could get away with it at WVU because Pat White and Steve Slaton were usually faster than anyone else on the field. What happens when the linebackers and safeties can run the 40 in 4.4 seconds, too?
Too much pressure on coaches and too much speed on defense means the NFL, by default, keeps its positions clearly defined. Quarterbacks must be traditional drop-back passers in the NFL, because that’s how teams succeed. You can be flexible in other forms of football, because players aren’t regarded as chess pieces. You can be flexible in college football, too, because you’re not playing the best of the best every week.
Think about it. Why did Ron Mexico have only one long playoff run before becoming a jailbird? Why was Kordell Stewart eventually chased out of Pittsburgh? Why were Vince Young’s numbers great in Texas but terrible with the Tennessee Titans? Why is Antwaan Randle El, who threw the best looking pass for the Steelers in all of Super Bowl XL, relegated to slot receiver, special teams and trick plays?
Not all college quarterbacks are NFL quarterbacks. Those guys can’t rely on their athleticism in the NFL, because their opponents are just as athletic as they are. If a coach bets the farm on an athletic QB and builds a new offense around him, what happens when that QB gets hurt? Wave the farm goodbye, coach.
Thus, being bold and creative rarely pays off over the long haul in the NFL. There’s a time and a place to experiment with everything, and it’s called college. Once you’re a working professional, though, it’s time to give up the experiments and live a normal life like the rest of us. That’s why Pat White will never be an NFL quarterback. That’s just how pro football works in America.
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Is it always michael vick’s fault the falcon’s didn’t win a super bowl during his tenure? Peerless Price as a #1 wide receiver, michael jenkins and roddy white being #2 and #3 wide receivers, jim mora being an absolutely terrible head coach, simply not being as good as the eagles the year they went to the nfc championship had to have something to do with it. That’s why price is on an nfl roster right now and warrick dunn was able to run up the middle with ease last year because linebackers were spying the QB?
“what happens if your quarterback gets hurt?”
thats true, its too bad the carolina panthers built their offense around superhuman athlete jake delhomme, in retrospect, that was a bad idea.
I don’t think the Falcons ever truly committed to Vick’s talents, and now we’ll never know if doing so would have extended Mora’s career in Atlanta or ended it much, much sooner. I always wondered what would have happened if Atlanta had got a player like Randle El to back up Vick and had Michael Bishop (or insert your favorite not-an-NFL-QB). That would have been an experiment of trans-Spurrier proportions, and I would have loved to have seen a couple of seasons worth of it.
That said, there is a place for creativity in the NFL, one just can’t expect it to take the same form it would in soccer. Think more in terms of a Brett Favre jump pass or the Dan Marino fake spike. I’d even include a runner like Barry Sanders whose vision made him the arbiter of where the running lanes were; Sanders was sheer joy to watch, and shame on the Lions for never surrounding him with an adequate passing game (Ditto for Marino, the Dolphins, and a running game).
The creativity is there, but I do understand that the penalties for failing in one’s attempts to be creative can be so disastrous (loss of possession or even instant opponent score) that it seems only the great ones can get away with it for longer than a few pre-season games, and even for the great ones it is a rather subtle brand of creativity.
Richard: At least Delhomme can run an offense. All Ookie ever did was run. The real mistake was signing David Carr, who couldn’t run a Wing Stop.
Carolina didn’t build the offense around Delhomme, either. That offense was built around a running game where the starting running back had lost a step because of injuries and had developed butterfingers to boot. Why DeShaun Foster was allowed to keep starting as long as he did still baffles me. He should have gone back to the 3rd-down blocking back role he had in 2003 and let DeAngelo Williams get 20-25 carries a game.
And yes, it’s always going to be Ookie’s fault, because no receiver worth his salt ever wanted to play for him. Receivers are selfish brats who want the ball all the time, and they were never going to get the stats they wanted in Atlanta with Ookie behind center. The same thing is happening in Tennessee right now. Who wants to catch Vince Young’s passes if he’s only going to throw the ball 75% as much as Brady, Romo or either Manning?
And hey, isn’t Senor Mexico’s favorite tight end in Nashville now? I wonder why…
it all depends on how you define creativity. if it’s a diversity of systems, well the nfl will never measure up with college football. there are a galaxy of teams in college ball, and yes the defenders in the nfl are too fast for some of the flash and gun stuff. however, how to use the players on the field in new and exciting ways, then i think the nfl measures up all right.
the game plan of the packers in the divisional round victory over the seahawks used a two fullback inverted wishbone in their zone-stretch running plays that allowed ryan grant to pick from a variety of holes on the playside and backside of the blocking. he only ripped the seahawks for 201 yards (after those early horrible fumbles). or what about the patriots offense through the regular season? they unabashedly ran a spread offense with a legitimate deep threat, something to balance all those quick hitches and bubble screens.
the fact is a good nfl offense can contain aspects of every offense that came before it. sure, some coaches rigorously adhere to a system, but the most successful can get pretty creative, whether it’s belichick or jason garrett in dallas or mccarthy in green bay or rex ryan in baltimore (yes, d-coordinator, i know, but very bold!)… creativity is all a matter of how you look at it.
NFL LBs and safeties aren’t as fast as Pat White and Noel Devine.
Sean: Reggie Nelson ran a 4.35 40, which I believe was White’s fastest 40 time, too. And it’s not just about speed for defenders. It’s also about positioning. White might burn you a few times at first, but once defenders have learned his tendencies, he’ll be crushed.
I’m not the only one who remembers Darrell Green, right?
I think there should be laterals on almost every play. no huddle offense, kamikaze, direct snaps to multiple players. this would work with athletes.
at least it would be fun to see for one season, even if they got wiped out, but i actually believe it presents a lot of high risk, but high reward scenarios that could produce an entertaining and moderately successful team
I agree. I wish NFL teams would lateral the ball more, even if it’s just a hook and ladder play. If the play is specificaly designed for a lateral at a certain point, with conditionals, the risk is considerably diminished. Lateralling every play is a terrible idea, and the team would never hold a possession into the redzone, but once or twice a game at least can’t be that bad, if the team practices and plans well.
smart aggressiveness/risk > conservativeness
That being said, the Titans are one of my favourite teams in the NFL :S.
Creativity in the NFL does exist, there are some fine examples listed above. The problem, if it is a problem? is you have one maybe two games before the coordinator on the other team has watched hours of film and figured out away to stop you. Then it’s back to the drawing board. I think two very good examples of creativity are New England (who will throw a TD to anyone on the team). And Pittsburgh under Cower, who ran some interesting trick plays.