Operation Sports Forums - View Single Post - Sound Off: Time To Slow Down College Offenses?

elgreazy1 · 02-21-2014, 10:43 AM

As much as I hate the gimmick of it, I enjoy the hurry up offenses because they put the ball in the hands of playmakers. That's what every sport wants: dynamic players making explosive, highlight-reel plays that results in points.

I'm not a fan of all the constant tweaks because it's being thrown under the guise of player safety. Plus, there is not a long enough sample size taken to see how new rules affect the game before newer rules are added. Football is definitely morphing into something different. Things are far less structured and "templated" and now taking on elements of basketball, rugby, and hockey. Players are more reactionary which speeds up the game.

With that said, my biggest gripe is that players are no longer students of the game. When tempo has the utmost importance, players tend to lose technique, don't have to learn to diagnose plays, and rely solely on athleticism. It drives me mad when an college QB looks to the sideline to essentially have everything fed to him, it shows there is no onus on the player to learn his craft. This is why coaches love the spread offenses: players only need to learn a small sampling before they contribute, but the players themselves learn nothing of the sport which will keep their careers going long term.

We see the trickle down and trickle up of this already. Defenders are abysmal tacklers, take horrible angles, can't seem to read offenses, etc. Where as on offense, we see WRs & QBs transitioning quickly to the NFL - remember when it took until "year 3" of these positions before they were solid contributors? - but then when these players face smart, schemes/teams, they crumble and get exploited.

In all, it just feels really unfortunate that the game is solely being geared to benefit the offense. We saw this in the NBA in the last decade or so when defenders could no longer get physical, so point totals shot up drastically, offensive stats blossomed, and technique/fundamentals get downright sloppy. There were far too many "kids" basically playing street ball. And since the NBA offenses have more pull, things like "flopping" became a phenomenon. Can you imagine even 5 years ago an NFL player getting away with flopping? What about 10, 15 years? Now we see WR's calling for a flag more so than fighting for the reception.

02-21-2014, 10:43 AM	#14
elgreazy1 MVP OVR: 28 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Austin, TX Blog Entries: 8	As much as I hate the gimmick of it, I enjoy the hurry up offenses because they put the ball in the hands of playmakers. That's what every sport wants: dynamic players making explosive, highlight-reel plays that results in points. I'm not a fan of all the constant tweaks because it's being thrown under the guise of player safety. Plus, there is not a long enough sample size taken to see how new rules affect the game before newer rules are added. Football is definitely morphing into something different. Things are far less structured and "templated" and now taking on elements of basketball, rugby, and hockey. Players are more reactionary which speeds up the game. With that said, my biggest gripe is that players are no longer students of the game. When tempo has the utmost importance, players tend to lose technique, don't have to learn to diagnose plays, and rely solely on athleticism. It drives me mad when an college QB looks to the sideline to essentially have everything fed to him, it shows there is no onus on the player to learn his craft. This is why coaches love the spread offenses: players only need to learn a small sampling before they contribute, but the players themselves learn nothing of the sport which will keep their careers going long term. We see the trickle down and trickle up of this already. Defenders are abysmal tacklers, take horrible angles, can't seem to read offenses, etc. Where as on offense, we see WRs & QBs transitioning quickly to the NFL - remember when it took until "year 3" of these positions before they were solid contributors? - but then when these players face smart, schemes/teams, they crumble and get exploited. In all, it just feels really unfortunate that the game is solely being geared to benefit the offense. We saw this in the NBA in the last decade or so when defenders could no longer get physical, so point totals shot up drastically, offensive stats blossomed, and technique/fundamentals get downright sloppy. There were far too many "kids" basically playing street ball. And since the NBA offenses have more pull, things like "flopping" became a phenomenon. Can you imagine even 5 years ago an NFL player getting away with flopping? What about 10, 15 years? Now we see WR's calling for a flag more so than fighting for the reception.