Be water, my friend.(Philosophy 101)

[algoody421]

Ok, Ive talked about this a little here and there, but its time to give some depth to this part of the game.

Every single draft cheat sheet I see on this board was done with balanced pretty much, and you know what, thats fine I guess. In order to understand who can do anything DECENTLY ENOUGH(not the best at anything but can handle their own in everything), balanced is a good baseline. But its not realistic when it comes to how the nfl works, what teams actually look for.

Like the topic says, you need to learn to be more like water than concrete. By this I mean, every year every nfl team has to find its identity. Now some teams have one thats deeply inbeded into them, like running the ball in pittsburg, and throwing it with mike martz.

But even in THOSE systems, when you KNOW you're gonna be a running or passing team, your philosophy can change from year to year BASED ON YOUR TALENT. For instance, using the chargers as example for this piece, I went from a field general in phillip rivers, to a pure passer in Rashanti Lankster(2nd year zazzali draft, sf austin, late pick).

Now its not to say Rashanti couldnt have played as a field general, in fact he had a potential of 92 there which made trading rivers all the more comfortable. But when I started checking the overalls for my players in different philosophies, his best was pure passer at 94. WHY STAY AT FIELD GENERAL THEN IF HE CAN BE BETTER AT PURE PASSER?

Now, for some players that are truly gifted, it wont matter what philosophy you pick, they will almost never move a number in potential. But some players just flat out suck as certain philosophies. For instance speed backs and wrs usually suck at everything else, because all they have going for them is track star feet. The exception is the guys who could have been just as good in balanced as speed because they can do everything else well, not just 95+ speed/acc.

But why change the philosophy before the regular season? Its believed they dont really effect the game play but I feel as though Ive seen differences under them. Even so, if that were merely an illusion, the point of changing philosophies is to find what you really have this year on your team. By knowing which philosophy best suits your starters, you can better play call for them.

IE your best rb is a speedster, so you now know you need to work on outside runs screens and pitches early on in the season to make the best use of him. If you're fb cant run routes because he's a blocker, you run more singleback or shot gun when you need to pass or pick plays where he just stays in to block. If your te cant block, you sub in backup tackles or a fb on runs you need to get the first.

I could go on but i think you get the point. Knowing your personnel means the world when it comes to playcalling. If you get beat on any play, its your fault because you put someone in a position they couldnt win.

So I change philosophy before the reg season, but the other reason, is so you find who you're truly looking for in the draft. Its for that reason that no matter what i end up with before the 4th game of preseason, at the end of the season, I go right back to what IM LOOKING FOR IN NEW PLAYERS. This is where you change to what you expect your players to be able to do so when your gm goes to pro days and the combine, etc, he's looking for people who fit your ideal scheme.

Heres my list for this current one and it usually works for most schemes.

QB Pure Passer(High passing stats) or Field General(high awareness)
HB Moves(juke stiff arm spin elusive) or Power(trucking break tackle)
FB Blocking(acc, imb, str, rbfw/s)
WR Quick Route runner(acc route running catch in traffic)
TE Either Blocking, or soft hand routes
T PASS(strength imb pbfw/s)
G RUN(acc agi imb rbfw/s)
C ZONE(high awareness)
DE Pass rusher
DT Run stopper
OLB cover 2 or blitzer
MLB cover 2 or tackler
CB Man Ball hawk
FS center fielder
SS Smart productive

Thats who Im looking for when I draft, because thats what I feel I need to focus on when scouting. I can see how fast someone is, how strong and size and all that. What I dont know is how well they will do the job I need them to do though if I set it to anything else. Just because a guy fits in prototype or balanced, doesnt mean he'll fit in those, and thats why I scout for those instead.

You can always fall back on prototype or speed size philosophies if the talent on your team doesnt fit what you were hoping to get, but thats for when you change after the 3rd week of preseason. Im always hoping the people I draft will fit the set shown though, because that means they will fit my system perfectly.

Your set might be different from mine, but dont just stick with balanced or prototype or speed just cause its easy to find talent in those or you have a cheat sheet. Seek the true gems that only fit in certain philosophies but will dominate for years in it...

[AnnetteWade]

I'm loving the information here. I generally just avoid the athleticism-based philosophies like Strong Arm/Tools, Speed, Size/Strength, and Prototype and then run whatever philosophies best fit my current offensive system.