Gerhart and Tebow controversies show what's wrong with the NFL...

[shotgun styles]

The NFL's structure is pushing good players out of football. These two guys are fantastic football players who will likely never get to play at their respective positions in the NFL. Why? Because in the NFL's relentless pursuit of money and ratings it has forgotten what this game was supposed to be about: great athletic competition.

The NFL has tried to create a track meet style game by outlawing defensive contact of any kind in the passing game and encouraging teams to throw the ball on every down. The net result is that some very talented players have become obsolete as the game has become softer and more technical in nature.

How the NFL's structure affects Toby Gerhart:

1. Over emphasis on RB speed. Emmit Smith, Curtis Martin and Jerome Bettis are 1, 4 and 5 on the all time rushing yardage list. They were all 4.6 or slower coming out of college. And still, Gerhart is being labeled a FB after running a 4.5 40 dash at the combine. Power backs are simply not getting the respect they deserve and this is largely due to the belief that they can't contribute to the passing game.

2. Over emphasis on RB elusiveness. Barry sanders was great. We all loved seeing him dodge guys and make people look silly. But power backs have tremendous value too, not just in short yardage. Bettis wore teams down more than he out ran them. After awhile these light weight DBs would just get tired of hitting him. That strategy is every bit as viable as running 20 pitches a game with Adrian Peterson and hoping he breaks one loose.

3. Over emphasis on RBs as receivers. So much of what the big time QBs do now is about dumping the ball off to HBs and hoping for them to break a big gain. This is largely because modern QBs cannot gain any substantial yardage themselves because the rules have bred all the athleticism out of the position. Unable to scramble, they ask their blocking backs to do the running for them. While I think receiving skills are valuable they should not outweigh a runner's ability to accomplish his primary goal: running the football.

We now have a league full of light weight running backs that are loathe to attempt imposing their will on defenses. This is because they'd much rather get the ball in space and try to do something spectacular. The net result is a loss of physicality in the game that someone like Gerhart would bring in spades.

How the NFL's structure impacts Tim Tebow:

1. Over emphasis on QB pinpoint accuracy. Because of the silly 5 yard chuck rules that make receivers untouchable, modern NFL defenses largely consist of zone flooding techniques. The goal is to make QBs throw the ball into the smallest window possible. As a result the best QBs are the ones who can thread the needle with pinpoint accuracy from the pocket. It also eliminates the need for QBs to have any level athleticism in order to move the ball or make plays. The term "you can't defend a perfect pass" is a direct result of the 1978 rules changes that implemented the 5 yard chuck. Moreover the timing needed to make these passes requires a finite release time from the QB's throwing motion. These skills are very difficult to master which is why there are so few high end QB's out there.

A great athlete like Tebow is wasted in the NFL. His running ability is basically useless because a less talented player with a more accurate arm will be able to do ALOT more damage in the NFL. This should not be the case. Talentless players should not be MORE SUCCESSFUL than talented ones. This game should be about great athletes competing, not about skilled technicians meeting proficiency standards.

2. Over emphasis on QB mechanics. Tebow is a gamer. No matter how much he tweaks what he does, he is what he is. The game has become too much about trying to master the finer points of elbow and wrist flexion and not enough about heart and courage. Tebow would surely have weaknesses in a league with more competitive rules, but he's be able to compete by making plays that less talented players couldn't. The need to have perfect timing and accuracy, derived from perfected mechanics, has meant that talent is moot. It is a sad state of affairs when football has become a game of golfers perfecting their back stroke.

Yes there are guys like Favre who can throw accurately and on time with terrible mechanics. But guys like him are extraordinarily rare. So the talented gamers like Pat White and Tim Tebow get moved to other positions and the soft-bodied, pot bellied technicians like Manning and Brady are moved to the front of the line. I don't know what to call this abomination, but it isn't football.

3. Under emphasis on QB courage. If you like Tebow or hate him, you cannot question his physical courage. If I have one complaint about modern QBs it's that they are cowardly. They fear and avoid contact in a game that is all about contact. If Ray Lewis, Troy Polamalu, or any other defensive player shirked contact the way Manning and Brady did people would run them down as yellow bellied pansies. But these same people view QB cowardess as some kind of virtue. They describe spineless acts of self preservation by QBs as "intelligent" and praise them for "protecting themselves". WHAT? Seriously?

This brings me to the other travesty about QBs in the NFL: the protection rules. Tebow would not NEED to throw the ball way to avoid a hit, he would lean into that linebacker and remind him that offensive players can hit too. That is the way the game should be played. Not by a bunch of lily livered jelly fish like Manning and Brady who flop on the ground at the first sign of trouble. Football players should be warriors. Gladiators. They should play the game like their lives depend on the outcome. Tebow plays this way, and it is a genuine tragedy that this fact is viewed as a negative by scouts. NFL coaches preach violence on defense and cowardice on offense. It's sad. It's sickening, and at the end of the day there is no place in today's NFL for the kind of players who made this league what it is so many decades ago.

[Schism 6]

Brady is not pot bellied nor soft bodied, lol. And are all your posts this ignorant?

[OSUFan_88]

Yes, this is the NFL driving them out, not their own talent.

If these guys are good enough to be in the NFL, they'll make it. I cannot believe someone actually thinks that a QB can succeed in the NFL without accuracy or RB's can succeed without having either speed, elusiveness or hands.

Again, if these guys have talents, they'll be found and used in the NFL, but you need to have some of the basics. Then again, you have made it perfectly clear that you hate the "new" NFL, so this thread doesn't surprise me.

[fugazi]

i agree more on the RB front...as for QBs, there aren't many inaccurate ones that last long or contribute steadily...

but as for RBs, i am willing to venture the notion that the Gerhart issue has as much to do with race as anything else. And why not? Who was the last "good" white RB? Riggins? Certainly not Touchdown Tommy Vardell...i am sure i am missing someone, but I can't remember anyone after Riggins.

That being said, I don't think the power came is ignored. IN fact, I think the RB-by-committee philosophy that has taken so long to come about should help Gerhart....Atlanta was deadly with Dunn and Duckett, and other teams employ(ed) great 1-2 punches, not the least of which was Pittsboigh with Bettis and Parker.

Less than a lack of respect for the power game per se, i think it is the move to a single-back offense that has brought about the decline in power running. More of a process through the back door, as opposed to being thrown out the front door.

I love power running, or committed running of any sort. I think a really dedicated running team that punished the defense regularly could be a perennial playoff contender. I would love to see Dallas commit to the run like they used to...if the RBs could stay healthy.

A battle of wills is often easier to win than a battle of skills, i would think...the passing game won't wear a defense...so late in the game the DBs are more "fresh" if they haven't had to contend with a big back, and thus a more difficult opponent in the passing game (which is what the offense would have been relying on to that point).

[KG]

How do you know they are good football players? They haven't played a down in the NFL. The list of NFL players that were great in college is a mile long.

Sounds fishy

[sb24]

This should get interesting. I cant wait to see where this debate goes.

[LionsFanNJ]

Despite his abrasiveness, I agree with some of Shotguns points. Curtis Martin's made a career of getting a steady 7 to 15 yard runs consistently and kept the chains moving. As for the backs as recievers argument, blame Bill Walsh

However regarding QB's, while i agree the rules handicap DB's take those rules away QB's like Manning and Brady would still be successful because they can still make the throws they need to, when they need to.

[shotgun styles]

Quote: Originally Posted by OSUFan_88

Again, if these guys have talents, they'll be found and used in the NFL, but you need to have some of the basics. Then again, you have made it perfectly clear that you hate the "new" NFL, so this thread doesn't surprise me.

The rules dictate what talents have value and which don't. With today's rules being a dominant physical corner is useless. You have to be super fast and shifty because you're not allowed to touch anyone. This is the point of my post. The rules have given more value to certain players, and devalued others.

Quote: Originally Posted by kgx2thez

How do you know they are good football players? They haven't played a down in the NFL. The list of NFL players that were great in college is a mile long. Sounds fishy

Being a good football player and being a good NFL player are not the same things. The NFL's rules favor certain types of players, pocket passers for example, over others. It's not about can these guys play football, it's about can they succeed under the NFL's rules and with the NFL's coaching biases.