(02-20-2018, 07:04 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: Bullseye, you have pinpointed the biggest issue of the offseason.
The thing I love about football is the same thing I love about music- the endless complexity which produces a result that is pure art. Everything has to be in sync, and everything works together to produce success. Getting Fournette an extra half yard requires contributions from everyone- all 11 guys. Push the defenders out of the way, or lure them out of the box, or deceive them, or beat them up. We have to have every tool in our toolbox.
I've heard people say, "Great teams do what they want regardless of what the other team does." I don't think that is true in this day and age. I don't think we should try to force our will against a defense that is lined up to stop the run. I think we should throw over it. Get more weapons, game plan better, and call better plays. It's the totality of everything that will produce that extra half yard for Fournette.
Personally, I like the idea of our first two picks being TE and OL in no particular order. When they put 8 men in the box, we absolutely must punish them for that. I think a great TE would be a huge asset.
I think your analogy between football and music is a good one. No one thing in football occurs in a vacuum. If one thing goes wrong, there is the potential for disaster, no matter which side of the ball you are talking about. An offensive playcaller can call the absolute right play for the defense that is presented. But if a receiver incorrectly runs a route, whether at the wrong length or just flat out running the wrong route, everything else can be executed perfectly, but the play could result in an incompletion or INT. If the RB does not effectively carry out the play fake, perhaps the LBs do not bite underneath, not creating enough clearance for the receivers running behind them. An incompletion or INT can result then. If the receivers run the right routes and the RB executes the play fake perfectly, the QB can make the right reads, both pre snap and during the play, but if one lineman out of five misses his block or is beaten, the QB can throw an incompletion, INT, can get sacked, fumble, hurt, or some combination of the above. In a gap control defense, if one guy decides to freelance and leaves his gap, that could result in a first down or TD.
There is something to the idea that a great team can impose its will on an opponent. However, I think part of that is the idea that a great team can effectively disguise its will, because they have effective alternatives to their strengths that can make opponents pay for trying to take away their strengths.
Worst to 1st. Curse Reversed!
