Sunday, February 10, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
My NFL Team Strategy
If I ran an NFL team, I would emphasize having good offensive and defensive lines. I would attempt to increase the number of players that would be productive members of the team by having these good lines and by accepting smaller players who are "fast enough" to play at positions other than on one of the lines. I would run a conservative "possession" offense to cut down on big negative plays and to eat up as much clock on offense as possible. What follows are the details of what I would do.
I would try to have a very good offensive line. I would accomplish this by using a draft pick from the first three rounds each year on an offensive lineman. Having a very good offensive line does a bunch of good things for your team. It increases the number of players who can be productive QBs, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends. This makes finding those players easier. Offensive free agents will want to come to your team if they know the offensive line is top notch. You can also play "lesser" talent at those skill positions and still get good results. You can run the ball better and potentially eat up clock and use your running game to setup the passing game.
I would try to have a very good defensive line. I would draft one defensive lineman each year in the first three rounds of the draft. A good defensive line helps stop both the run and the pass (by generating a pass rush). A good defensive line also increases opponent's turnovers.
If I have too many offensive or defense lineman because I drafted one each a year, I would trade away the older players for draft picks.
I would try to trade the remaining pick from the first three rounds each year to pick up additional picks in that year's draft or future drafts.
If I have one or more first three round picks that I can't trade, I would draft a player that plays at the line of scrimmage, a corner back, a tight end, or a wide receiver. I would probably draft a good corner back in an early round over any of the other positions.
With my remaining draft picks I would draft the other positions. My main focus would be getting players that are fast enough to play at some position in the NFL. If I end up with a small team at every other position beside the offensive and defensive lines, so be it.
I would use free agency each year to plug holes at various positions on the team and to pick up the kinds of players I wasn't getting in the draft.
On defense, I would run a 4-3 defense. For linebackers, I would use fast enough, bigger, and good tackling college safeties. For safeties I would use college corner backs that aren't fast enough to play corner in the NFL. Using players at a position they are fast enough to play at without regard to size will increase the number of usable players. There should be undrafted players each year that could contribute to the team by repositioning players as described. By using players that are not desired by other teams, you greatly increase your pool of players to draw from.
The defense described above could potentially be good against both the run and the pass. The defensive line would be good and could stop the run and have a decent pass rush. The linebackers (the college safeties) should be big/fast enough to play the run and big/fast enough to cover tight ends and running backs out of the backfield.
The main weakness of this defense would be against tall/big receivers down the field. This weakness is mitigated somewhat by the pass rush and by the fact that throwing long passes is one of the more risky and difficult things to do in the NFL. Also, I wouldn't except the defensive backs to get beat more than "normal" defensive backs. They would just lose "jump ball" situations more.
On offense, I would run a "possession" type offense. I would try to methodically move the ball down the field with short to medium passes and with about as many rushing plays as passing plays. I would be very conservative in my play calling. The offense would try to minimize big negative plays, turnovers and big losses. I might run a bunch of two receiver/two tight end sets.
Once the offense reached the opponent's side of the field, I would go for it on almost all 4th downs of five yards or less. That would result in more TDs, more time taken off the clock, and put more pressure on the other team's defense.
I think the plan described is different from how any current NFL team is run and it has the potential for good results over a long period of time.
I would try to have a very good offensive line. I would accomplish this by using a draft pick from the first three rounds each year on an offensive lineman. Having a very good offensive line does a bunch of good things for your team. It increases the number of players who can be productive QBs, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends. This makes finding those players easier. Offensive free agents will want to come to your team if they know the offensive line is top notch. You can also play "lesser" talent at those skill positions and still get good results. You can run the ball better and potentially eat up clock and use your running game to setup the passing game.
I would try to have a very good defensive line. I would draft one defensive lineman each year in the first three rounds of the draft. A good defensive line helps stop both the run and the pass (by generating a pass rush). A good defensive line also increases opponent's turnovers.
If I have too many offensive or defense lineman because I drafted one each a year, I would trade away the older players for draft picks.
I would try to trade the remaining pick from the first three rounds each year to pick up additional picks in that year's draft or future drafts.
If I have one or more first three round picks that I can't trade, I would draft a player that plays at the line of scrimmage, a corner back, a tight end, or a wide receiver. I would probably draft a good corner back in an early round over any of the other positions.
With my remaining draft picks I would draft the other positions. My main focus would be getting players that are fast enough to play at some position in the NFL. If I end up with a small team at every other position beside the offensive and defensive lines, so be it.
I would use free agency each year to plug holes at various positions on the team and to pick up the kinds of players I wasn't getting in the draft.
On defense, I would run a 4-3 defense. For linebackers, I would use fast enough, bigger, and good tackling college safeties. For safeties I would use college corner backs that aren't fast enough to play corner in the NFL. Using players at a position they are fast enough to play at without regard to size will increase the number of usable players. There should be undrafted players each year that could contribute to the team by repositioning players as described. By using players that are not desired by other teams, you greatly increase your pool of players to draw from.
The defense described above could potentially be good against both the run and the pass. The defensive line would be good and could stop the run and have a decent pass rush. The linebackers (the college safeties) should be big/fast enough to play the run and big/fast enough to cover tight ends and running backs out of the backfield.
The main weakness of this defense would be against tall/big receivers down the field. This weakness is mitigated somewhat by the pass rush and by the fact that throwing long passes is one of the more risky and difficult things to do in the NFL. Also, I wouldn't except the defensive backs to get beat more than "normal" defensive backs. They would just lose "jump ball" situations more.
On offense, I would run a "possession" type offense. I would try to methodically move the ball down the field with short to medium passes and with about as many rushing plays as passing plays. I would be very conservative in my play calling. The offense would try to minimize big negative plays, turnovers and big losses. I might run a bunch of two receiver/two tight end sets.
Once the offense reached the opponent's side of the field, I would go for it on almost all 4th downs of five yards or less. That would result in more TDs, more time taken off the clock, and put more pressure on the other team's defense.
I think the plan described is different from how any current NFL team is run and it has the potential for good results over a long period of time.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
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