CBA hurting player development

This is an insightful article about how the new CBA and its rules surrounding practice time is hurting player development. Written by a former NFL player, he touches on specifics to how the strict rules regarding sheltered practices and reduced practice time is stunting player development, which was not an issue in the previous CBA.

tldr:
- no contact practices hurts WRs and how they can practice combating press coverage
- coaches are worried about installing the playbook so individual drills suffer
- OLmen from college spread offenses, WR route running, tackling are areas affected
- players that are considered physical freaks, but are raw, don't get proper development
- late round draft picks that need coaching up suffer from less practice reps/time

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/16370346/nfl-offseason-disaster-rookies-players-roster-bubble

(snippets from article)
Rookies still need reps in press-man (hands, contact), tackling drills in the open field (come to balance, square up, shoot the arms), one-on-one pass rush and so much more. That's excellent work in the offseason and vital for rookies. And you can do all of that in shorts and helmets with smart, effective coaching.

But with such limited time on the field and not enough reps in true competitive situations, rookies aren't getting the correct orientation into the league.
"Things get left unresolved after practice," the coach said. "Guys aren't allowed to get better."

Think of the players who come into the league with supreme athleticism but undeveloped skill sets.

OTAs are now used to teach the basics. That means installing the playbook is the priority for position coaches. You can't play unless you can line up, right? But that has created a league more heavily invested in alignment and assignment than technique and execution with rookies.

Added another coach with NFL experience: "No question the new rules inhibit your ability to develop players over time. The late-round guys and free agents are really hurt by these rules. So, in turn, the depth of all the clubs continues to suffer."

Originally posted by thl408:
This is an insightful article about how the new CBA and its rules surrounding practice time is hurting player development. Written by a former NFL player, he touches on specifics to how the strict rules regarding sheltered practices and reduced practice time is stunting player development, which was not an issue in the previous CBA.

tldr:
- no contact practices hurts WRs and how they can practice combating press coverage
- coaches are worried about installing the playbook so individual drills suffer
- OLmen from college spread offenses, WR route running, tackling are areas affected
- players that are considered physical freaks, but are raw, don't get proper development
- late round draft picks that need coaching up suffer from less practice reps/time

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/16370346/nfl-offseason-disaster-rookies-players-roster-bubble

(snippets from article)
Rookies still need reps in press-man (hands, contact), tackling drills in the open field (come to balance, square up, shoot the arms), one-on-one pass rush and so much more. That's excellent work in the offseason and vital for rookies. And you can do all of that in shorts and helmets with smart, effective coaching.

But with such limited time on the field and not enough reps in true competitive situations, rookies aren't getting the correct orientation into the league.
"Things get left unresolved after practice," the coach said. "Guys aren't allowed to get better."

Think of the players who come into the league with supreme athleticism but undeveloped skill sets.

OTAs are now used to teach the basics. That means installing the playbook is the priority for position coaches. You can't play unless you can line up, right? But that has created a league more heavily invested in alignment and assignment than technique and execution with rookies.

Added another coach with NFL experience: "No question the new rules inhibit your ability to develop players over time. The late-round guys and free agents are really hurt by these rules. So, in turn, the depth of all the clubs continues to suffer."

Man, those last three stand out a lot to me across the NFL and especially with us...although we seem to have some success with late round players. And very interesting point about how FA's are hurt by this as well. "We are a draft and development team" --- I wonder if this is why we continually have such large staffs; specialists who can help develop players quicker; compartmentalize.

Originally posted by NCommand:
Man, those last three stand out a lot to me across the NFL and especially with us...although we seem to have some success with late round players. And very interesting point about how FA's are hurt by this as well. "We are a draft and development team" --- I wonder if this is why we continually have such large staffs; specialists who can help develop players quicker; compartmentalize.

Yeah, some problems start at the college level - OLmen and WRs running a limited route tree. Those shortcomings wouldn't be as detrimental if the NFL coaches were allowed more time to coach up the youngsters though. I think it's the combination of those two things (simplistic college offenses, less practice time in NFL) that make it a real issue. Every team has to deal with it, but as fans we are seeing a lesser product on the field. As players, many who may have made it with more coaching won't make it in the league.

Well, if college football programs focused on preparing athletes for pro play, this wouldn't be an issue. Instead, they're focused on wins only.

Originally posted by jedediahyork:
Well, if college football programs focused on preparing athletes for pro play, this wouldn't be an issue. Instead, they're focused on wins only.

I agree, but I don't blame the colleges for focusing on winning. Most colleges are not going to have a player get drafted so I think it's unfair to ask them to treat their program as training grounds. Perhaps what the NFL needs is a developmental league that NFL teams treat as a farm team. This would serve the players better than being on the practice squad because they get game speed reps, and more focused drills. All that's really needed is an 8 team league where each team serves 4 NFL parent clubs. Something like that.