Versatility is always good.
Some of the doing well in the role is because the roles are adjusted to the players best skills. I think it was in the episode of a football life Bellicheck talked about how if a route calls for a player to get to a spot say going 15 yards deep and cutting left but it needs to be done in a certain time like 3 seconds and the guy you have isn't quick enough? Then you adjust the route to maybe 12 yards or a softer cut so he's in place right on time (Assuming proper execution) There was also talk about not adjusting towards a teams weaknesses, but more towards limiting their strengths by play selection and matchups. Very interesting stuff. The scene where Brady is in his office either early or late and watching video of plays until he notices some tiny thing that's tipping when the opponent might be out of position.....Great behind the scenes stuff.
Steve B
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Originally Posted by itjclarke
I loved Troy Brown when he played DB those couple years. Edelman played some DB as well (both out of necessity). They, and Woodhead were all incredibly versatile.. pure football players who will do anything asked. I'm sure Edelman could kick/punt too.
I'm not really saying these guys can only do one thing.. But that their roles are so well utilized, they can flourish within them. I don't think Edelman likely becomes a star anywhere else. I'm not sure he even gets a shot anywhere else, but the Pats have a knack at finding malleable pieces that can fit their system. Edelman is a great slot guy, and also nicely fills the roll of the old wing or "fly back" on those quick running sweeps. I'm guessing he'll pass out of the look at some point too.
Player versatility is always a good thing. Guys like Harbaugh (Roman) made a living with that at Stanford and the NFL. He could just as easily pass out of a two TE, one fullback, jumbo package as he could out of 4-5 wides, just because his players could perform both rolls. The Niners were at their peak when they had both Delaney Walker and Vernon Davis because both could run block, allowing the Niners to pound it, and both were really fast, creating major mismatches... Thus the Niners could accomplish a wider range of things out of a single look than is the norm. This, when working was a nightmare for defenses trying to sub to the right personnel packages, and make their calls. I think losing Delaney this past year was a pretty big blow to the Niners, because they lost some of that versatility.
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