Latest / NFL explained. / The Evolution of the Wide Receiver

Transcript

The Evolution of the Wide Receiver · NFL explained.

0:06
Speaker 1: NFL Explained is a production of the NFL in partnership
0:09
Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio. All Right, you know, on this
0:17
Speaker 1: podcast we try to teach people about the NFL, my
0:21
Speaker 1: camp Michael Robinson with you. There's something else that I've
0:24
Speaker 1: been learning working with you, m Rosco. That you are,
0:26
Speaker 1: and I've said this on another podcast, one of the
0:28
Speaker 1: more positive people that I know. But if you ever
0:31
Speaker 1: throw shade at someone, it's because of the attire that
0:35
Speaker 1: they potentially are. I shouldn't say potentially. Kyler Murray, Yes, you.
0:40
Speaker 1: We did a segment on t A the other day.
0:41
Speaker 1: You threw some shade his way and I was surprised.
0:43
Speaker 1: Well again, you call it shade, Yams, but it's more
0:47
Speaker 1: of my expectations for that player are so high and
0:50
Speaker 1: I don't see him reaching those expectations. So I'm a
0:52
Speaker 1: little disappointed. Right, I'm a little disappointed. So it comes
0:55
Speaker 1: from a place of positivity. Let's say that still figure
1:00
Speaker 1: out a way to bring it, bring it full circle. Today,
1:03
Speaker 1: we're gonna have some fun. We're gonna actually talk about
1:05
Speaker 1: one of the more explosive positions on the football field,
1:08
Speaker 1: that is the wide receiver spot. But I want to
1:10
Speaker 1: take you back November. Let that one sink in for
1:16
Speaker 1: just a second. Did you have any idea like why
1:18
Speaker 1: that is a significant date from a wide receiver's perspection? Okay,
1:22
Speaker 1: now that's just say it that way. I'm assuming there
1:24
Speaker 1: was something of kids don't on that day. There's the
1:27
Speaker 1: running back. Wait, actually, and Manning's gonna he won news.
1:35
Speaker 1: Oh there's a flag how in the little Oh my goodness,
1:41
Speaker 1: you have to be kidding me. That is impossible. That
1:45
Speaker 1: is absolutely impossible. What he just did. That may be
1:49
Speaker 1: the greatest catch I've ever seen in my life. It's wow.
1:55
Speaker 1: Oh b J Handling Business Collins work said it maybe
1:58
Speaker 1: the greatest catch you ever saw. I feel like we're
2:01
Speaker 1: getting a lot of these more frequently. But when you
2:03
Speaker 1: saw it, what was your take? I was like, oh,
2:05
Speaker 1: my goodness, that can't be for real. And then I
2:08
Speaker 1: was like, well, he had to be out of bounds.
2:10
Speaker 1: And to me, what made that O. B J catch
2:13
Speaker 1: so amazing is he scored. He scored a touchdown, so
2:17
Speaker 1: we actually put the ball across the goal line as well,
2:20
Speaker 1: not only just the catch, but got some points for
2:22
Speaker 1: seeing That's what made it amazing to me. All Right,
2:24
Speaker 1: So we played the audio for you. If you if
2:26
Speaker 1: you're a little on the younger side of our demo
2:29
Speaker 1: who checks out this show, I encourage you. You can
2:32
Speaker 1: go on YouTube it like all the kids do the
2:34
Speaker 1: catch as m Rob just made reference to Eli Manning
2:38
Speaker 1: the quarterback h's the forty three yard reception with one hand,
2:41
Speaker 1: fingertips the whole thing. You know, there's a part of
2:43
Speaker 1: me and says, all right, dudes are skilled, and I
2:45
Speaker 1: get this. I got This is probably the second or
2:47
Speaker 1: third time I've made reference to him on this podcast.
2:49
Speaker 1: But Curtis Conway, good buddy of mine. Sea Way would
2:52
Speaker 1: always say this to me. Oh man, those receiver gloves
2:55
Speaker 1: a little different than what I used to play. They're
2:57
Speaker 1: really sticky, and they actually have a bunch of them.
3:00
Speaker 1: I think they're just more sticky than the ones from
3:03
Speaker 1: back in the day. They are sticky. They are little
3:05
Speaker 1: bit more sticky than the old Newman gloves that I
3:08
Speaker 1: used to wear when I was growing up. But look,
3:10
Speaker 1: these guys if they're not making these catches because of
3:13
Speaker 1: the gloves. Okay, the gloves help, yes, like Spider Man, alright,
3:18
Speaker 1: scaling walls with the way some of these gloves are.
3:21
Speaker 1: But you're outside catching with those gloves. There's not other
3:25
Speaker 1: defensive backs trying to tap you take your head off
3:28
Speaker 1: all of those things. The guys have to be skillful
3:30
Speaker 1: enough to still catch the football. And I think the
3:33
Speaker 1: reason why we're seeing so many of these crazy catches,
3:37
Speaker 1: it's all revolving around the quarterback. And the more the
3:40
Speaker 1: quarterback has passing camps as he's a younger guy, the
3:42
Speaker 1: more the seven on seven camps that are happening, these
3:45
Speaker 1: quarterbacks on throwing to themselves when the wilde receivers that
3:48
Speaker 1: are out there. So these wide receivers are just getting
3:51
Speaker 1: more reps, and so the the opportunities for the great
3:53
Speaker 1: catches are just showing up a little bit more, do
3:55
Speaker 1: you now, Look, we see great catches on Sundays and
3:59
Speaker 1: we made reference too. I mean Pickens had one, you know,
4:01
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks, you know, earlier in the season,
4:03
Speaker 1: he had great one. From a Steller's perspective, these things happen.
4:07
Speaker 1: I also wonder if social media plays a little bit
4:09
Speaker 1: of a factor and this whole thing has something to
4:10
Speaker 1: post everything trying to get those double tasks? Are you
4:14
Speaker 1: kidding me? Like, Like, I remember my son's birthday last year.
4:17
Speaker 1: He's about to be thirteen this year, and all he
4:19
Speaker 1: wanted was a background so he can post. That's all
4:22
Speaker 1: he wanted. My times have changed. I wanted money. I
4:27
Speaker 1: wanted money, Uh you know, a belt of wrestling belt.
4:30
Speaker 1: I say, you know something. He's just wanted the background
4:33
Speaker 1: so he can take selfies. That's the generation we're in. So, yeah,
4:36
Speaker 1: social media does account for because not only are these
4:40
Speaker 1: young players, young football players and youth level seeing their
4:43
Speaker 1: favorite player go on social media. But I mean, obviously
4:46
Speaker 1: you want the likes you want. You want that gratification
4:48
Speaker 1: for people looking at you. Should I should I be
4:51
Speaker 1: worried about the future. No, I believe our futures in
4:54
Speaker 1: good hands. But but there's a lot of selfies out there.
4:57
Speaker 1: There's a lot of selfies that in downtown Richmond, Virginia,
5:00
Speaker 1: we have a selfie museum. Okay, it's a real business
5:03
Speaker 1: and it makes money. Yeah. People come, they get a
5:07
Speaker 1: little bit different background, and they take selfies. That is
5:10
Speaker 1: the culture we are. And yes, yes, Mike, yes I
5:14
Speaker 1: always feel awkward doing it. Oh my god, I know
5:17
Speaker 1: that was a thing. That's a thing. It's a selfie museum.
5:20
Speaker 1: Shout out to the people down in which movie to
5:22
Speaker 1: self the museum, Yes, Emrod bringing it as we made
5:24
Speaker 1: reference to today is all about the evolution of the
5:27
Speaker 1: wide receivers. Will sprinkle in a little more selfie conversation
5:30
Speaker 1: at some point, maybe even on a different episode. We're
5:32
Speaker 1: gonna break this down from every single angle, and I
5:35
Speaker 1: know I just brought up the gloves and then being sticky.
5:37
Speaker 1: There's also a reason, not just the one handed grabs,
5:39
Speaker 1: but there's a reason why the position has evolved to
5:42
Speaker 1: the point where you can make an argument it is
5:45
Speaker 1: the most important position on the football field outside of
5:48
Speaker 1: the quarterback. We're going to go through some of the numbers,
5:50
Speaker 1: some of the data, but I think we should actually
5:52
Speaker 1: start back in nineteen seventy four and I was negative.
5:58
Speaker 1: That was negative about years. Like I was in the
6:02
Speaker 1: negative in in seventy four. My parents weren't even mar
6:05
Speaker 1: right at that point. Just to put some contact. Damn,
6:08
Speaker 1: I'm feeling old. I'm feeling old. In response to what
6:12
Speaker 1: was called the bumping run coverage, defenders could no longer
6:16
Speaker 1: restrict wide receivers after three plus yards now. That was
6:19
Speaker 1: actually increased to five yards in nineteen seventy eight, and
6:23
Speaker 1: immediately you saw a spike and it makes sense right
6:26
Speaker 1: in passing yards from one hundred and fifty nine per
6:29
Speaker 1: game in seventy eight to a hundred and eighty the
6:32
Speaker 1: following year. So it's by far the biggest spike in
6:34
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl era. Now, starting in two thousand two,
6:37
Speaker 1: I was very much alive. I was actually still in college.
6:39
Speaker 1: At that point, quarterbacks were more protected, with helmet to
6:43
Speaker 1: helmet hits becoming illegal, followed by a two thousand six
6:46
Speaker 1: rule that bart hits from below the knees on quarterbacks.
6:49
Speaker 1: And I think we can all agree on all of
6:50
Speaker 1: that stuff. Man, Yeah, for sure is good. There's dudes
6:53
Speaker 1: who you know, when when guys start going low, I'm like, oh, like,
6:56
Speaker 1: I cringe a little bit when I see those moments.
6:59
Speaker 1: It doesn't two thousand four, defensive holding and illegal contact
7:03
Speaker 1: on wide receivers became a point of m the CISTS,
7:06
Speaker 1: and in two thousand nine, any hit on a player
7:09
Speaker 1: deemed a defenseless receiver was implemented, resulting in a fifteen
7:13
Speaker 1: yard penalty. Also, we saw these hits take place on
7:17
Speaker 1: the college side where guys get injected. Look, I'm all
7:20
Speaker 1: for it because I do think it's important to keep
7:21
Speaker 1: all these players safe. But in your mind, if you're
7:24
Speaker 1: a dB, like, it's kind of hard to defend some
7:28
Speaker 1: of these dudes with some of these roles. From impossible,
7:30
Speaker 1: it is impossible. You'll see the top defensive backs Jalen Ramsey, um,
7:34
Speaker 1: who else? Give me another top day? J C. Jackson
7:37
Speaker 1: who just got paid? Yeah, all of these guys, they
7:39
Speaker 1: will tell you they're the days of the shutdown cornerback
7:43
Speaker 1: are gone. There's no longer those guys walking the planet
7:46
Speaker 1: anymore because the rules don't allow it, the gameplay doesn't allow.
7:49
Speaker 1: The ingenuity of the offenses don't allow. Yeah, we live
7:53
Speaker 1: in a Western society, but the Western society is all
7:55
Speaker 1: about the offensive, right, and you can see it show
7:58
Speaker 1: up in our game. Passing plays, passing downs and and
8:02
Speaker 1: throwing the ball through the air is exciting, right. I
8:05
Speaker 1: think in the early days of football, when it was
8:07
Speaker 1: more of a defensive struggle and running the football and
8:10
Speaker 1: two yards and a cloud of dust and all of
8:12
Speaker 1: those things, I think the people that ran our league
8:14
Speaker 1: was thinking, how can we make this more marketable? How
8:16
Speaker 1: can we get the fans a little bit more excited
8:19
Speaker 1: about their respective teams? And I think that's why you
8:21
Speaker 1: saw the explosion in the past game. That's why you
8:24
Speaker 1: saw the rules kind of change a little bit. But
8:26
Speaker 1: it does take a different type of guy to be
8:30
Speaker 1: a defensive back in today's NFL. Yeah, you can be,
8:33
Speaker 1: you know. I think I was with the Pete Carroll
8:34
Speaker 1: way of thinking about defensive backs. Longer guys not necessarily
8:38
Speaker 1: the fastest guys in the world, but they're so long
8:40
Speaker 1: that they have that makeup speed by their limbs, right,
8:44
Speaker 1: they can make up because of how long they are,
8:46
Speaker 1: I e. Richard Sherman and things like that. But it
8:48
Speaker 1: does take a unique individual, especially psychologically, and think about it.
8:52
Speaker 1: All the rules, all the things that go against defenses.
8:55
Speaker 1: You can't touch them, you can't hit them when they
8:57
Speaker 1: do get the ball, you can't hit the pastor you
8:59
Speaker 1: gotta let him and throw the football. Let him. I
9:02
Speaker 1: mean camp Chancellor hit Vernon Davis one time, and I
9:04
Speaker 1: think it was the NFC Championship. Oh man, it was awesome.
9:07
Speaker 1: He hit him so hard and runners, my guy, I
9:09
Speaker 1: love verning. He hit Vernon so hard Vernon pats almost
9:13
Speaker 1: came off. I said, how are you gonna do so hard?
9:15
Speaker 1: His pants almost came off that that's how hard he
9:18
Speaker 1: hit him. And I remember Camp said, man, I went
9:20
Speaker 1: to the ref and the ref just looked at me
9:22
Speaker 1: and then through the flag and he said, why did
9:24
Speaker 1: you throw the flag? And the ref set that just
9:26
Speaker 1: looked too hard, that violent, he said. He didn't tell
9:30
Speaker 1: me anything that was wrong with the hit. It just
9:32
Speaker 1: looked too violent. So that is the environment our defensive
9:36
Speaker 1: backs have to operate in. So they have to have
9:38
Speaker 1: from a psychological stampout. They have to have a short memory,
9:41
Speaker 1: and they gotta be wired differently, right. They can't. You know,
9:44
Speaker 1: when I say short memory, just because you had to
9:46
Speaker 1: catch on your two plays ago, you cannot let that
9:48
Speaker 1: effect the next play because more times than not, you're
9:51
Speaker 1: you're gonna get burned. Like in those moments you're the guy.
9:55
Speaker 1: Ten times out of ten you can get somebody catching
9:57
Speaker 1: the football on you. That's just the way it goes. Okay,
10:01
Speaker 1: we see Jalen Ramsey, you know, arguably the best in
10:03
Speaker 1: the game at the cornerback position. When the Tampa Bay
10:07
Speaker 1: Buccaneers were trying to come back last year, Tom Brady
10:09
Speaker 1: went after Jalen rams Earlier this season, he's been criticized.
10:13
Speaker 1: So again, it's tough to play defensive back in the
10:15
Speaker 1: National Football any truce to that old adage that their
10:18
Speaker 1: their wide receivers you just can't catch. That is true.
10:21
Speaker 1: If you're a wide receiver and you can catch, you
10:24
Speaker 1: stay on the side. Serious business. Like my son. Always
10:28
Speaker 1: give reference to my son. My youngest boy be five,
10:31
Speaker 1: was going down. I know he listens. He listens every week,
10:33
Speaker 1: so I know he's gonna enjoy thee I hear him.
10:36
Speaker 1: He has his son was going and he listens to us.
10:38
Speaker 1: So it's all way taking selfies, taking selfies while he's
10:41
Speaker 1: doing it right with its stuff. You know. That's the
10:44
Speaker 1: young people. Uh, and you know um in today's game.
10:48
Speaker 1: But I tell my son all the time, everybody wants
10:50
Speaker 1: to play wide receiver. Everybody the harder position to play
10:54
Speaker 1: in the position you get a lot of benefits of
10:56
Speaker 1: the doubt on is defensive back. Not a lot of
10:59
Speaker 1: guys want to go there because guys get toasted. Yeah yeah,
11:02
Speaker 1: not not necessarily the easiest thing, by the way, and
11:04
Speaker 1: the position, the way guys are paid, wide receivers now
11:07
Speaker 1: are cashing in in a big way. I know we've
11:09
Speaker 1: talked about that a ton on NFL Network, especially in
11:12
Speaker 1: the off season with a lot of those contracts. But
11:14
Speaker 1: you know, we briefly mentioned before m rob quarterbacks, And
11:17
Speaker 1: just to add some context on the passing game, I
11:19
Speaker 1: want to go back to nine. That was the year
11:22
Speaker 1: after the initial illegal contact role was instituted. Dan Fouts
11:26
Speaker 1: led the league with two hundred and fifty five passing
11:29
Speaker 1: yards per games. Well that's actually the point, right, So
11:34
Speaker 1: you hear two fifty five and seventy nine? How about
11:36
Speaker 1: this in two so far through week five? That would
11:41
Speaker 1: land him eighteen, just ahead of Russell Wilson. And let's
11:44
Speaker 1: be real here, Russ and shoulder. Yeah you could you
11:51
Speaker 1: feel bad saying it, but I don't feel bad. One
11:54
Speaker 1: other quick note here, by the way, Andy Dalton has
11:56
Speaker 1: more career passing yards than all but nine of the
11:59
Speaker 1: twenty nine Hall of Fame. Yeah, hey, research, is that
12:05
Speaker 1: for real? You mean to tell me Andy Dalton, a
12:08
Speaker 1: backup quarterback, already has more passing yards than twenty of
12:12
Speaker 1: the twenty nine Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Yeah, you want
12:15
Speaker 1: to hear some of the names, Yes, please, dude, Troy Aikman, Okay,
12:19
Speaker 1: Steve Jim Kelly, are you kidding me? Andy Dawn's ahead
12:25
Speaker 1: of those guys? Just just context, Matt, Like you said,
12:29
Speaker 1: it and you said it, Well, it all is going
12:32
Speaker 1: more towards the offense and the popularity of the sport.
12:34
Speaker 1: People want to see some points being s four. Welcome
12:44
Speaker 1: back to the NFL Explained podcast. Now, the first thing
12:46
Speaker 1: to note actually is from nineteen seventy four to nine
12:49
Speaker 1: eighties six, a wide receiver. This was shocking to me,
12:54
Speaker 1: lad the NFL in receptions in only two seasons. I'm
12:59
Speaker 1: gonna let that one sink in first second, Art Monk
13:01
Speaker 1: in eighty four, Dwight Clark in eighty two. So from
13:04
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven to twenty two, a wide receiver led
13:08
Speaker 1: the NFL and receptions every season, but one. Tony Gonzalez
13:11
Speaker 1: was that guy in two thousand four, and that was
13:13
Speaker 1: just a ridiculous season. So let's take a closer look
13:16
Speaker 1: at the one thousand yard receivers versus the rushers and
13:19
Speaker 1: two thousand there were twenty three one thousand yard rushers
13:23
Speaker 1: in eighteen thousand yard receivers. Fast forward to twenty six
13:28
Speaker 1: wide house that actually reached that mark versus just seven
13:30
Speaker 1: rushers that hit the one thousand yard milestone. By the way,
13:34
Speaker 1: that was the same total. I almost feel like we
13:37
Speaker 1: might not go back to the old school NFEL. I mean, hell,
13:40
Speaker 1: you want to talk about defense and how people don't
13:42
Speaker 1: want to see it. Remember that Thursday Night game a
13:43
Speaker 1: couple weeks back, Colts and Broncos twelve nine, And by
13:47
Speaker 1: the way, everyone's all bad game, bad game. I'm sitting
13:50
Speaker 1: here going, do you know how many great plays the
13:51
Speaker 1: defense made the game? And I'm sitting here going, all right,
13:54
Speaker 1: it's different, but defense is still a part of the game.
13:57
Speaker 1: I say that. And the wide receiver episode, I published
14:00
Speaker 1: a table. I gotta sprinkle all of this in little
14:05
Speaker 1: bit for everyone. So not only are wide receivers really prospering,
14:09
Speaker 1: they're actually doing it at a younger age. So it
14:12
Speaker 1: used to take guys a couple extra years to get
14:14
Speaker 1: acclimated to the pro game. That transition is not always
14:16
Speaker 1: easy for a lot of players. But twelve receivers under
14:21
Speaker 1: twenty six when over a thousand yards, that's the most
14:23
Speaker 1: in NFL history, Right, Jamar Chase broke the same record,
14:28
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson broke in for the most rookie receiving yards
14:32
Speaker 1: in a season. How do you explain it? I know
14:35
Speaker 1: there's the LSU connection with the realities, like there's other
14:38
Speaker 1: dudes that are really putting up huge numbers. Yeah, that's crazy.
14:42
Speaker 1: Early on when you talk about that generation of the
14:45
Speaker 1: seventies and even before that, in the sixties, that was
14:47
Speaker 1: a running backs time. Most teams played with multiple running
14:51
Speaker 1: backs on the field. The fullback was a real position. Hell,
14:54
Speaker 1: people don't realize Frank o' harris's position was fullback, right,
14:58
Speaker 1: But he ran the football. He caught the football. Tom
15:00
Speaker 1: Rathman in that West Coast system, that was a little
15:02
Speaker 1: bit later, he caught the football a little bit more,
15:04
Speaker 1: but it was a lot more running backs involved with
15:07
Speaker 1: the game. And I think that as the business of football, right,
15:13
Speaker 1: it starts in college the business of football. I can
15:15
Speaker 1: argue that the business football starts in high school, um,
15:18
Speaker 1: where coaches are having less patients from their superiors to
15:23
Speaker 1: get the job done. And so coaches on the younger
15:26
Speaker 1: levels from the national football they they have to recruit.
15:28
Speaker 1: And when you recruit, you gotta promise young people certain
15:32
Speaker 1: things that they're gonna have when they come to university
15:34
Speaker 1: or your high school. And so I believe that a
15:36
Speaker 1: lot of the enginuity of these coaches wanted to get
15:39
Speaker 1: these players on the field earlier, so they devised plans
15:43
Speaker 1: so that they can learn the game easier. For instance,
15:46
Speaker 1: some offenses try to hurry up right or try to
15:48
Speaker 1: hurry up, you know with the Chip Kelly offenses and
15:51
Speaker 1: things like that. Well, instead of having the huddle up,
15:54
Speaker 1: call a place or everybody knows what's going on, they
15:56
Speaker 1: just stayed at the line of scrimmage, put some signs up.
15:59
Speaker 1: Receivers look to the sideline. They are now knew their route.
16:03
Speaker 1: It was a little bit more of efficient way to
16:05
Speaker 1: get to play to everybody so that you can gain
16:08
Speaker 1: an edge, so that you can gain an advantage, so
16:10
Speaker 1: the head guy can keep his job. I believe all
16:12
Speaker 1: changes came down to that. The fact that teams had
16:15
Speaker 1: to put these guys on the feel a little bit earlier.
16:17
Speaker 1: Coaches had to adjust, they had to be more efficient
16:19
Speaker 1: and play calling hints. These guys are getting more reps.
16:22
Speaker 1: These guys are getting more opportunities to catch the football. Okay,
16:24
Speaker 1: I referenced some of the numbers from the seventies and
16:27
Speaker 1: the eighties. I will say this body types have also
16:31
Speaker 1: changed as well. We will get into that later here.
16:33
Speaker 1: In terms of the wide receivers and and some of
16:35
Speaker 1: the things that we are seeing measurables from the combine. Well,
16:38
Speaker 1: from a technical standpoint, the wide receiver position is getting better.
16:43
Speaker 1: But if you ask a lot of former players, and
16:45
Speaker 1: I'm one of them, completely how the wide receiver fits
16:49
Speaker 1: into the offense, we believe they're becoming a little bit
16:52
Speaker 1: less relevant. And I say that by saying I believe
16:57
Speaker 1: in ten years, wide receivers are gonna be looked at
17:00
Speaker 1: as runners are looked at now, where you say we
17:03
Speaker 1: can find running back at any time of the draft, right,
17:06
Speaker 1: you have wide receivers. They're all running four twos and
17:08
Speaker 1: four threes. They're all right, they all can catch. You
17:11
Speaker 1: can find Stefend Diggs in the second or third round.
17:14
Speaker 1: You can find a guy in the six or seventh round.
17:16
Speaker 1: I just believe that we're seeing the golden years of
17:19
Speaker 1: wild receivers now and at some point they're gonna be
17:22
Speaker 1: looked at like running backs, like you can get one
17:25
Speaker 1: at any time of the draft, because the running backs
17:27
Speaker 1: used to be the golden position back in the day,
17:30
Speaker 1: and now it has shifted. Well, we're gonna actually coming
17:32
Speaker 1: up here and talk about some of those numbers. But
17:34
Speaker 1: if that's the case, then what becomes the value position
17:37
Speaker 1: is it defensive back, is it you know one of
17:39
Speaker 1: those d tackles, someone who are an edge guy that
17:42
Speaker 1: can get after the quarterback, can be disruptive. Does it
17:44
Speaker 1: go that direction? I believe in a football team, your
17:48
Speaker 1: offensive line right is the engine of your team. Your
17:52
Speaker 1: secondary is the battery. Like if you're using a car reference,
17:55
Speaker 1: you can't really win having a having real deficiencies in
17:58
Speaker 1: both areas. So I believe the next wave of like
18:03
Speaker 1: star athletes or whatever, well revolve around the line of scrimmage.
18:07
Speaker 1: Your big time tackles, your big time pass rushers, the
18:10
Speaker 1: big athletic guys. We saw trade by Walker goes over
18:12
Speaker 1: one overall this year. And your defensive backs guys who
18:16
Speaker 1: we just talked about the diversity and receivers. We just
18:18
Speaker 1: talked about how it used to be a golden age
18:20
Speaker 1: of running backs. Now you're gonna have to have a
18:22
Speaker 1: defensive bat who has the quickness and the speed to
18:25
Speaker 1: stay with guys like Tyreek Hill and the shifting needs
18:27
Speaker 1: to stay with Jamar Chase and guys like that. But
18:30
Speaker 1: you also have to have the pads and the aggressiveness
18:33
Speaker 1: to tackle running backs because you're gonna be in the
18:36
Speaker 1: on the field all the time. I just think the
18:38
Speaker 1: defensive players are in it. We're literally seeing them changed
18:42
Speaker 1: before our eyes. Okay, So I think coming up here,
18:45
Speaker 1: and it's important to note here wide receiver sets and
18:49
Speaker 1: how they're being used also impacts the significance of this
18:54
Speaker 1: position a year ago. It can kind of actually explain
18:57
Speaker 1: some of the draft stuff that we're seeing. U. I
18:59
Speaker 1: shouldn't say year ago, because in two thousand and six,
19:01
Speaker 1: teams lined up with three wideouts just fourteen point two
19:04
Speaker 1: percent of the time. In one that's up almost ten percent,
19:08
Speaker 1: actually exactly ten percent point two. So there is definitely
19:12
Speaker 1: a higher priority right now in terms of finding some
19:15
Speaker 1: of these guys in the NFL draft. They are they
19:17
Speaker 1: bigger though, Are they stronger? Are they faster? Tell you what? Like? Yeah,
19:21
Speaker 1: the answer shortly is yes. I'll take you through some
19:24
Speaker 1: of those numbers. And I also tell you this, do
19:26
Speaker 1: you need a big time watch receiver in order to
19:29
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl? When the answer actually may surprise
19:32
Speaker 1: that's still to come on the NFL Explained Podcast. Welcome
19:42
Speaker 1: back to the NFL Explained Podcast. You dropped general manager.
19:45
Speaker 1: Those are the dudes who kind of handle business and
19:47
Speaker 1: putting together these teams they have been going crazy looking
19:52
Speaker 1: for wide receivers. How about this last year, six wideouts
19:55
Speaker 1: went in the top eight team picks, and the last
19:58
Speaker 1: three drafts have seen at least five taken them in
20:01
Speaker 1: the first round. And there are some dudes that we
20:03
Speaker 1: have seen really perform very well in their rookie season
20:07
Speaker 1: sophomore campaigns, like they're making a big impact. It was
20:10
Speaker 1: the first time in the Super Bowl era that there
20:12
Speaker 1: have been at least five wide receivers taken in three
20:15
Speaker 1: straight seasons in the first round their ballers. Now, between
20:18
Speaker 1: twenty the average number of first round receivers was just
20:22
Speaker 1: three point seven. So you think that the boom would
20:24
Speaker 1: actually be you know, more physical traits for some of
20:28
Speaker 1: these wide receivers that had improved. Let's take you through
20:31
Speaker 1: some of the combine numbers since two thousand three. We'll
20:33
Speaker 1: start with the forty. Nothing better than watching these dudes
20:36
Speaker 1: around the four by the way three Q Wilham the
20:38
Speaker 1: rookie corner. I would love to see him in a
20:42
Speaker 1: foot race with Tyreek Hill. Oh my goodness, did you
20:44
Speaker 1: see me? Hell end up scoring, but he tracked takes
20:47
Speaker 1: them Hill down in five steps. He was there. Taysom
20:51
Speaker 1: Hill had a five yard lead. I'm like what, I'm like,
20:56
Speaker 1: that's why we focus on the fourting in the combine.
20:59
Speaker 1: It is kid is fast. It was awesome, alright. So
21:03
Speaker 1: getting back to the numbers here would sort fascinating is
21:06
Speaker 1: from two thousand three to two thousand and five that
21:08
Speaker 1: average was four point five five seconds fast forward. You're
21:12
Speaker 1: actually talking to present day about a decrease of five
21:15
Speaker 1: hundreds of a second, which is sort of kind of
21:18
Speaker 1: like one of those but not really. When you talk
21:21
Speaker 1: about professional athletes, and I mean the highest of the
21:24
Speaker 1: height that the National Football League NFL players, Okay, that's
21:28
Speaker 1: just the the advantage that you could possibly need to
21:31
Speaker 1: get you and your team over the hump. So yeah,
21:33
Speaker 1: that's big. That's a big. Height has actually increased exactly
21:37
Speaker 1: one inch from seventy two point one inches to just
21:40
Speaker 1: over six feet seventy three point one inches, which is
21:44
Speaker 1: six one Weights have basically remained stable at two d
21:48
Speaker 1: and two points seven pounds. Vertical leap also stayed mostly
21:52
Speaker 1: the same at thirty five point five inches. There's a
21:55
Speaker 1: lot of different ways though, to be successful and rob
21:57
Speaker 1: you play with so many dudes who just did it differently.
22:00
Speaker 1: At the wide receiver spot. Is there specific characteristic that
22:04
Speaker 1: makes a wide receiver were successful in the NFL? Well,
22:07
Speaker 1: I think the number one characteristic is to wide receivers
22:11
Speaker 1: ability to just catch the football. That is the number one.
22:14
Speaker 1: So it doesn't have to be a DV exactly, so
22:16
Speaker 1: we can stay on the good guys side of the
22:18
Speaker 1: football right, the offense right, and at the end of
22:20
Speaker 1: the day, that's your number one job description your wide receiver.
22:24
Speaker 1: When the ball is in the air, your job is
22:26
Speaker 1: to be able to catch the football. And for me,
22:28
Speaker 1: number two would be catch radius to be able to
22:30
Speaker 1: protect the quarterback, meaning the quarterback can sit on his
22:33
Speaker 1: back foot and understand. Yeah, I don't necessarily have to
22:36
Speaker 1: be the most accurate on this past but I can
22:38
Speaker 1: throw it and know that my guys gonna have enough
22:41
Speaker 1: catch radius to be able to pull the ball in,
22:43
Speaker 1: catch it with his hands, and also protect the ball
22:45
Speaker 1: from an interception. Um the ability to separate at the
22:48
Speaker 1: top of routes. Um a guy that we use on
22:50
Speaker 1: our air raves. Mammanuel Sayties I thought was was awesome.
22:53
Speaker 1: Matt Is Steve Smith Senior also awesome that separating and
22:57
Speaker 1: really that's your ability to create space from the defender.
23:02
Speaker 1: Defenders are real hands that they like to grab and whatever,
23:05
Speaker 1: and they have these little tricks or how they get
23:06
Speaker 1: to cheat and all those things. We can get in
23:08
Speaker 1: that on a whole another episode. But the ability of
23:11
Speaker 1: a wide receiver to make a defensive back think he's
23:14
Speaker 1: doing something opposite then what he's really doing is something
23:17
Speaker 1: that's very important. And I don't this isn't the biggest factor.
23:22
Speaker 1: But I'll tell you one thing you can't teach this,
23:24
Speaker 1: and that's just speed. That's I mean, just going out there,
23:27
Speaker 1: the ability to pick them up, put him down, the
23:30
Speaker 1: ability to throw the ball to it's how we kill
23:32
Speaker 1: in the flat in his ability to make everybody miss,
23:35
Speaker 1: run around the defense and go a d to me,
23:37
Speaker 1: that scares defensive coordinators. Okay, so you can explain this
23:40
Speaker 1: because I don't know the answer to it. But I've
23:42
Speaker 1: been told from other NFL dudes that even if you're
23:46
Speaker 1: not the fastest guy, you can make up the difference
23:49
Speaker 1: in terms of how you run around. Absolutely. I learned
23:53
Speaker 1: how to run routes when I was training in Arizona,
23:56
Speaker 1: when I played in the National Football and that's where
23:57
Speaker 1: I lived for the entire nine years. I was in
24:00
Speaker 1: the league and a guy trained with was ant Kwan Bolden,
24:02
Speaker 1: And I remember Q used always kind lead the group
24:06
Speaker 1: when we would do I receive the drills, and I
24:09
Speaker 1: would always wonder, like, damn, Q ain't running that fast.
24:13
Speaker 1: It's like, cute, how fast are you? Bro? He'd be like, Man,
24:16
Speaker 1: I mean I ran a four six. But I can
24:18
Speaker 1: tell you now I have never ran full speed on
24:20
Speaker 1: the football field. I said, what, You've never ran full speed?
24:25
Speaker 1: He said, yeah, Bro, like our knees and stuff are
24:28
Speaker 1: our tendons aren't built to like slow down this body
24:32
Speaker 1: from going that fast. So why would you do that
24:35
Speaker 1: so much on your body? You want to feel good, right,
24:38
Speaker 1: But it doesn't feel good to get chase down. I'm
24:40
Speaker 1: telling said, bro, it don't. It don't feel good like
24:42
Speaker 1: getting chased down the tackle or looking slow on tape.
24:46
Speaker 1: He said, Look, man, it's all about controlled movements, he said.
24:50
Speaker 1: I run most of my routes at fifty. When I
24:53
Speaker 1: get to the top of the break, I give it
24:55
Speaker 1: sixty to separate. I might not get the full speed
24:58
Speaker 1: unless I'm in the open space. I got the football
25:01
Speaker 1: in my hands and I know I'm racing to the
25:03
Speaker 1: end zone, and that that led me to think of something.
25:05
Speaker 1: I started watching how the Great Ones ran their route
25:08
Speaker 1: to play with a guy by the name of Isaac Bruce,
25:10
Speaker 1: and he could always tell me, like Mike, it ain't
25:12
Speaker 1: about wunning fast, man. You need to make him think
25:14
Speaker 1: you're going deep by your arms pump and not necessarily
25:17
Speaker 1: by your legs moving their fast. And so when I
25:19
Speaker 1: noticed that, man, this isn't just a full speed thing
25:23
Speaker 1: like I see on TV. You know, you think these
25:26
Speaker 1: obviously was a running full speed, but they're not. To me.
25:28
Speaker 1: What makes a great route runners the ability to control
25:31
Speaker 1: their speed, get in and out of break smoothly, and
25:34
Speaker 1: not take false steps. And I think you look at
25:36
Speaker 1: a guy like Steve Smith, senior, guy that works with us,
25:39
Speaker 1: works for me on Thursday night football, he probably is
25:41
Speaker 1: one of the best in history of doing it. Yeah,
25:43
Speaker 1: it's it's fascinating to me to hear the speed thing
25:46
Speaker 1: because we do make a lot of forty and speed
25:49
Speaker 1: is something that you can't teach and I'd rather have
25:51
Speaker 1: it than not have it. But for the dudes who
25:52
Speaker 1: maybe don't have it, like you know for three, actually
25:56
Speaker 1: can still have a lot of success. I had asked
25:59
Speaker 1: the question before about do you need a top end
26:02
Speaker 1: wide receiver in order to win a championship. There's some
26:05
Speaker 1: keynos there, and I think for recent football fans will
26:09
Speaker 1: be like, yeah, man, like Cooper Cup. He's a dude, right,
26:12
Speaker 1: a third round guy by the way, who's still sort
26:16
Speaker 1: of shocked if you know his story, that he's been
26:18
Speaker 1: able to make it the way that he has. But
26:20
Speaker 1: we'll start with Cooper Cup. He became the first ever
26:22
Speaker 1: to win a Super Bowl after leading the league and
26:25
Speaker 1: receiving since Jerry Rice, the goat back in now since
26:29
Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen, of the forty four teams, which is
26:32
Speaker 1: about thirty percent that played in the Super Bowl, had
26:35
Speaker 1: a wide receiver who was in the top five and
26:38
Speaker 1: receiving yards in the NFL that season. Only four of
26:41
Speaker 1: one rank Marvin Harrison, Greg Jennings who was a dude,
26:44
Speaker 1: Victor Cruz thank you very much as a Giants fam
26:47
Speaker 1: and of course Cooper Cup. Super Bowl fifty six between
26:49
Speaker 1: the Rams and the Bengals was the first Super Bowl
26:52
Speaker 1: where each team had a wide receiver who was top
26:55
Speaker 1: five in receiving yards in the NFL that season. Since
26:58
Speaker 1: Super Bowl forty six, the last first round draft pick
27:02
Speaker 1: to win a Super Bowl. Nelson Agholor and Philip Dorse said,
27:05
Speaker 1: neither of whom like the dude of dudes. Um, you
27:10
Speaker 1: know it's still playing in the league, and you know
27:11
Speaker 1: it's kind of you know, league exactly, not those dudes.
27:15
Speaker 1: So check this out. Brown general manager at the time
27:18
Speaker 1: was Ray Farmer. He actually downplayed the importance of having
27:21
Speaker 1: a superstar wide receiver. He said, I would say, how
27:25
Speaker 1: important are those guys? Name the last big time receiver
27:29
Speaker 1: to win a Super Bowl? Name that last mega guy.
27:33
Speaker 1: So keep him mind. Cooper Cup has done a he's
27:36
Speaker 1: a mega dude. Farmer, by the way, two years after
27:38
Speaker 1: he made those comments, not there, and he did draft
27:41
Speaker 1: Johnny Football Johnny Manzell. Do you tell me man like,
27:44
Speaker 1: does he have a point though? I mean, because the
27:45
Speaker 1: numbers do sort of scream you might not need Cooper
27:48
Speaker 1: Cup to go and win a chip. Yeah. I believe
27:51
Speaker 1: he does have a point. I believe that you throw
27:54
Speaker 1: to get into playoffs, but you played great defense and
27:56
Speaker 1: run the ball to a championship. Now you can argue
27:59
Speaker 1: about last year's Rams. You can argue about the Kansas
28:01
Speaker 1: City Chiefs. I think in the nineteen season when they
28:04
Speaker 1: won their Super Bowl because they did throw the football.
28:07
Speaker 1: But I do believe that there were times in last
28:10
Speaker 1: year's playoffs and in that Kansas City Super Bowl run
28:12
Speaker 1: where they had to run the football and be physical.
28:15
Speaker 1: And I think what makes Cooper Cup so different is, yeah,
28:19
Speaker 1: he was on the Super Bowl winning team. Yes, he
28:21
Speaker 1: he led the league, and he was the Triple Crown
28:23
Speaker 1: runner from a receiver standpoint, But he also has the
28:28
Speaker 1: baddest player regardless of position or side of the ball
28:34
Speaker 1: on his team, and that's Aaron Donald. And if you
28:37
Speaker 1: think about that Super Bowl, your lasting impressions and lasting
28:41
Speaker 1: memories of the Super Bowl when the Rams won last
28:44
Speaker 1: year is Aaron Donald making his plays, Aaron Donald making
28:47
Speaker 1: the sack. And oftentimes you don't see uh big time
28:51
Speaker 1: offense have a dominant defensive player like you saw in
28:54
Speaker 1: and Donald. So I still believe defense wins championships. I
28:57
Speaker 1: believe if it wasn't Faron Donald in that defense and
28:59
Speaker 1: Von Miller, day wouldn't have won that championship. But Cooper Cup,
29:03
Speaker 1: in particular, to me, what makes him so specialist. He
29:06
Speaker 1: does the dirty work Yams to meet Cooper Cup is
29:09
Speaker 1: he leaves blocks. Sometimes he is the backside cut off,
29:12
Speaker 1: he's cutting off defensive ends. He never comes out of
29:15
Speaker 1: the game. The guy has stamina like no other. He
29:18
Speaker 1: runs fifty yards down the field, jogs all the way back, run.
29:22
Speaker 1: I mean, he never comes off the field. And I
29:24
Speaker 1: think that's what And he's with a creative play caller
29:27
Speaker 1: and Sean McVeigh who understands how to focus on him
29:30
Speaker 1: in the passing game and put speed around him so
29:32
Speaker 1: he can get open. I think that's some of the
29:34
Speaker 1: issues with the Rams offense this year. They're missing that speed.
29:37
Speaker 1: But Cooper Cup is a little bit of a different
29:39
Speaker 1: situation in other wide receivers. But I don't think you
29:42
Speaker 1: need a big time number one guy to win the
29:44
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. It just be nice to have him. It
29:46
Speaker 1: would be nice. I mean, look at when I want
29:47
Speaker 1: to Super Bowl in Seattle. Maybe people called our obviously
29:51
Speaker 1: was Doug Balling, Jamaic curse. People act like they didn't
29:53
Speaker 1: know who those guys were. Now, after the Super Bowl
29:55
Speaker 1: those guys became pretty good names, but beforehand they weren't.
29:59
Speaker 1: You know, it's fascinating because you can make the argument,
30:01
Speaker 1: and you are making it that you might not need
30:03
Speaker 1: the top flight wide receiver, but at the same time
30:05
Speaker 1: I think about the dollars in this free agency pre
30:08
Speaker 1: that have been disseminated to guys who play that position,
30:11
Speaker 1: it's almost like the league is saying, no, no no, no,
30:14
Speaker 1: like I need those dudes. Yeah, I think that the
30:16
Speaker 1: league is saying. I think the younger coaches and general
30:19
Speaker 1: managers who don't always have the historical approach or lens
30:24
Speaker 1: when looking at these players. Again, when you look at
30:27
Speaker 1: some of the top organizations, they understand when to go
30:30
Speaker 1: get a hot out, They understand how to address the
30:33
Speaker 1: offensive line, how to address the defensive line, how to
30:34
Speaker 1: address the secondary. At the end of the day, I
30:37
Speaker 1: just don't think you need one of those guys to
30:40
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl because again, you passed to get
30:43
Speaker 1: into the playoffs. You run and play great defense to
30:45
Speaker 1: a champions to get over the hump, and maybe it's
30:47
Speaker 1: just get me there and then we'll figure it out.
30:50
Speaker 1: Ask Joe Burrow in Cincinnati. All right, just want to
30:53
Speaker 1: add to this conversation, just because we mentioned sort of
30:56
Speaker 1: youth football, high school. On the college level, what we've
30:59
Speaker 1: seen in terms of one thousand yard receivers in one
31:03
Speaker 1: they were third. Were actually surprised me. I thought the
31:05
Speaker 1: number would be higher one thousand yard receivers in Division
31:08
Speaker 1: one football. In thirty nine there was thirty eight, so
31:14
Speaker 1: kind of a marginal jump. But if you go back
31:16
Speaker 1: to two thousand, it was twenty. So we have almost
31:19
Speaker 1: seen double in about a twenty year period in terms
31:22
Speaker 1: of one thousand yard receivers. Seventy five catch guys. By
31:26
Speaker 1: the way, in two thousand they were seven, they were
31:29
Speaker 1: thirty five. I think that also speaks to the scheme
31:31
Speaker 1: that you were discussing as well. And I think to
31:33
Speaker 1: take it a step further in youth football, you told
31:35
Speaker 1: me about a selfie museum. I know about these one
31:38
Speaker 1: handed grabs. Like in my mind as we're putting it
31:40
Speaker 1: together here, it becomes almost like the sexy position in football.
31:45
Speaker 1: Dare I say, like right up there with the quarterback. Yeah.
31:49
Speaker 1: And again I think social media has a lot to
31:51
Speaker 1: do with as I think we just started to show
31:53
Speaker 1: with the Odell Beckham catch, uh, you know, the media
31:56
Speaker 1: and the entire world kind of blowing that catch up
31:59
Speaker 1: has helped as well. And again it's a very skillful catch.
32:01
Speaker 1: But I believe that especially in all if our listeners
32:04
Speaker 1: can just go to the you know, the urban area
32:07
Speaker 1: in the in the places that they live and just
32:08
Speaker 1: go to a park and just watch young kids play football.
32:12
Speaker 1: You're gonna see these catches. You're gonna see the most
32:15
Speaker 1: dynamic player in the field, usually as the quarterback. To me,
32:18
Speaker 1: that's where the spread system and the running quarterbacks that
32:21
Speaker 1: it came from. It came from your football coaches just
32:24
Speaker 1: sitting there saying, you know what, I don't really know
32:26
Speaker 1: how to coach this particular schame, but I do know
32:28
Speaker 1: one thing. This kid is the best kid out there.
32:30
Speaker 1: I want to find a way to put the ball
32:32
Speaker 1: in his hands over and over and over. And to me,
32:35
Speaker 1: that style of calling plays, that style of coaching has
32:37
Speaker 1: made it to the National Football League. You know that
32:39
Speaker 1: there are generalizations that we hear about position groups in
32:43
Speaker 1: the NFL. Um diva's is it a fair label to
32:48
Speaker 1: put on wide receivers? I was. I would say that,
32:51
Speaker 1: and and diva doesn't necessarily mean negative, man Like we
32:53
Speaker 1: have a negative connotation on the word DVA necessarily mean negative,
32:56
Speaker 1: I mean little whiny. Sometimes I wouldn't want to be
32:59
Speaker 1: called I wouldn't want to be called it DVA either.
33:01
Speaker 1: But let's just think about it. The success of a
33:03
Speaker 1: wide receiver exclusively depends is on the protection of his quarterback,
33:07
Speaker 1: the abilities of his all everything about his position depends
33:11
Speaker 1: on somebody else. So you kind of gotta be a diva,
33:13
Speaker 1: right You kind of gotta make sure that you're able
33:15
Speaker 1: to create the reality you want. You're able to to
33:18
Speaker 1: get the conditions the way that you wanted so that
33:21
Speaker 1: you can go be the best version of yourself out
33:23
Speaker 1: on the football field. So, yeah, they're a little bit
33:24
Speaker 1: of a deep. Are they the most athletic guys on
33:27
Speaker 1: football field? No? Who don't believe that are the most
33:30
Speaker 1: I don't believe I received that the most athletic guys
33:32
Speaker 1: on on the football field. Um, I believe honestly. Defensive
33:36
Speaker 1: lineman on whoa to be that big, to be that athletic,
33:40
Speaker 1: to run that fast? You're going to be three hundred
33:42
Speaker 1: fifty pound man. Oftentimes they outweigh you by twenty and
33:45
Speaker 1: thirty pounds. You gotta figure out a way to get
33:47
Speaker 1: around them. You can't land on the quarterback. You gotta
33:50
Speaker 1: make understand your strike zone. I mean so many, I
33:53
Speaker 1: mean to me, Chris Jones, Aaron Donald, Jeffrey Simmons from
33:56
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans. What these guys some of these guys
33:59
Speaker 1: can dunk. Yeah, come on, man to me that the
34:01
Speaker 1: level of athleticism is crazy. I've heard the smartest guys
34:04
Speaker 1: that on the football fielder, offensive lineman. I could go
34:07
Speaker 1: to the center, I would say, it might have been
34:09
Speaker 1: a center. Who told me that it might have been
34:11
Speaker 1: It had to be a center, I would say, the
34:13
Speaker 1: smartest guy quarterbacks. Obviously you have to be there as well,
34:17
Speaker 1: but they don't fullbacks. Just just just sprinkling a little
34:24
Speaker 1: for the for the fullbacks as well. All right, I
34:26
Speaker 1: know I made reference to it a little bit earlier.
34:27
Speaker 1: I am in having a blast. I hope you have
34:30
Speaker 1: as well. I'm Rob doing this show. We love getting
34:32
Speaker 1: those questions continue to slide into my my TM at
34:37
Speaker 1: Mike Underscore. Yeah, you can follow um Rob at Real
34:40
Speaker 1: Mike Rob. I don't know. Maybe maybe if you ask
34:43
Speaker 1: them a football question, maybe I'll get back. I have
34:45
Speaker 1: no idea, but once you can always appreciate you guys
34:48
Speaker 1: checking us out. Tell a friend about this episode, and
34:50
Speaker 1: of course fire off those questions. It's the evolution of
34:54
Speaker 1: the wide receiver spot explained