Does the shorter preseason help teams with established QBs?

[PlayoffsPlease]

In the old days with more preseason games and two a day practices, it seems as though teams with younger players especially at the QB position might have been in a better position to compete during the first few games of the season. That didn't hold true for the Bills last year. But I read quite a few posts talking about "new giant playbooks" and the "offense always being behind the defense". And it occurred to me that teams with QB's like Rodgers, Brady or Big Ben probably don't have any issues with those sort of concerns.

[KDIGGZ]

I think when you are learning a new playbook you already at a huge disadvantage vs someone who has run the same plays for years. Add on top of that the fact that you are splitting reps with other guys so you don't get as much on-field work. I don't think a little extra practice would help all that much but would certainly help a little. What you want is consistency over many seasons of running the same offense.

 

It's about first learning the new plays and feeling confident that you know where everyone is supposed to be and what their job is. When it's a new playbook you might second guess yourself if someone is out of position or doing something other than what you are expecting. As a QB you might think "oh they must know something I don't" or "maybe I got this one wrong." Next is feeling confident that everyone else knows what they are doing because it's a new playbook for them as well. It's basically chaos at the beginning as everyone is trying to learn. Receivers are running the wrong routes or running them too short or too deep, llinemen aren't blocking the right guys (especially in a zone blocking scheme). Stuff like that can hurt your confidence as a QB and end up reflecting poorly on you. Lastly, it's confidence in your reads. In the NFL, you have no time to second guess yourself. You have to make the read and pull the trigger. It should be like second nature. The OLB blitzes, *boom* hit the TE in the flat.

 

So to summarize, the comfort level of an established veteran QB who has run the same plays for multiple seasons is MUCH MUCH higher than a QB running new plays or a situation like ours where the QB is running new plays PLUS splitting time with 2 other guys. It's a huge disadvantage for us on offense. Extra practices and games would help a little but what would help the most is finding 1 guy to be our QB for many years and then having consistency with running the same offense so that the QB can build on what he has done and learned and continue to improve.

 

CONSISTENCY adds CONFIDENCE

[jester43]

In the old days with more preseason games and two a day practices, it seems as though teams with younger players especially at the QB position might have been in a better position to compete during the first few games of the season. That didn't hold true for the Bills last year. But I read quite a few posts talking about "new giant playbooks" and the "offense always being behind the defense". And it occurred to me that teams with QB's like Rodgers, Brady or Big Ben probably don't have any issues with those sort of concerns.

hey, i have an idea...there should have SIX pre-season games!