Should the NFL disband preseason?

[fredtoast]

(08-20-2015, 11:52 AM)SteelCitySouth Wrote: Speaking on the development league and the fact that currently that league is the college program:

The biggest issue I have with the College program is how completely watered down the talent is.  By that I mean there are so many programs that the talent gets spread so thin across the country that Johnny Manziel can happen.  When your leagues defensive talent is spread out like it is in college you end up with a bunch QB's that are runners instead of pocket passers.  We have been inundated for the last couple decades with the "Running QB" entering into the NFL.  At first it worked.  RGIII had a good season, Mike Vick had some good seasons (not throwing).  This is not to say all QB's (Mr. Cro Magnon in Indi)  But it didn't take NFL coaches long to figure out how to shut that down.  So why does it still prevail in college.  Talent.  The talent on any one NFL team defense is soooo much greater than on any one college team.  They are faster bigger and more discipline.  This is primarily do to dilution within the college system.  This leads to running qb's in college being very successful due to all of the attributes being lacking in the college programs.

Imagine if the NFL came out and said over the next 5 years they were going to evaluate all of the college programs and announce that effective 2020 only 64 college programs will be eligible for the NFL draft.  All other student athletes can try for the NFL as an un-drafted free agent.

How long would it take those programs to:

1  Form a new conference to play each other similar to how the NFL does
2  Condense the majority of the talent in the US to those 64 teams
3  provide a better product at certain positions than they do now.

I'm certainly not saying my opinion is right or we need to do this or anything like that.  Just putting a thought out there to be discussed.

I don't think the popularity of the spread option offense in college has much to do with lack of defensive talent.  I think it has more to do with the simplicity.  Even the most talent top programs only get a few hours a week a few weeks a year to install their offense.  It is impossible to implement an offense as complicated as the NFL teams use.  
That is why you get either the "spread option" or the "one-read-then-run" at almost every college.  Even the teams that throw the ball almost every down don't use that many different plays. 

[fredtoast]

One group that would benefit from a developmental league would be great athletes that could not meet the academic requirements to get into college.

A developmental league could play in the spring. It would have a very short season. Each NFL team would assign 10 players to the league that would all play on one team together. That way fans of an NFL team would immediately have a favorite team in the D-league. If there were 8 teams that means each D-league team would have players from 4 NFL teams. In fact they could even be grouped by division. So there would be an AFCN team located somewhere in the midwest. Then there would be another 15 or so at-large roster spots for each d-league team. They could play a 7 game round robin schedule plus a championship game in April and May.

[CarolinaBengalFanGuy]

If the NFL wants to expand to Europe why not start up a European development league. Have teams share a European team. Maybe each division has their own team.


I guess that's stupid, but it's a random thought.

[SteelCitySouth]

(08-20-2015, 12:07 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I don't think the popularity of the spread option offense in college has much to do with lack of defensive talent.  I think it has more to do with the simplicity.  Even the most talent top programs only get a few hours a week a few weeks a year to install their offense.  It is impossible to implement an offense as complicated as the NFL teams use.  
That is why you get either the "spread option" or the "one-read-then-run" at almost every college.  Even the teams that throw the ball almost every down don't use that many different plays. 

Why does it not work in the NFL?

[QueenCitySouth]

(08-20-2015, 12:23 PM)CarolinaBengalFanGuy Wrote: If the NFL wants to expand to Europe why not start up a European development league. Have teams share a European team. Maybe each division has their own team.


I guess that's stupid, but it's a random thought.

Then again there used to be NFL Europe with teams in Frankfurt, Barcelona, etc.

[fredtoast]

(08-20-2015, 12:26 PM)SteelCitySouth Wrote: Why does it not work in the NFL?

Complex and more athletic NFL defenses shut it down.

Some college players do excel because of lesser talent on defense, but that applies to EVERY type of scheme.  Look at what Trent Richardson did at Alabama behind that massive O-line. Running QBs don't benefit any more from weak defenses than power running teams like Wisconsin.

[SteelCitySouth]

(08-20-2015, 01:46 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Complex and more athletic NFL defenses shut it down.

Some college players do excel because of lesser talent on defense, but that applies to EVERY type of scheme.  Look at what Trent Richardson did at Alabama behind that massive O-line.  Running QBs don't benefit any more from weak defenses than power running teams like Wisconsin.

So you don't think that the athletic part of the equation  applies to the read option being successful in college, yet it is applicable to it's demise in the NFL?  I'm definitely not saying that Talent level in college D is the only reason.  I am saying it is one of the reasons though and the cause of that is the dilution of talent throughout the multitude of college programs.

[*rfaulk34*]

(08-20-2015, 12:14 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: Seriously. Even though it didn't matter, it was awesome seeing our 3rd string QB execute a game winning drive. Dude just spent a year in the arena league, and now he gets to play in the NFL. 

He was so humble when they came out to interview him and had the most genuine reaction when Suggs dumped water on his head. It was great.

Stop it. I'm getting misty.

[BFritz21]

(08-20-2015, 01:23 AM)J24 Wrote: 1.) Were in a football starved country so I think they could get an audience for football. People watch the draft and that's just Rodger Goodell reading names off a paper. Hell people watch the combine and that's just people working out in their underwear doing nonsense drills.  Point being if you have a league in the spring time you'll get some type of audience. He'll it beats the NFL network running every Americas game for the 1000 time.

2.) The league would be for players who are on the practice squad or haven't made any teams yet. It would not be for proven players.

1)  Reason the country is so football starved is because there's so little of it.  People get excited for the draft and Combine because they're so rare and will have an impact on the league. I just think that a league like that would dilute football and people wouldn't give a shit about seeing it.  How competitive and skilled would it really be?  Sure, you'll have some good players, but would it be enough to field an entire team?  I guess you could just make it a small league and not like a farm system where every team has a farm team.

2)  Point is how many players would end up making it?

Might be worth a try, but I just don't see it happening.

(08-20-2015, 04:09 AM)wolfkaosaun Wrote: Some have gone to CFL. Some have done Arena league. And some went to Europe as well.

I think it would give chances to young players that played in small schools a chance to prove they can play well. Not many teams are going to look at small school tape unless there's media hype about a guy. It helps competition.

If a young guy is good enough, he can find a scout to get his name out.  

Also, most teams have an extensive scouting department, which we seem to lack, and, even if there's not a lot of media coverage (or any), if a guy is ripping it up from a small school, there will always be some kind of buzz, especially with everything being all over the internet now.

Hell, every conference, even down to d3 and NAIA, have a website where someone can see highlights, stats, game evaluations, and anyone making a splash.

Maybe it would help for some guys who need a little more development, but I just don't think that enough players would develop enough to make it into the NFL to make it worthwhile.

I don't know.........  maybe if they had a league that was 10 or less games per season, it might work, but I think you'd have troubles drawing enough interest for that to cover expenses, and a lot of trouble drawing interest to cover any more time.

When would you make it, though?  Football season goes up to February (playoffs included), then in the Spring you have March Madness, baseball starting, and even people getting ready for the draft (which I still think would draw more time and attention than this league), Summer is baseball and people being at the pool, playing golf, and doing other things that are going to take priority over seeing a bunch of scrubs who probably barely made any noise in college, and then football season.

I just don't see it working.

[Benton]

(08-19-2015, 01:17 AM)fredtoast Wrote: They need to cut it down to 2 games instead of four.

Yup.

Preseason games are a good way to evaluate depth and try out new stuff. Some guys don't show as well in practice as they do on the field. Some plays work great in practice but don't hold up in an actual game.

Cut it down to two preseason games, add one more regular season game and give each team a second bye week (one between games 4-9, one between 11-16). Owners are happy, fans are happy, players have to play one more game, but get to split the season up a bit more.

[J24]

(08-20-2015, 07:18 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: 1)  Reason the country is so football starved is because there's so little of it.  People get excited for the draft and Combine because they're so rare and will have an impact on the league. I just think that a league like that would dilute football and people wouldn't give a shit about seeing it.  How competitive and skilled would it really be?  Sure, you'll have some good players, but would it be enough to field an entire team?  I guess you could just make it a small league and not like a farm system where every team has a farm team.

2)  Point is how many players would end up making it?

Might be worth a try, but I just don't see it happening.

If a young guy is good enough, he can find a scout to get his name out.  

Also, most teams have an extensive scouting department, which we seem to lack, and, even if there's not a lot of media coverage (or any), if a guy is ripping it up from a small school, there will always be some kind of buzz, especially with everything being all over the internet now.

Hell, every conference, even down to d3 and NAIA, have a website where someone can see highlights, stats, game evaluations, and anyone making a splash.

Maybe it would help for some guys who need a little more development, but I just don't think that enough players would develop enough to make it into the NFL to make it worthwhile.

I don't know.........  maybe if they had a league that was 10 or less games per season, it might work, but I think you'd have troubles drawing enough interest for that to cover expenses, and a lot of trouble drawing interest to cover any more time.

When would you make it, though?  Football season goes up to February (playoffs included), then in the Spring you have March Madness, baseball starting, and even people getting ready for the draft (which I still think would draw more time and attention than this league), Summer is baseball and people being at the pool, playing golf, and doing other things that are going to take priority over seeing a bunch of scrubs who probably barely made any noise in college, and then football season.

I just don't see it working.

1.) football is the number 1 sport in America because people love the game not because its not played very often. Its our soccer if it was played year around  as well people would still love it.
2.) It would be more like what the summer league is to the NBA then another football league all together. It would be for the hardcore fan more so than masses.
3.)Easy play it in April-May. Each team plays in 3 division games, The only teams that make the playoffs are the division winners,  you have an 8 team playoff to determine the championship.

[*jason*]

(08-21-2015, 01:05 AM)Benton Wrote: Yup.

Preseason games are a good way to evaluate depth and try out new stuff. Some guys don't show as well in practice as they do on the field. Some plays work great in practice but don't hold up in an actual game.

Cut it down to two preseason games, add one more regular season game and give each team a second bye week (one between games 4-9, one between 11-16). Owners are happy, fans are happy, players have to play one more game, but get to split the season up a bit more.

Here lately I've been wondering why the NFL just doesn't give every team the week off after week 8.  It would be the equivalent of the other leagues' All Star break, and would eliminate the worthless early bye week that the Bengals got last season, and some other teams will have this season.

[Benton]

(08-21-2015, 10:40 AM)jason Wrote: Here lately I've been wondering why the NFL just doesn't give every team the week off after week 8.  It would be the equivalent of the other leagues' All Star break, and would eliminate the worthless early bye week that the Bengals got last season, and some other teams will have this season.

Early bye stinks. Unless you've got a lot of late camp/early season injuries, you need that time more later in the season to heal up and watch film on the upcoming teams. By midseason, every game your opponents have played so far (and yours, too) has been taken apart by either coaching staff or the half dozen all-sports cable channels. Having a later season bye is much better. I think the off after 8 would work out better for all teams.

[SunsetBengal]

(08-20-2015, 12:15 PM)fredtoast Wrote: One group that would benefit from a developmental league would be great athletes that could not meet the academic requirements to get into college.

A developmental league could play in the spring.  It would have a very short season.  Each NFL team would assign 10 players to the league that would all play on one team together.  That way fans of an NFL team would immediately have a favorite team in the D-league.  If there were 8 teams that means each D-league team would have players from 4 NFL teams.  In fact they could even be grouped by division.  So there would be an AFCN team located somewhere in the midwest.  Then there would be another 15 or so at-large roster spots for each d-league team.  They could play a 7 game round robin schedule plus a championship game in April and May.

I like your idea for a "farm system", but it would need to be bigger.  Look at MLB.  They have 30 teams, each has 3 minor league affiliates, that is a total of 120 professional baseball teams, plus college teams. 

[SunsetBengal]

(08-20-2015, 02:33 AM)Nately120 Wrote: I also want to point out your poll and thread title say the opposite thing, as in a NO means YES depending on which you are looking at.

Well, it seems that you and I were both smart enough to read it, and convey our intended response appropriately..

[J24]

(08-21-2015, 10:40 AM)jason Wrote: Here lately I've been wondering why the NFL just doesn't give every team the week off after week 8.  It would be the equivalent of the other leagues' All Star break, and would eliminate the worthless early bye week that the Bengals got last season, and some other teams will have this season.

That would be the fair thing to do.

[jfkbengals]

Reducing or eliminating preseason games will result in an abysmal product in the regular season...

[*Nately120*]

(08-21-2015, 10:40 AM)jason Wrote: Here lately I've been wondering why the NFL just doesn't give every team the week off after week 8.  It would be the equivalent of the other leagues' All Star break, and would eliminate the worthless early bye week that the Bengals got last season, and some other teams will have this season.

Staggering the bye week means every week there are NFL teams and games making money.  Plus, a bye week can be useful at any point in the year depending on what is going on with the team.  Perhaps the Bengals get a bye in week 4 and it seems too early but it turns out that's the week Dalton tweaked his butt muscle and needs an extra week to get back to normal.  What a relief!

Anyways, a week during the season without football?  Meh, we have that and it's the week before the Super Bowl and everyone kinda hates it.

[BonnieBengal]

(08-19-2015, 01:17 AM)fredtoast Wrote: They need to cut it down to 2 games instead of four.

Agree.  

[*Nately120*]

(08-23-2015, 04:33 PM)BonnieBengal Wrote: Agree.  

But that means less football!  I can't vote for that.