A Little Game to Play

[Harry]

Draft analysts use this to get a sense of pool depth. It’s also useful in deciding when you can trade down and still have options. Simply put, how many at each position go in round 1? Branch is listed that way as some see him at safety, which could be correct.

QB 4
RB 1
WR 4
TE 2
OL 6
DL/EDGE 7
CB 5 (Branch)
S 0
LB 2

 

[slanidrac16]

That means 13 teams are building their trenches.

 

[BritCard]

QB 4
RB 1
WR 5
TE 1
OL 6
DL/EDGE 7
CB 5
S 1
LB 1

This is with Branch at safety

 

[vince56]

That means 13 teams are building their trenches.

IMO line play in the NFL is at an all-time low. The modern game has become too finesse and not enough power. If teams can run a strong ISO / Power game, they seem to overpower defensive fronts, but few teams can do that.

Just an opinion, but with less talent at QB currently than in past years you may see more teams go back to a power run game to differentiate themselves and win games. Especially if they don’t have a Mahomes or Burrow on their squad.

 

[SissyBoyFloyd]

I haven't done any research to know what I am going to say is accurate or not, but it is based on my weak memory and gut feeling.

Maybe there has always been very few teams at a time, who you could count on one hand, that are successful and have the personnel, especially QB, to run a finesse/creatively modern offense. The couple teams who seem to "perfect it", are in a small majority, with many of the others trying to imitate them to little success.

The remaining teams that fall back on the tried and true "run first/power game" are those that are quite aware that they do not have the personnel or QB to imitate a current Reid's Chiefs' or Walsh's Niner teams, or whoever the next 'modern' offense's guru is. Or, they are of the old time win with power mindset as I would lean toward being.

For every Patrick Mahomes there are 10 Kyler Murrays trying out something 'new' for their team with little lasting success. These latter teams are constantly changing with no real lasting identity.

The truly 'modern' successful couple of teams are the ones that dominate championships in their time, with the few teams who have formed a power first identity generation after generation gutting it out to win a championship the 'old fashion way' a couple times per decade.

The other 25 or so teams are generally either wallowing at the bottom to middle of the standings and top of the drafts, searching for their identity and going back and forth every 3-5 years hoping to find something or someone that will be their salvation.

To me it just seems easier to replace a couple players per year plugging the new ones into a well established long term control type Power Game, than to keep finding those rarer unique individuals that are so talented that they can successfully run the more creative finesse offenses to perfection year after year.

It would be interesting to break the Super Bowl era into 5 year segments and see those teams that seemed to dominate over a 3-5 year period and decide which of the 2 types we would place them into: Modernly Creative or Traditional Power First kind of team. I think I would have winning your conference regularly over a 5 year period being the criteria for the teams you consider.