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Posted

Defenses in college and even more so in high school are not NFL defenses. Fans hate punting because they never punt in Madden and it works and whatever... I think going for it on 4th down should be used carefully at opportune moments.

Posted

Defenses in college and even more so in high school are not NFL defenses. Fans hate punting because they never punt in Madden and it works and whatever... I think going for it on 4th down should be used carefully at opportune moments.

Yup. That crap works in high school and a bit less in college. But the NFL?

Posted

Never punting is dumb. Gimmicky stuff in high school works because of the talent level and the disparity between teams. In the NFL even the worst team is fielding players who are still among the best players in college for multiple generations and now years older and their games are more developed getting coached by some of the best coaches. They are going to be prepared for or adapt quickly to gimmicks. I don't have a problem with teams past the 50 going for it on 4th down. But there is always a time to punt and you do your best to gauge the risk and rewards of it.

Posted

It's about time NFL folks talked to this guy. But the caveat in the middle of the article is spot on...

 

Of course, just because it’s been an effective strategy for one high school doesn’t mean it would be an effective strategy in the NFL. Punters in the NFL are far better than punters in high school. And the talent gap between two high school teams can be huge, which means that Kelley’s offense might convert a lot of fourth downs just because his players are a lot better than the players on the opposing defense, not because his strategy of going for it on fourth down is inherently correct.

 

During my junior year in high school, our team didn't punt much. Then again, we had two RBs averaging over 10 yards per carry. Pro teams don't have offenses like that.

 

Still, I think a statistical analysis of the NFL would show that most teams are too conservative on 4th down.

Posted

I'm more interested in his scripted plays after the catch with WR's doing laterals. It's a totally untapped aspect to the game, and I've always thought to move the ball in that manner every once in a while would completely throw off the defense.

 

For example, if you had Chris Hogan run a slant towards the middle, and have him turn around after the catch and essentially hand it off to Percy Harvin who is running laterally, all the while the rest of the unit executed a punt return formation, how in the world would the defense be ready to stop it?

Posted

It's about time NFL folks talked to this guy. But the caveat in the middle of the article is spot on...

 

Of course, just because it’s been an effective strategy for one high school doesn’t mean it would be an effective strategy in the NFL. Punters in the NFL are far better than punters in high school. And the talent gap between two high school teams can be huge, which means that Kelley’s offense might convert a lot of fourth downs just because his players are a lot better than the players on the opposing defense, not because his strategy of going for it on fourth down is inherently correct.

 

During my junior year in high school, our team didn't punt much. Then again, we had two RBs averaging over 10 yards per carry. Pro teams don't have offenses like that.

 

Still, I think a statistical analysis of the NFL would show that most teams are too conservative on 4th down.

 

Would, has, and will continue to do so for at least a few more years.

Posted

I'm more interested in why teams never run designed pitches after catching the ball...those would likely lead to some easy touchdowns. Then again poor execution could lead to easy turnovers as well.

 

Question would be which one would occur more and would 10 easy TD's in a season be worth 5 TOs off the other pitches?

Posted

I'm more interested in why teams never run designed pitches after catching the ball...those would likely lead to some easy touchdowns. Then again poor execution could lead to easy turnovers as well.

 

Question would be which one would occur more and would 10 easy TD's in a season be worth 5 TOs off the other pitches?

 

It's likely because of the unpredictability of it. I'm not sure the benefit would worth it. Is an extra TD when you're up by 10 worth the TO in a tie game?

Posted (edited)

Of course... They probably had no one that can properly punt. HS isn't really about FG/Punting... Hell even some teams go for two every time b.c they have no kicker.

Edited by Beef Jerky
Posted

Flash back to 2000. 9th ranked offense. 3rd ranked defense. Ronnie Jones as special teams coach of perhaps the worst ST unit in league history. This would have worked better than kicking the ball straight in the air, which was our "strategy."

Posted (edited)

But the caveat in the middle of the article is spot on...

The big caveat is they had a honorable mention Parade All-American QB (who's now paying D-1 ball at Tulsa) and the other teams had 'normal' HS-level players.

 

Pretty easy to not punt when you have that kind of player advantage...

Edited by Lurker
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