Put Me In, Coach
This is interesting.
I don't know if it'll be a positive or a negative or most likely a neutral factor for a Cowboys organization that's not exactly healthy at the moment, but compared to most reality TV shows out there it seems like it could be compelling TV without being embarrassing either to the viewer or the contestant. I also appreciate that despite the pitchline of using "football neophytes" they're actually, it seems, going to focus on guys who played college ball but for some reason or other didn't make it to the NFL, so there's some shot that the winner, having secured a slot in training camp, but actually be able to hope that he could possibly make the cut for the season roster (unlikely, though).
However, I do wonder at the selection of positions for the contestants. There'll be six wide receivers and six defensive backs (the guys who are more or less responsible for defending wide receivers). The offense/defense thing makes sense, and wide receiver/d-back is one of the more glamorous positions out there; an extremely casual fan like myself can certainly name more receivers than offensive linemen. But of various positions on the football field, wide receiver seems like one of the least likely ones at which you could find a body of guys with NFL level ability who haven't already got a cup of coffee in the league. Everybody in the NFL is surprisingly agile for their size, but NFL wide receivers are freakishly quick considering that the prototype right now is probably about 6'4", 215 lbs. Plus they can jump really high. I would think you'd be much more likely to be successful if you were looking for, say, tight ends, who are about the same height (trending taller) but need to weigh something like 250 lbs. An NFL tight end needs to be faster than the average guy his height and weight, but not to the explosively quick degree a wide receiver does; after the sheer bulk requirement, it seems like one of the less demanding positions in terms of the physical restrictions needed to be competitive. There's just a lot more big guys who can hustle quick and hit hard than there are NFL-quality greyhounds.
Actually, I'd expect that there's also a lot of NFL-caliber quarterbacks floating around. Pro teams are notoriously bad at being able to project who will or won't be a successful quarterback, and rely on a lot of physical data that's marginally relevant at best. I'll bet there are a lot of guys who are good enough to be a backup QB in the NFL but aren't because they're 5'10" or had a shitty Wonderlic* score or something like that.
* I took the Wonderlic, which is some sort of weird intelligence assessment test, when I signed up with a temp agency after graduating from college. I don't know what my results were, but maybe I should consider that they never called me for work evidence that I don't look too impressive on a Wonderlic. It was a weird test, but my best understanding is that it tries to measure decision making and pattern recognition under considerable time constraints. That seems like a valuable skill for QBs to have but there are a bunch of great ones who've famously done poorly on the test, and frankly I think the intellectual aspect of being a QB is oversold. Football in general is a pretty heady game considering all the hitting that goes on, but just because the QB has the ball in his hands doesn't mean he's got the most intellectually challenging job. Basically he needs to see the open man and recognize if a defensive back is trying to bait him into making a pass. The guys who actually score highest on the Wonderlic are offensive and defensive linemen, which is funny given stereotypes about football players, since they're by far the biggest men on the field. The adage is that the closer to the line of scrimmage you play the smarter you need to be (at least smart in the ways the Wonderlic cares about) and it makes sense, because the o- and d-lines are always shifting and trying to fool each other into misrecognizing what's going to happen once the play starts. The ability to instantly perceive what's actually going on and put your considerable bulk in the best position to thwart it is what makes a great line, and a great o-line can make mediocre "skill" players look like Pro Bowlers (and a great d-line can make them look like chumps).
I don't know if it'll be a positive or a negative or most likely a neutral factor for a Cowboys organization that's not exactly healthy at the moment, but compared to most reality TV shows out there it seems like it could be compelling TV without being embarrassing either to the viewer or the contestant. I also appreciate that despite the pitchline of using "football neophytes" they're actually, it seems, going to focus on guys who played college ball but for some reason or other didn't make it to the NFL, so there's some shot that the winner, having secured a slot in training camp, but actually be able to hope that he could possibly make the cut for the season roster (unlikely, though).
However, I do wonder at the selection of positions for the contestants. There'll be six wide receivers and six defensive backs (the guys who are more or less responsible for defending wide receivers). The offense/defense thing makes sense, and wide receiver/d-back is one of the more glamorous positions out there; an extremely casual fan like myself can certainly name more receivers than offensive linemen. But of various positions on the football field, wide receiver seems like one of the least likely ones at which you could find a body of guys with NFL level ability who haven't already got a cup of coffee in the league. Everybody in the NFL is surprisingly agile for their size, but NFL wide receivers are freakishly quick considering that the prototype right now is probably about 6'4", 215 lbs. Plus they can jump really high. I would think you'd be much more likely to be successful if you were looking for, say, tight ends, who are about the same height (trending taller) but need to weigh something like 250 lbs. An NFL tight end needs to be faster than the average guy his height and weight, but not to the explosively quick degree a wide receiver does; after the sheer bulk requirement, it seems like one of the less demanding positions in terms of the physical restrictions needed to be competitive. There's just a lot more big guys who can hustle quick and hit hard than there are NFL-quality greyhounds.
Actually, I'd expect that there's also a lot of NFL-caliber quarterbacks floating around. Pro teams are notoriously bad at being able to project who will or won't be a successful quarterback, and rely on a lot of physical data that's marginally relevant at best. I'll bet there are a lot of guys who are good enough to be a backup QB in the NFL but aren't because they're 5'10" or had a shitty Wonderlic* score or something like that.
* I took the Wonderlic, which is some sort of weird intelligence assessment test, when I signed up with a temp agency after graduating from college. I don't know what my results were, but maybe I should consider that they never called me for work evidence that I don't look too impressive on a Wonderlic. It was a weird test, but my best understanding is that it tries to measure decision making and pattern recognition under considerable time constraints. That seems like a valuable skill for QBs to have but there are a bunch of great ones who've famously done poorly on the test, and frankly I think the intellectual aspect of being a QB is oversold. Football in general is a pretty heady game considering all the hitting that goes on, but just because the QB has the ball in his hands doesn't mean he's got the most intellectually challenging job. Basically he needs to see the open man and recognize if a defensive back is trying to bait him into making a pass. The guys who actually score highest on the Wonderlic are offensive and defensive linemen, which is funny given stereotypes about football players, since they're by far the biggest men on the field. The adage is that the closer to the line of scrimmage you play the smarter you need to be (at least smart in the ways the Wonderlic cares about) and it makes sense, because the o- and d-lines are always shifting and trying to fool each other into misrecognizing what's going to happen once the play starts. The ability to instantly perceive what's actually going on and put your considerable bulk in the best position to thwart it is what makes a great line, and a great o-line can make mediocre "skill" players look like Pro Bowlers (and a great d-line can make them look like chumps).
posted by medrawt at
16:46
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