ReynardMuldrake
02-24-2011, 01:53 PM
Dilfer said it's a three-year process to own a particular playbook. Owning a play is different from memorizing it, Dilfer explained. "Owning it to me goes from knowing it to understanding it to it becoming instinctive," Dilfer said.
How does one own the plays? "If you're not spending an hour every day in your playbook, you're cheating your teammates," Dilfer said. He stated quarterbacks should study three hours per day, given their extra responsibilities in commanding an offense.
It can take a while just to lock down a playbook's language. "A lot of coaches use numbering systems," Dilfer added. He said odd numbers are typically used for plays to the right, even numbers for plays to the left. Many offenses use T and D words for formations: T for Trips, where three receivers are lined up on one side, and D for double sets, such as double tight ends.
Dilfer cited an example of one play with a different meaning in two systems. "Red Right 22 Texas is a West Coast play," Dilfer explained. "In another system, it's Split Right Scat Right 639 F Angle. What some players will do when they go to a new team, is when it's Split Right Scat Right, they go, 'Oh, that's 22 Texas.' They hear one thing and they put old language on it; you have to learn the new language." Leinart admitted as much in his transition from the Cardinals to the Texans.
Running back Derrick Ward, who also joined the Texans in early September after he was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said his learning curve was much shorter. "It took me a week to understand everything in Houston's offense," Ward said. That was partly a byproduct of the language similarities shared by the Buccaneers and Texans.
Ward claimed to have a photographic memory, which lets him immediately remember plays he goes over in meetings. "This is my seventh year. Once you get the hang of what the offense does, you can differentiate one play from another and it becomes repetitive," he said. The ability to differentiate is pivotal in a playbook that he noted has up to 300 plays. And many of the plays contain pass routes which can have numerous variations depending on what the defense shows, creating a subset of plays within a play.
Dhani Jones, a middle linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals, said memorizing plays isn't as difficult as understanding their philosophy. "I don't drop the language (from previous systems)," said Jones, who's also been on the Giants and Philadelphia Eagles during his 10-year career. "It's just different words that are used. Quarters coverage is the same as Cloud coverage is the same as strong-side rotated coverage. They're just named differently."
[full article]
http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/24/method-men-how-nfl-players-memorize-dizzying-playbooks/
How does one own the plays? "If you're not spending an hour every day in your playbook, you're cheating your teammates," Dilfer said. He stated quarterbacks should study three hours per day, given their extra responsibilities in commanding an offense.
It can take a while just to lock down a playbook's language. "A lot of coaches use numbering systems," Dilfer added. He said odd numbers are typically used for plays to the right, even numbers for plays to the left. Many offenses use T and D words for formations: T for Trips, where three receivers are lined up on one side, and D for double sets, such as double tight ends.
Dilfer cited an example of one play with a different meaning in two systems. "Red Right 22 Texas is a West Coast play," Dilfer explained. "In another system, it's Split Right Scat Right 639 F Angle. What some players will do when they go to a new team, is when it's Split Right Scat Right, they go, 'Oh, that's 22 Texas.' They hear one thing and they put old language on it; you have to learn the new language." Leinart admitted as much in his transition from the Cardinals to the Texans.
Running back Derrick Ward, who also joined the Texans in early September after he was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said his learning curve was much shorter. "It took me a week to understand everything in Houston's offense," Ward said. That was partly a byproduct of the language similarities shared by the Buccaneers and Texans.
Ward claimed to have a photographic memory, which lets him immediately remember plays he goes over in meetings. "This is my seventh year. Once you get the hang of what the offense does, you can differentiate one play from another and it becomes repetitive," he said. The ability to differentiate is pivotal in a playbook that he noted has up to 300 plays. And many of the plays contain pass routes which can have numerous variations depending on what the defense shows, creating a subset of plays within a play.
Dhani Jones, a middle linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals, said memorizing plays isn't as difficult as understanding their philosophy. "I don't drop the language (from previous systems)," said Jones, who's also been on the Giants and Philadelphia Eagles during his 10-year career. "It's just different words that are used. Quarters coverage is the same as Cloud coverage is the same as strong-side rotated coverage. They're just named differently."
[full article]
http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/24/method-men-how-nfl-players-memorize-dizzying-playbooks/