Times they are a-changin’. That was true in the 1960s when Bob Dylan sang it, and it’s still true today. And it’s especially accurate when looking at the modern NFL. The league has changed immensely over the last quarter century as money and safety have become the most important things to protect in the game.
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That has come, arguably, at the cost of the toughness, grit, and intensity that made American football such a unique sport in the greater pantheon of athletics. Nowadays, the game is very offensive-focused. Many rule changes have been implemented to reduce the defense’s ability to stop an offense in a legal manner.
Two guys who loved the rough-and-tumble nature of the old game of football, Patriots legends Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, were asked about a perceived drop in talent in the league. Edelman pushed back, stating that the talent level has not dropped off.
In fact, he argued, it’s likely higher than ever due to the sports science now available. Rather, the game is simply different from when guys like him and Gronk first entered the league.
“I don’t think the talent’s lower, I just think the play is different… I mean LaPorta, Kittle, the d-ends are all f***ing monsters, Myles Garrett, look at Verse, this little new guy Verse with the Rams that had a crazy good year. I think the league’s as athletic as ever—the complexity of offense is different,” said the former wideout.
Gronkowski also pointed out a couple of otherworldly talents at wideout, Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase, who are doing things on the football field every year that have never been done before.
The former tight end mentioned another influence that has had a massive impact on the NFL — college football. The schemes and strategies of the NCAA ranks have filtered into the pros at a much higher rate over the last 10-20 years.
Teams go with more unorthodox schemes like the Air Raid offense, the pistol formation, and the QB option more than ever nowadays. As Edelman said, the pro game has definitely gotten “more collegey.” which Gronk agreed with.
“Like West Coast offenses that are throwing the ball all the time. The talent’s there, it’s just how they incorporate the way they’re gonna play. The formations they’re not lining up in, how many times they’re throwing the ball compared to running the ball. Just the whole entire style of play is different, so it kind of aligns differently with the type of talent that’s out there.”
Edelman made the argument that perhaps the perceived lack of talent is due to the fact that college players are not being developed properly at the NCAA level. Because of that, professional coaches have to tailor simpler schemes around those players when they make the transition to the big league. He pointed out, for example, that while the option is tough to defend, it’s not exactly complex.
Gronkowski then chimed in saying that their old coach, Bill Belichick, is going to change that narrative as the new head football coach at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Gronk had his “Chapel Bill” t-shirt on to show support during the episode too.
