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Are players worse now than 15 years ago?


drago

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I'm starting to think that they are worse.

As I look at the pool of running backs and QB's, they have never really replenished after Faulk, Sanders, Brady, and P Manning. Some of the running backs have great, possibly better, athletic ability, but none of them can line up like Faulk used to at WR and be as dominant out there as they are at their given position.

Same with wide receiver. Calvin Johnson has some of the best physical tools we have ever seen, same with Marshall, and Gronkowski. But are they better at the position than someone without the natural size like Jerry Rice or Cris Carter?

It seems like the new crop of players are physically unbelievable but that i have not seen those same players take the profession on like the players from the late 80s or 90's.

Perhaps this is all nostalgia? Is my affinity for the past surpassing the reality that the players of today are actually better and I'm just a closet dumb ass? It is entirely possible.

Thoughts?

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The athlete is evolving to the point where mismatches are harder to come by. Faulk today is not the mismatch on a linebacker that he was ten years ago. The plodding safety (except for Eric Smith) is extinct. The OLBs that can't run are extinct (except on the Jets). The players that used to be great receivers and/or point guards are now playing corner. I think what we're seeing is not a decline in offensive talent, but an increased emphasis by college teams on putting their better athletes on defense, and an increased willingness by young players to be DBs and LBs, because they're all getting paid now.

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The athlete is evolving to the point where mismatches are harder to come by. Faulk today is not the mismatch on a linebacker that he was ten years ago. The plodding safety (except for Eric Smith) is extinct. The OLBs that can't run are extinct (except on the Jets). The players that used to be great receivers and/or point guards are now playing corner. I think what we're seeing is not a decline in offensive talent, but an increased emphasis by college teams on putting their better athletes on defense, and an increased willingness by young players to be DBs and LBs, because they're all getting paid now.

Good points. I was thinking of a few of the great defenders from the back then. Would Bruce Smith struggle in todays NFL due to his size? I would doubt it but maybe the guys that are second teir would.

You say that Faulk wouldn't be as much as a mismatch in the slot as he was years ago, that may be true, but i'm more referencing todays' RB's that flat out cannot catch. We all know Greene can't catch, but he isn't the only one. Peterson has fairly bad hands, Lynch is similar, as are quite a few others.

Players are bigger and stronger for sure (reference JPP or D Ware) but sometimes i really doubt that they have much of a skill set past their extreme athleticism.

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Good points. I was thinking of a few of the great defenders from the back then. Would Bruce Smith struggle in todays NFL due to his size? I would doubt it but maybe the guys that are second teir would.

You say that Faulk wouldn't be as much as a mismatch in the slot as he was years ago, that may be true, but i'm more referencing todays' RB's that flat out cannot catch. We all know Greene can't catch, but he isn't the only one. Peterson has fairly bad hands, Lynch is similar, as are quite a few others.

Players are bigger and stronger for sure (reference JPP or D Ware) but sometimes i really doubt that they have much of a skill set past their extreme athleticism.

Kids don't want to be RBs anymore because they have zero shelf life in the NFL. They go play right field instead, or corner.

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defenses are not allowed to by physical anymore

that's why so many rookie QB's are putting up great numbers now

it used to be RARE for a guy like Big Ben or Tom Brady to come out of nowhere as a rookie or virtual rookie

now we got RG3, Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson all playing at high levels because it's so much easier to pass when there is no enforcer in the middle of the field (i.e. enforcers are too scared to hit hard anymore due to fines or suspensions)

NFL is not nearly as good a product as it used to be unless you want to watch 45-42 games that come down to whoever gets the ball last. Unless you want to watch Jets-Cardinal games, plenty of defense there due to bad passers lol

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I'm starting to think that they are worse.

As I look at the pool of running backs and QB's, they have never really replenished after Faulk, Sanders, Brady, and P Manning. Some of the running backs have great, possibly better, athletic ability, but none of them can line up like Faulk used to at WR and be as dominant out there as they are at their given position.

Same with wide receiver. Calvin Johnson has some of the best physical tools we have ever seen, same with Marshall, and Gronkowski. But are they better at the position than someone without the natural size like Jerry Rice or Cris Carter?

It seems like the new crop of players are physically unbelievable but that i have not seen those same players take the profession on like the players from the late 80s or 90's.

Perhaps this is all nostalgia? Is my affinity for the past surpassing the reality that the players of today are actually better and I'm just a closet dumb ass? It is entirely possible.

Thoughts?

NO!

But most, not all most, are much, much, much bigger PUSSIES!

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