I want to take some time to type up a couple pro sport concepts so rather than always having to re-explain them I can just link to it in the future…
The first one I want to discuss is “Absent player advantages”
Now typically, its seen as a massive disadvantage when a starting player is hurt, suspended, or otherwise absent from a team…and most of the time this is true, but not always. There are several situations that create an advantage for the team missing one or more players…
Motivation.
System Enhancements.
Backup talent
The first one I want to discuss is “Absent player advantages”
Now typically, its seen as a massive disadvantage when a starting player is hurt, suspended, or otherwise absent from a team…and most of the time this is true, but not always. There are several situations that create an advantage for the team missing one or more players…
Motivation.
- This isn’t always enough on its own. Talent certainly matters, but players are human and frequently you see a team or unit on a team excel at least for a short time after a major injury because the remaining players rally around the injured players absence. Players will loaf on plays less, be sharper on assignments, and give extra effort… its not usually sustainable, but it absolutely happens.
- Conversely, teams paying a team that has serious injury issues can often expect a lighter challenge and can, at times, play down to that expectation.
System Enhancements.
- At times, a team’s scheme can enhance a player’s performance. This creates a “plug and play” environment. A team with a magnificent offensive line might be able to overcome injuries at running back. A team with a great passing scheme can see journeyman QB’s come in and be as effective as the starter. Likewise a great pass rush can make meh CBs look fine, and so on and so forth… so sometimes (not always, obviously) the individual talent isn’t as important as the scheme itself….
Backup talent
- We tend to believe that backups are less talented than the starters, but this isn’t always the case. Oftentimes rookies and young players can be buried until coaches feel they are ready… which, lets be fair, is way too often a subjective call being made by way too conservative coaches, afraid to get blamed by inexperienced mistakes. Injuries can lead to opportunities for young guys that ultimately are every bit as talented or even more talented than the starter to play….
- A subset of this is the young guy who wasn’t quite ready yet at the start of the season , but is extremely talented and by the time the injury hits, he is better suited to starting and provides more production than the starter…. Remember how Tomlin Kept AB off the field most of his rookie season, but when he did play he killed it?
- On the flip side, sometimes coaches are forcing starts on a rookie not quite ready, and the journeyman backup is just a better player right then. On a lot of teams, if a high first rounder absolutely sucks early on and a backup tear things up in limited time, its extremely unlikely any change would be made there till what? Midseason maybe? Because that first round selection can lead to forced playing time to justify it. You see that a lot, especially on offense…
- And of course there are the star players who are past their prime or playing with injuries that a backup might be better than right now, but not so much that they took the starter role from them
- Lastly there are coaches pets. These types often win starting jobs through hard work despite lower talent ceilings. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but sometimes they go out and the guy replacing him has a higher talent threshold. Heck in the worse case scenario for pet players, a really smart guy with extreme physical limitations is kept on the field because coaches trust his decision making despite his lack of speed or strength or quickness causing him to be beat … A guy like that goes out and sometimes the next guy up makes more mistakes, but also makes more plays… and overall it’s a positive…
- Teams meticulously plan for every single starter they are going to see. Backups may have totally different strengths and weaknesses, and until they are on tape, teams might not be prepared for them. A gameplan to counter a Joe Flacco goes out the window when Lamar Jackson takes over midgame… A scat-back being replaced by a power back or vice versa can cause havoc too… Maybe that backup wideout isn’t a speed demon, https://secure.ucsusa.org/a/2021-te...359762120.1630242896-1601529683.1630242896but his quickness over the middle and route running or his run blocking is a serious advantage over the starter’s and that gives the team a totally unexpected change of strengths…
- Teams losing a player have the advantage of knowing that players strengths and adjusting their own scheme or gameplan to fit it, the opposing team may not have enough time or gametape of how the team is utilizing the backup to react correctly.