Week one of the preseason is over and your team is terrible…but every team is terrible so don’t worry. The NFL preseason is sloppy and for the most part pointless, they don’t reflect on how a team will be come the start of the season, new schemes and systems are being installed and new players getting up to speed. You also have teams like the Patriots and Vikings holding out their star players for fear of injury.
Speaking of injury, that is the main concern post-game for coaching staffs. It is not the result, but who got injured, how long will they be out, or who didn’t play because of that stubbed toe. Stadiums are half empty and the atmosphere is dead, the biggest cheers come when potentially future stars show a glimpse of the talent that made them a first round pick, when an unknown, undrafted player makes a big play or when a local boy takes to the field, those moments of hope for the season to come.
The main reason for preseason games is to find out who will make the final 10 to 15 spots on the roster. With most teams having a rough idea of who will be their starting 22, it is down to who will back them up? Who is needed on special teams? Who will make the practice squad?
Most teams played their starting offense and defense for a series or two, just getting them used to the speed of NFL football again. Then the second team came out and by the third quarter you were looking at guys who will be cut when the first round of roster reductions come on August 26th reducing the team roster size from 90 to 75.
While these third-team players don’t see much playing time during training, maybe getting a half dozen snaps a session, they do however have an important part to play on special teams and for many this is the way to make the final squad. The lack of experience leads to a lot of penalties, false starts, and general frustration for the viewer and coaching staff.
Never fear though, week two of preseason should see the teams improve and some of the poorer players will get less playing time in favour of those roster bubble players. While this is tragic for the player seeing less playing time, it makes the team stronger. Until a development league is implemented it will be the way things are run.
Just shy of half of the players who take part in training camp will be out of a job come September, their dream of playing in the NFL cut short, or for some it may be the end of the road as a professional athlete. Some will get lucky and placed on the practice squad or picked up by another team later in the season when injuries mount up, but for the large majority it is a harsh reality that they just aren’t good enough for the sport.
When week two of preseason kicks off, keep this in mind: pay attention to players who shine on special teams, as they are the ones who may just make the roster; pay attention during those kickoffs and punt returns, the guy giving everything on those plays just might get lucky enough to put on the team jersey come September.
As I said, some players won’t see the field at all during the preseason and generally week three is considered the most regular season-like game with starters playing around a half to three-quarters of the game. This is the week to pay more attention to, as a judge of how the season will go, unless you are the Patriots and well…. Ryan Mallett isn’t going to start any time soon. The final week invariably sees teams resting every starter and giving players who may be on the unemployment line the following morning one final shot at changing their minds.
Only three more preseason games left before we get down to the important stuff.
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