Scheme Fits
Everybody has strengths and weaknesses. Take football, for instance. There are power backs; they’re bigger, stronger more physical runners who break tackles and play through contact well. There are also elusive backs. These players are speedier and more agile - they may be better out in the open field and running pass catching routes in the short field. Now there are also a few special players who can do it all and excel at every aspect of their position, but we’re going to ignore those for now.
These different archetypes lend themselves to different situations, and different teams prefer different styles of offense. Some teams are centered around power running schemes where the objective is to pound the ball on the ground, trying to exploit gaps at the line of scrimmage and maybe some play-action. There are also west coast schemes that are predicated on a spread offense and operating out of the shotgun, making quick decisions and getting the ball out in the open field.
Now imagine you’re someone like Derrick Henry: 6’4”, 225 pounds, strong and capable of running over other fully grown elite athletes, stuck in a system where you’re expected to catch passes out in the flat and make people miss with lateral movement and agility. Sounds like maybe not everyone is optimizing their potential, no? Or picture this; you’re De’Von Achane, 5’9”, weighing in at 187 and you run a forty yard dash in less than 4.3 seconds, but you play on a team that believes the best way to win is by trying to run inside, and the plan is to constantly send you into a sea of guys that are all 270-plus. Sounds like a bad idea doesn’t it?
Luckily for both those guys, they’ve found themselves in situations that play to their strengths. Derrick Henry has led the NFL in rushing yards multiple times ( I think, to be honest I didn’t check any stats to write this) and De’Von Achane just scored 4 touchdowns today: two by the ground and two by air.
What I’m saying is fit matters. Different people strive in different systems. Sometimes all a person needs to do is change their environment to make a breakthrough.
-J.P.