Butch the Back
June 25, 2007
I finally found the time to get into David Halberstam’s tribute of Bill Belichick, The Education of a Coach, and it didn’t take long, but I guess most sports profile vehicles must be like that.
Belichick attributed his success in the 2002 Super Bowl, where his Patriots beat the favored Rams, to his focusing on the Rams’ key weapon, Marshall Faulk. They beat the crap out of him at every opportunity --”butch the back” – which is no big revelation in strategy, but what was interesting was Belichick’s expressed desire for Faulk to gain over 100 yards rushing that game. His thinking was that it would take out the explosiveness in the Rams’ high-flying attack, and ultimately the game would hinge on a final drive or two, with the Patriot’s clutch kicker Vinateri giving him the edge.
If there is anything that I, as a fantasy enthusiast, am most intrigued with is the weekly game-planning, and predicting how a club will attack and how a club will defend. Games involving Belichick seem to offer the most to me, because fantasy outcomes can be extreme – there are games where starting Pats QB Brady is a nightmare, and there are games where he will throw 75% of the time. Opposing offensive production is likewise unpredictable.
Even more interesting to me was the connection that former NFL coach Ted Marchibroda had with all of this.
Marchibroda, an offensive genius in his day, actually gave Belichick his first job in the pros, and in Belichick’s key formative stage, exposed him to his philosophy, which would (and continues to) help Belichick in defending the explosive offenses of today. Belichick has, when it really matters most, in Super Bowls, beaten extremely potent offenses such as the Bills and Rams.
Marchibroda’s use of elusive yet durable RBs as a multi-faceted weapon is legendary in my view, beginning with Lydell Mitchell, Joe Washington, Thurman Thomas (pre-fantasy era?), and Marshall Faulk and Priest Holmes. See any names you’d like on your fantasy squad?
We clean out the mailbox:
personname = husker
comments = If you had the third pick and LT and S. Jackson are gone do you take
LJ?
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Joe: Yes, unless he holds out and that affects his playing status. You have to think that Larry’s fully aware of the Chief’s plans to break in a young QB – or at least use a stop-gap journeyman – and he’ll be “butched” extensively. Larry better get his money now, hence the possible hold out.
personname = Bob
comments = Any news as to when PC Drafter will be available to subscribers of 4for4.com?
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Joe: Greg Alan tells me by the end of this week, big guy.
personname = mike
comments = Every year it seems like a team with one fantasy stud adds more talent around him. This year's best example would be Steven Jackson. I've heard people say that the additions of Drew Bennett and Randy McMichael will cut into his workload, therefore causing a decrease in production. However, I've also heard that these improvements to the passing game will open up the field for S-Jax therefore causing an increase in production. Do you think Scott Linehan will stick to his guns and let Jackson run wild, or do you think his production will drop?
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Joe: I wouldn’t worry too much about SJ. He is so in his prime that it’s scary. I think he’s still young enough to look forward to the butchin’ he’s gonna get. New HC/OC Linehan’s ’06 Rams threw 58% of the time, with 592 pass attempts third-highest in the league. How much more passing are they going to do? In my view, the additions of Bennett and McMichael present options to Bulger –who is talking a meaningful contract extension, which is also a good sign—that might not been available to him last year, particularly at crucial junctures in games. These are not scheme altering moves which will affect fantasy production of core guys. Remember, the ’06 Rams were 8-8, with clubs getting nearly 5 yards a carry against them. Drive sustainment looks to be the goal here, my friend.
personname = invikingsfan
comments = No way, the new comish will not let it happen, it's a bad image for the NFL they must all be perfect little millionares. Right, give me millions and my youth back there would be no vice or perversion safe! My parties would make Hefner blush!
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Joe: Oh, now here’s a revelation -–pro football players like to get laid…and often…and by different girls in each city. Who would think such a thing?
No, its about the darker side of things that show up when the players are doing what thay’ve always done. The “making it rain”. The provocation that arise out of this, that spills over to outside the club where the “equalizer” is now commonplace. Other than iconic QBs that want to open restaurants or car dealerships after they retire, players are not thinking long term. The NFL must, and they have to make noise.
personname = Eric
comments = Great article! This is why college football is so great because the throwback players can still make it at that level (like Zabransky from Boise State who made it on the cover of Madden NCAA 2007).
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Joe: Very true. It’s actually establishing the personal connection. If only the powers-that-be in pro-level sports would understand that when they de-sensitize the personal connection, via larger stadiums, video-game atmosphere, surly coaches or aloof players, they are going to lose their fans, eventually.
personname = Rev2
comments = If you were drafting today, how do you handle the Titans RB situation with White and Brown? Does the ex-USC star White have a big up since the OC is Norm Chow an ex-USC OC? Is it time to jump on the LenDale White Bandwagon?
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Joe: If the Titans were so convinced of White’s ability to step in as a feature back, I’m thinking that the club would have preferred not to spend the money on an experienced RB to “back him up”. They’d much rather draft a younger guy, and apprentice him, and spend cap money on other needs Its like the Titans waited to see how White progressed this off-season, keeping Brown dangling, and seeing what they had, made the move to cover themselves now. Not that Brown was some kind of highly reliable asset himself.
I think that for the second time, the Titans, a team that values the run/play action and often produces solid #2 fantasy RBs, have missed on a replacement back for Eddie George. Teams that struggle do that sort of thing. It’s a mess, and I suspect that the Titans don’t know at this point, let alone a guy drafting a fantasy team now, how its going to shake out.
If it were me, I’d draft White with a throw away pick, 13-14, and drop his ass at any time with no regrets. But I wouldn’t handcuff him with a Brown, as one might do in an early fantasy draft, because you’ll just hand cuff your team with the very unimpressive Titans backfield this year.
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