This is a blog about scheme. I believe that scheme shapes the way that players perform. I believe coaches become attached to styles and that impacts the way the talent around them can perform. For example: before Mike McCarthy, Ezekiel Elliot was a top NFL running back. However following the arrival of the former Green Bay coach the scheme changes to one that stressed a passing attack and a multi-faceted and speed reliant backfield. Zeke didn’t have the traits to be successful and now he’s out of work. In truth, the entire league (outside of maybe four clubs) has gone away from the classic power run system and that means scheme has reshaped the rb position. Beyond that the position is now being viewed as expendable. This even trickles down to the HS ranks where my kids’ school is playing an under-sized safety at Rb as part of a five man rotation. The emphasis is on fresh backs who can run and catch. Will it work? Well it requires putting a lot of pressure on the secondary to win these short choice routes and a lot of pressure to cover wr in space. So if that is where you want to invest in talent, yeah: it works.
but football is also a game of trends and like with clothing the old trends eventually come back into fashion. I suspect we will see a return of the running backs in a few years. We will see it in college first and then the pros and then back down to the HS ranks where they’ll be training them up for the future.