What is so hard...

[Pride]

... about making the transition from college WR to pro WR?

I know about QB, OL, CB, LB, etc...

But RB and WR should be two positions that is simply plug and play. As a WR, you run a route, and catch the ball thrown to you. Rarely do you get faster or better hands in your second year in the league. It's also been shown that you don't need to be smart/intelligent to be a WR in this league.

So why not get a WR in the draft and plug him in to be successful instead of a FA WR?

[hydro]

Re: What is so hard...

Very good question. I have been wondering this myself.

[Bulldog]

Re: What is so hard...

I hear what you're saying, but recent history tells a differnt story. How many WR's in the past have made a big impact in thier rookie year? Colston and Bowe come to mind, but other than that, not many.

[mikemac2001]

Re: What is so hard...

Big difference is the competition the CB in NFL way better then college cb's factor in the game speed is much quicker and everyone is stronger

thats why its college and not NFL

the RB pos is more feel obviously you need skills but half of running is sensing the opening

[Mudflap1]

Re: What is so hard...

You have to be able to read a defense. The NFL defenses are smarter and more sophisticated. You need to see what the defense is dictating, and act accordingly with running the right route, and do it all in less than 2.5 seconds. Secondly, you need to have good moves and run sharper routes, as the defensive backs are quicker and not as easy to fool as college defensive backs. Thirdly, it helps if you are fast!

Jon

[justasportsfan]

Re: What is so hard...

you learn from experience.Something rookies don't have. You're coming into a new team and a different level of play. The players you play against aren't exactly kids either. They're faster and stronger. They are pro's.

[superbills]

Re: What is so hard...

Well, unless the systems are exactly the same, I can see where wideouts need time to adjust to timing, and the complexities of the playbook before really breaking out. It's not like being a running back where you're playmaking depends mostly on your ability to read the hole and make people miss. Throw in the occasional blocking scheme and a running back's job isn't so taxing mentally.

Wideouts on the other hand have to adjust to a different quarterback. Their success depends no only on their ability to understand the play and their route, but also on their timing with the QB and knowing how to be in the right spot for your QB if the play and the route break down.

[bigbub2352]

Re: What is so hard...

The fact that almost every CB in the league is fast and strong, and they have coverage schemes designed to confuse and limit WR production, any defense on any given night can take a WR out of the equation he seen it happen all last year with LEE, it is a matter of the other WRs on the team gettin open, and when u have a rookie in there he is not used to that type of dependancy even if he was all his college team had,

It all comes down too Brains!

[Ickybaluky]

Re: What is so hard...

Passing games in the NFL are so much more complicated because the defenses are so sound. You have to be able to read a defense and adjust, and the ball is going to be thrown based on the WR making an adjustment for the defensive alignment.

That is the same reason why it is hard for a QB, and why it takes time for them to develop. It isn't just playing catch, the timing has to be perfect. If a WR is a great athlete but runs the wrong route 2 out of 10 plays, he is useless. On the plays he isn't where he is supposed to be, the QB will have to hold the ball and he will get killed.

Reliability is the most underrated part of playing WR in the NFL. There are a lot of great athletes, but if they can't consistently execute adjustments on the fly the QB is not even going to look at him because that guy is going to be responsible for a interception or sack when he isn't there.

[raphael120]

Re: What is so hard...

Well it's well documented that there is a learning curve. When youre in college you also are persuing a degree, it's not football 24/7 like it is for the NFL.

[trapezeus]

Re: What is so hard...

my 2 cents: depending on the talent of your QB to get you in the right position and make the right reads, you could suffer. You have an inept QB who doesn't read defenses well and you might just be running routes uselessly. you hook up with a probowl QB in his prime, he'll just bark out the calls and you can just relax being able to do your thing and catch the ball.

so if your QB is struggling, it might make you double guess yourself which would set you back in your learning curve.

[mybills]

Re: What is so hard...

not that it matters much, but the rules are different, too.

[venis2k1]

Re: What is so hard...

I hear what you're saying, but recent history tells a differnt story. How many WR's in the past have made a big impact in thier rookie year? Colston and Bowe come to mind, but other than that, not many.

Randy Moss 1,313 yds 17 TDs
Michael Clayton 1193 yds 7 TDs
Anquan Boldin 1377 yds 8 TDs

A few that come to mind, But for every one of these guys there are 10 guys picked in the first round that have 400 yards or fewer their rookie years.

[ddaryl]

Re: What is so hard...

easy question to answer...

the speed and skill of opposing CB is exponetially better in the NFL, as is the game planning/coaching. Figuring most college WR's face a handful of future pro CB's in college, the rest of the CB's just get left in the dust by future Pro WR....

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Re: What is so hard...

Great answers by everyone so far.

But, don't forget footwork--which is often one of the most difficult things for a WR to learn.

Because of the quality of the CBs and defenses in college, most WRs, especially the most athletically gifted ones, don't have to be particularly concerned about their footwork because they will be able to get off the line of scrimmage and run their routes without having to be absolutely precise in when and how they get there.

On the pro level, the quality and speed of the defense is so much better that everything that the WR does has to be done with precision, including how he runs and where his feet and hands end up when the ball arrives.

For example, there are certain routes when the WR is supposed to have taken a certain number of steps when the ball is released so that WR can make his cut off the proper foot in order to be turned and have his hands in the correct position, when the ball arrives, to shield the defender from the ball and make the catch.

You will sometimes hear scouts or WR coaches talking about a WR prospect, particularly the bigger guys, as being "a long strider"--in NFL terms, this is not a compliment. What it means is that the guy takes long steps when he is running--not a good thing when trying to get off the line of scrimmage against press coverage or making precise cuts when running certain routes, etc. Before a WR who is a "long strider" is going to be given any kind of significant playing time, he is going to have to learn the proper footwork and change his whole way of running. That may sound easy, but it isn't.

When someone has been running a certain way their whole life and suddenly has to change how he runs--the length and speed of his stride--it can be extremely difficult for him to get his brain to consistently get his feet and legs to move in a totally different way. And to do it not occasionally, but every time he takes a step while running routes on a football field--without ever falling back into the previous way that he used to run. (Try doing it sometime with the way that you walk: see if you change the way that you walk just a little--by taking longer or shorter strides--and, then, see how long you can keep on walking in the new way without falling back into walking the way that you are used to walking normally. See if you can do it without thinking about it and, then, while thinking about something else. A WR has to be able to run with the proper footwork without thinking about it while he is focused on reading the defense and catching the ball.)

If a WR doesn't have his footwork down, he won't be able to run his routes properly and his coaches are going to be reluctant to give him much playing time because, if he doesn't run his routes properly--so that he arrives at the right place at the right time with his body and hands in the proper position--he's going to miss the ball, because the QB is going to throw it where he is supposed to be, and the chances fo the pass being incomplete or intercepted will be much greater than it should be. If the ball is picked off, the Qb will be credited with an INT and the fans will blame him for turning the ball over, but the WR could be the one who was really at fault. And, the coaches will see that--if not immediately, on film--and they're not going to put him on the field until he gets his footwork right.

And, there have been more than a few WRs who were stars in college who never made it in the NFL because of their footwork or whose careers got off to a slow start because it took them time to learn the proper footwork. I remember a couple of years back reading an article about Eric Moulds working with Lee Evans and Sam Aiken on their footwork, saying that Andre Reed had helped him with his footwork when he was having trouble with it when he first came into the league. In the article it indicated that Sam Aiken was one of those guys who had a lot of problems with his footwork. I've never forgotten that and have always wondered if that was a big reason why Aiken never really was able to crack the Bills starting lineup when it seemed so obvous that the team could really use a WR with his size and speed.

As fans, we often aren't aware of some of the "little things" that the coaches on the NFL level consider so important that they can make the difference between whether a guy becomes a superstar or only has a short career as a special teams player. Who would think that something as simple as footwork--how a guy runs--could be so important when you are talking about someone who has world-class speed? But, from some of the things that I have read, it is.

And, apparently, it is one of those fundamentals that the NFL coaches put as much emphasis on as they do the other things that people have mentioned in this thread as reasons why it can take a star college WR time, sometimes 2-3 years, to become a reliable receiver in the NFL.