Originally posted by PhinsmissedFG
You have got to be kidding me! Acceleration and speed are the things that get seperation for a WR. I played CB in college for a year before getting hurt, the thing that gets you open is some route, mostly the speed to get to the spot in the route before the CB can recover from your initial move into your route and cut the route off or make a play on the ball. If the WR is phsyical enough to get off the line and outmuscle the CB he can succeed as well.
Speed is the single most important thing for a WR. If they are smart and crafty enough to overcome lack of speed they can make it, otherwise they're done. I don't know where this idea of route running being the most important thing, of course you have to run great routes to make it. That's the same with any WR, but WR's with a 4.9 40 won't make it no matter what.
No I am not kidding you. If what you're saying is true, then none of the slower guys would ever get open and that is simply not true. Speed is more esential for a CB than the WR. The WR knows where/what he's doing. The CB at best can only guess and react, where his speed and reflexes count more. granted, a speedy WR can maintain the separation longer, but that's not where it's at. The good route runner WILL get some separation and then it's all up to the timing with the QB etc. and line protection. I was a TE back in the day [ and I'm talking waaaay back,
], and I wasn't particularly fast and as a matter of fact, I was only actually "half fast" !! But one thing i could do was run a route and usually, when I made my cut [I'm not talking about these half assed rounded cuts some guys make today], the DB went one way and his jock went the other. I'm sure all this timing thing hasn't changed a whole lot and the routes depended on who we played and our own line play etc. Our plays called for the route to go so many yds, we used steps so the QB could literally count the steps, cut, and the ball would be there as i turned. If everything was right, it's hard to defend unless you guess which way the cut was going and the DB tried to jump the route. But the way to counter that was to throw in an out and up every once in awhile to keep him honest, and so on. But speed will help alot on deep routes to maintain separation but it's not that necessary on the little dink 'n dunk crap we're used to seeing tho.
But you don't know where the idea where good route running is more important comes from? That's probably how alot of CBs today are CBs and not WRs.
I'm sure given the chance, they'd rather be on the "glory" side of the ball. Most CBs are speedy but at one time or another when they started playing, they wanted to play WR. Even then their coaches knew they couldn't run good routes or even catch the ball. But they could cover and bat balls away good tho.
4.9 speed? I wouldn't imagine OG or OJ to be much better than that if at all.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch.................................
