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Vision- Inate or Taught?

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SoDakDolfan

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I have read in several of the threads concerning Ronnie Brown that he will get better as he catches up to the NFL game and as the coaches improve his running vision. I have always felt that vision is something that you either have or you don't. Am I wrong? How about some of you guys you have played football, even at the high school level answering. Can vision be dramatically improved with coaching?
 
Good question....although I don't think Ronnie would be starting if Saban didn't think he was the best RB on the roster right now. In other words, I don't think that vision is the problem. I think he's a little too hesitant because he is searching for holes instead of running through holes. Sammy may see the hole because he knows what a hole, in the NFL, looks like while ronnie may not recognize the openings and closings as quickly because they are narrower than the ones he saw in college and the game speed is so much faster.


/just my two cents
 
vision doesnt improve with coaching. but coaching combined with brown quieting his mind and focusing can allow him to tune other things out and let his instincts take over...to a point anyway

hes is also prob. second guessing himself. so his mind is getting in the way of his body's reactions. once you eliminate these things, his insticts and body will take over, imo
 
I think vision can be taught, but I don't think way a guy moves his body in response to what he sees can be taught. In other words, Ronnie may be able to develop better vision, but I don't think he's going to be able to develop a better ability for his eyes to tell his body what to do based on what they see. I think that part's instinctual. So what we may see is that Ronnie can see holes better but not hit them any better.
 
I never played running back. I played receiver, tight end and offensive line on offense but when it comes to Brown, I would say from watching him he is a good to very good running back eventually. His holdout cost him alot of practice time. I think right now he's getting used to the speed of NFL defenses and therefore you are seeing the hesitation on some plays and the bad vision on other plays where he's just putting his helmet down and running straight into the backs of our offensive linemen. Give him until the 5th or 6th week to make your first evaluation. That will be enough experience to gauge his development fairly
 
I'm not sure its a vision problem in the terms of not seeing the holes and defense. Right now I think its a thinking problem. He missed a few weeks. They say the hardest thing to learn is knowing when and where a blitz is coming, and knowing you have to make that block.

He has been doing a very good job with picking up the blitz! I think once he becomes comfy with the fact that he can do it, and knows when it is coming, that will help him as a runner, because he will see where the defenders are and where they are coming and where the holes should be.

Not sure if this came out right, hope you understand what I'm trying to say! I just made myself dizzy!
 
What makes you think Brown has a vision problem?...Because he hasn't rushed for 1000 yds in 2 games? I know what the problem is with you guys...It's the success of Caddy Williams isn't it?
 
SoDakDolfan said:
I have read in several of the threads concerning Ronnie Brown that he will get better as he catches up to the NFL game and as the coaches improve his running vision. I have always felt that vision is something that you either have or you don't. Am I wrong? How about some of you guys you have played football, even at the high school level answering. Can vision be dramatically improved with coaching?
Click to expand...

The biggest problem for Brown is the fact that the game needs to slow down for him.

Some people can adjust to the speed of the game faster than others. If you look at the top 6 runningback performances in their first two games, you will see that the list is not impressive at the least. Which goes to show that even the best of all time struggle to pick up the speed of the game.
 
adamprez2003 said:
I think right now he's getting used to the speed of NFL defenses and therefore you are seeing the hesitation on some plays and the bad vision on other plays where he's just putting his helmet down and running straight into the backs of our offensive linemen.
Click to expand...

he admitted as much without realizing it when he said he thought some of his runs were going to be bigger
 
SoDakDolfan said:
I have read in several of the threads concerning Ronnie Brown that he will get better as he catches up to the NFL game and as the coaches improve his running vision. I have always felt that vision is something that you either have or you don't. Am I wrong? How about some of you guys you have played football, even at the high school level answering. Can vision be dramatically improved with coaching?
Click to expand...


I think vision is mostly a natural thing that some backs possess. The ones who have it are the ones who generally are more successful in the league and have a much higher average per carry. For example: Priest Holmes has excellent vision and uses it to help set up blocks and make what would have been a short gain into a big gain. Barry Sanders: great vision coupled with unbelievable elusiveness. Ricky Williams: great vision with a quick burst of speed through the hole.
Eddie George: all power, no vision. Thus, the low average per carry. Natrone Means was the same: pure power. These guys had all there football lives to "learn" vision and did not because it just isn't something that is acquired. It's a God-given thing.
If vision was something that could be taught, all backs would have decent to good vision by the time they got to college and would be very good by the time they got to the NFL. But they don't. Alot of college backs are just freakishly faster or stronger than the guys they play in college. But when they get to the NFL, the lose the only real edge they had. For example: Blair Thomas. He was dominant in college but when he came to the NFL he danced a lot and couldn't get into any kind of running rythm because he lacked vision. He could no longer rely on pure strength and speed. In college, Blair Thomas looked better than Emmitt Smith. But what seperated the two on the next level was that Emmitt had great vision. The same with our very own Sammy Smith. (Not to mention his fumbling problem) He just lacked vision for the cutbacks and could no longer simply outrun the defense anymore.
Just a few thoughts on how I see it. Some may disagree.

I will add that once the game slows down for the backs, it will become easier for them. But some will never achieve the success they had in college because it takes more than pure athletic ability to be successful as an NFL Running back.
 
SoDakDolfan said:
I have read in several of the threads concerning Ronnie Brown that he will get better as he catches up to the NFL game and as the coaches improve his running vision. I have always felt that vision is something that you either have or you don't. Am I wrong? How about some of you guys you have played football, even at the high school level answering. Can vision be dramatically improved with coaching?
Click to expand...

To a certain degree. The speed of the NFL game is a lot different from college. Holes open and close a lot more quickly. Ronnie has been hesitating a little and while he might get away with that in college, he can't do that in this league. While his vision may never be as good as Cadillac's, it will improve. I believe his overall game will eventually be better than Cadillac's. It's way too early to make a judgement on Ronnie. Cadillac is in a way different atmosphere so you really can't compare the two. Give Ronnie a chance to develop before you declare him a bust.
 
I'd say that vision can be taught. You don't teach someone to see a hole per say but you teach them to see what an NFL hole looks like compared to a hole in college. The game in the pros is much faster and the players are much larger, therefore the holes are much smaller and close much quicker. Ronnie is used to looking for one thing and he's not seeing it. Either the coaches, or just time, will teach Ronnie the difference between what he's used to and what he's going to be seeing for the rest of his career.
 
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