If you’ve noticed the lack of quality in early NFL play in 2024, you aren’t alone; Kirk Herbstreit’s seen it, too. Other than the first two primetime games (not counting Monday Night Football), Week 1’s slate (and results) left much to be desired.
While Herbstreit’s not exactly sure why, the main culprit might be that the team’s starters just aren’t playing in the preseason; the kinks that were supposed to be worked out with live game reps in exhibition games are now happening during the regular season, like it or not, and it’s undoubtedly affected the quality.
“I’ve talked with some guys about this,” Herbstreit said during a recent appearance on Kevin Clark’s This is Football podcast/show. “I don’t know if it’s a lack of preseason football. You know, that’s become the new thing is a lot of the starters don’t play. But the result is really bad September football. I feel like September football is becoming what August football used to be, where you kind of work your kinks out, you find a rhythm. And now, it’s almost like you have to wait around three or four weeks to get us into what you expect to see.
“The execution, we saw a lot of quarterbacks that were just not really, the timing was a bit off; the execution isn’t there. If you’re a baseball fan, you watch when pitchers get ready to go in April. Pitchers seem a little bit ahead of the hitters, and right now, it just feels like the defenses are ahead of offensive football in the NFL.”
Herbstreit has a theory as to where we’re at with NFL football, and it’s not all that different from what Troy Aikman said about Week 1 quarterback play across the league.
“I think Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid have really changed the trajectory of the quarterback position because of the success that Andy Reid has had,” Herbstreit continues. “I think what’s happened is forever… we’ve been having high school football, the good high-level high school football; if you ever go watch a high school football game, you look over, the quarterback’s looking at the sideline, and a lot of times he’s seeing signs. A lot of it’s up-tempo; no one huddles in high school football. Of course, college football for the last 10 years, it’s all about tempo — that’s the equalizer. Who can go fast?
“And I think the result of that is… I feel that the young offensive coordinators in the current game, they came up as young assistant coaches, learning the position, learning offensive football with a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers, or, like I said, a Philip Rivers, where they sat in the pocket and distributed the football. There aren’t a whole lot of those guys now around. So, I think Andy Reid just said, instead of making Patrick Mahomes learn my system where he’s gonna have to sit in this pocket and distribute, why don’t I learn from some of what he did at Texas Tech and try to implement that in our West Coast offense.
“I think that’s where we are. We have coordinators that are trying to adapt to this modern college quarterback who’s now the first-round draft pick. There are very few guys who now come in that look like Philip Rivers. Everyone’s more of a dual guy. Everyone’s relying on his feet to create.”
Herbstreit believes that the NFL is stuck in a lower gear because it’s struggling to adapt to the dual-threat quarterback.
“What happens is, as a league, we’re stuck in second gear or third gear,” Herbstreit said. “It’s because the NFL system is struggling to learn how to adapt to the dual-threat quarterback and how to maximize his ability to play the position. So, you get some really ugly football that is low scoring, not a lot of great execution…
“NFL football right now, in my opinion, they’re at a crossroads at that position. And when you get that position right, then the execution’s better; you get more points, and everyone’s happy and excited. It’s a little ugly right now to digest at times.”
Perhaps that’s why Herbstreit wondered if Anthony Richardson may eventually be benched for Joe Flacco.
[ Kevin Clark ]
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