Brian Burke

Then 2004, they changed the rules again.

So over time, the potency of the running game compared to the passing game has decreased steadily.

Well, he's just not going to be as valuable.

The star running back is not going to carry you to a Super Bowl.

It hasn't happened in generations.

I think that's one of the core developments that's affected the running back position is that teams have realized that you don't necessarily need a great running back.

What you need is a great running game.

Yeah, there's going to be eight or nine blocks that are all essential.

You need these kind of consecutive miracles for run play to really work.

Coaches will draw them up and it looks perfect on the whiteboard.

But then in the chaos of the game, so many things have to go right for it to work.

But when it does, it's beautiful.

The way to think about it is the line and the blocking and the scheme are responsible for the first three or four yards of a gain on a run play.

And then from there on, it's the elusiveness of the running back.

It's like a threshold system.

Where if I have a good enough line to get a running back out to three, four, five yards, now he's into the secondary and it's up to him to make defenders miss their tackles.

And then you get these big explosive gains.

So if you want to improve your running game, you don't go out and just get a great running back.

I would say start with the offensive line, make sure you're calling good plays, and then the cherry on top might be a star running back.

By holding out, he cut his career short, maybe not by a full year, but a lot of the perishability is just age-based, not necessarily wear and tear based.