AsylumGuido

It seems sad, but it has become very apparent that a number of the members here at Black & Gold are quite inadequate at their understanding of what exactly is preseason football and what is its purpose. I am going to do my best to point out a few key points.

First, this is a football. Given the nonsensical posts referring to the Saints first two preseason games of 2016 I felt some around here may need to approach the subject at a very remedial level.



Second, this is an NFL head coach. An NFL head coach has a lifetime of in-depth NFL knowledge behind him. His responsibilities include major organizational tasks and minute decisions concerning individual players. The average fan has no idea what steps the head coach undertakes to salve these dilemmas.



Third, this is a somewhat below average fan that cannot seem to grasp the duties of a head coach.



Now we move on to the meat of this short course. What is the purpose of preseason football to the NFL head coach? The answer is it is a vehicle used to evaluate a handful of players to determine their ability to produce on the final 53 man roster and be subject to the practice squad.

Some erroneous beliefs held by the uneducated fan includes the following.

- The defensive scheme is being tested.
- The offensive scheme is being tested.
- The final roster is totally undetermined.
- The key players on both side of the ball need an opportunity to show their stuff.
- Winning the game is important.
- Moving the ball on offense at all cost is vital.
- Stopping the opponent's offense at all costs is vital.

Nope. None of these are vaguely important to the head coach at this time. In fact, the head coach will routinely run the RB with little chance of toting the ball in a real game on a play that he knows has no chance of success just to evaluate how the RB and other very possible final cuts react to the play. And if head coach hasn't seen enough he may very likely call the same doomed play again to see if any of the endangered players show any sense of improvement.

The same is true on the defensive side of the ball. The preseason is the time to try players in a variety of positions without the support of real starters, just to see how they handle the adversity.

The fact is that by the time training cap begins the head coach has a pretty good idea of around 45 players that will be making that final roster. That leaves around eighteen openings including the practice squad. These eighteen players may only play a very minor role in the overall scheme of things if the head coaches plans are successful. But, the determination has to be made.

That is the main purpose of preseason football. The average, or below average fan will not be given the opportunity to see anything resembling the eventual offense or defense. They will not see all of the eventual starters on the field at the same time on either side of the ball on either side. They will not see anything resembling what end-product the head coach and his staff produces until the regular season begins.

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill