Former NFL Coach
Mr. Tom Bass
Tackles Fantasy Football

Question:  What separates the NFL player from the guy that just misses making the team? What separates the NFL star from the average NFL player? Is it usually speed? Power? Training? Brains?

Answer: Most young players fail to make the squad because they do not understand the tremendous amount of work that must be done off the field. They think that their physical ability will insure success.

The super star in the NFL usually has greater physical ability. They may focus on off- season training a little more but usually they have the better tools coming into the game.

Once a player has been in the league for a number of years he will know the importance of becoming a student of the game. He will make certain that he has his own notebook with comments concerning all the opponents he as faced and what he has done to be successful versus a specific player and team.

Question:  Predicting the winner never hurts for Fantasy Football. Why is the Home Field worth 3-points and how can you tell ahead of time if it’s going to be worth more or less?

Answer: As you have observed, home field is usually worth a 3-point advantage. 

Being at home and having the luxury of not having to travel are the only reasons that I have ever seen for this constant. Every time you travel as a squad you encounter distractions and disruptions from your normal weekly workout routine. 

When you travel to other time zones to play this disruption becomes more pronounced. For younger players the surroundings of a new stadium can upset their mental preparation prior to the game.

I do believe that it can be greater when a dome team travels to play on grass out doors. The game slows down. The elements now can become a factor in the kicking game and passing game if they are severe.

Question:  I read that the first game of the NFL season can really tell you a lot about a team’s season. It sounds a little far fetched to me, but I saw data and it shows that since 1978, if you lose your opening day game, you only reach the NFL playoffs 23% of the time. It’s hard to argue with the data. What do you think about this and how can Fantasy owners work this to their advantage?

Answer: I know that statistics are important but I feel it is often more of a situation with what team you are opening with and where you are playing the game. 

With only 12 teams making the playoffs, and as you noted 23% of the losing teams [4 teams] making it to the championship round, I guess we could also state that 50% of the winning teams the first week will not make it to the next playoff round.

I think it may make more sense to try to determine the quality of the opponent and make your evaluation on a team’s home opener rather than on an opening week performance.

Question:  I'm thinking about my keeper league. How much do NFL coaches talk about a player’s age? If a running back is 32-years old for example, do you coaches factor than into your game day or upcoming season plans? How so? What about a 28-year old RB? When does age become a factor?

Answer: Age becomes a big consideration when it is factored in with injuries. 

When a player is older and has been injury free coaches will then look at the player’s performance in trying to determine upcoming season plans. 

The other big consideration is do you have anyone on the squad who can take his place and give the team the same opportunity to win.

When an older player’s performance starts to go downhill and when injuries begin to pile up the coaches will definitely look at the age of the player and may begin to phase him out of their plans.

Running back is a position where you really need to closely evaluate a player every year. It is a position where you will find coaches trying to lessen the number of plays a RB make have during a season as he gets up in years, especially if he is a player who has taken a number of really hard shots during the previous seasons. 

Check this year’s NFL draft to give you a clue on how the coaches and personnel people feel about a running back for this season.

Question:  Sure NFL coaches want the best players on the field. Same with us Fantasy coaches. But do some coaches ever play favorites? Sometimes, I think this happens to show who is boss and to “punish” jerk players. Also, you can’t tell me coaches 100% ignore the fact a player is always getting in trouble off the field. Am I right?

Answer: There are some coaches who play favorites, but on a whole, once the season begins you learn to overlook the jerks and play the best players. 

This is one of the hardest realities for a college coach to accept when first coming into the NFL. Recruiting skills are not a premium and the jerks do not graduate. You will start every season looking out at the squad and seeing a jerk or problem player smiling back at you until you can replace him with an equal or better player through the draft, free agency or trade.

The best time to replace a player like this is during the off-season. You do not want him around your team. Unfortunately once the season starts it may be too late unless some rookie comes along and you see that releasing the problem will not decrease your chances of winning.

Question:  I need help in picking which rookies will do well in the NFL. Coach I understand you scouted players when you were a Vice President with the New England Patriots. I also understand you helped build Tampa and the Bengals. I’m sure it was fun and hard work, with plenty of pressure. Did you have one special item you always looked for in players?  

Answer: We are all trying to draft good players and use the right players each week.

When I was scouting players there were three areas that were of utmost importance to me. 

The first was actual performance. Potential was not something that I was looking for in a college player. I tried not to fall in love with a player and let previous knowledge overshadow my own evaluation of his suitability for the NFL.

Next was a player’s toughness. He needed to be going from the snap until the whistle blew. I wanted him to play as hard in the fourth quarter as he did in the first regardless of the score. It was important that he demonstrated the ability to practice and play when he was banged up and sore.

Third was his mental ability to understand his assignments and the nuances of the game. It was important to know if he was only a visual learner that would necessitate special coaching and additional time.

If a player met all three criteria or at least two out of three then I would become interested in the measurable statistics that you see listed in the team’s program.

Question:  I read on 4for4 that rarely will NFL QBs reach their prime before 25-years old. But Michael Vick was already doing amazing things at 22. Have you ever seen a former NFL QB like him? Who? 

Answer: I think it is time for everyone connected with football to admit the Michael Vick is a special QB and we should not try to compare his special skills with previous players. 

Because of his unique combination of passing and running, defensive teams are going to be forced to tweak their defensive scheme to allocate a player or players in their coverage to have Michael when he runs. 

For some teams this may result in a reconfiguration of their front defense and/or the drafting of faster quicker players to meet the threat when he leaves the pocket. 

Michael is one of a kind and Coach Reeves has done a great job of binging Michael along and not causing him to have paralysis by analysis. 

As the defenses adjust to his special skills, and they will, it will become more important for him to be selective in his running and to rely more and more on his natural passing skills.

Question:  Coach, please help me learn how to best evaluate a RB for my keeper league. 

Answer: I would think that it is very important to try to find a player who has the ability to move the ball by both running and receiving. 

He must be durable and hopefully be on a team that consistently runs 70 to 80 offensive plays a game. 

Try to find a running back that is on a team where the offensive coordinator is not just thinking about passing the ball to make a name for himself and the running game is relegated to 1 and 10 and short yardage situations. 

It would be beneficial to have your running back in the game on goal line offense as well as third and long so his scoring chances increase.

Question:  Let’s say two RBs are both age 24. One RB has had 1,000 carries and the other only 300. If the two are otherwise equal, should I devalue the RB with all those extra carries? Will that hurt him over the next 2-5 years or is that just not true?

Answer: Unfortunately in this situation the two are not going to be equal. 

One player has seen the defenses react, has seen the holes open and disappear and has found out first hand who the tacklers are on the opposing side of the ball 700 more times than the other player. 

I guess the question we should be looking at “Is experience more important than freshness in a running back?” 

Assuming neither player has had major injuries, I would be inclined to take the experienced back if I had to pick one over the other for this year. If we were asked to project out five years from now, the amount of carries and the corresponding amount of pounding would be of greater concern and influence my decision. 

In answering any question like this, it is always important to remember that the number one consideration must be the individual player that we are talking about. 

While the average playing time for running backs is a little over 4 years, great backs like Marcus Allen, Walter Payton and many others continued to perform at a high level for many more years.

Question:  I know an NFL Coaching Staff has a much bigger impact than a Baseball manager on his team’s success. In baseball what can the coach really do, say hit the ball hard and over the fence each time? Okay, but do NFL coaches really make that big of a difference in the game? 

Answer: Good NFL coaches do make a big difference in the outcome of the game. 

First they are great teachers and have the ability to communicate ideas and techniques to their players in a manner that is easily understood. 

Starting with the Head Coach, a good coaching staff sets an atmosphere for the team where learning can take place, where routine is established and where players feel a comfort level and look forward to coming to work each day. 

It is during the game that the great coaches step forward. It may be a coach like Don Coryell who instantly saw something on the field and introduced a special play that worked. Or it can be a coach up in the press box who has the ability to come down at half time with exact information on your opponent’s adjustments in the first two quarters and suggests plays and changes that you might need to make to be successful. 

NFL coaches do have a great deal of input and influence during the game that can actually determine the ultimate winner of the contest.

Question:  If a team has a really great defense, will that team’s offense play more aggressive or less aggressive or doesn’t it matter? It always seems like the good defensive teams have a below average offense. 

Answer: Obviously what we would all like to have is a nice balance between our offense and defense. 

In reality many head coaches who have a great defense begin to think in terms of not putting the defense in a disadvantageous position. 

The idea is that if the other team does not score, you cannot lose the game. With this thinking the offense becomes content to play for field position, seldom taking offensive chances, running the ball more or throwing short passes and relying on the kicking game to move the ball and to score points. 

Today, with 32 teams playing the game, it is very difficult to field a really strong offensive and defensive team. Usually the emphasis and the performance level will be on one side of the ball or on the other and very seldom on both.

Question:  Coach Bass I understand you worked with Don Coryell. Coach Coryell really liked to pass and is considered a great offensive mind for passing. But, if you had a great stud running back would you have run more? How much more? I know it’s a balancing act, but do players fit the system or does the system get formed by the type of players you have? So, if a great hard-nosed runner lands on a pass-happy team, what would happen? 

Answer: Many people remember that Don had Dan Fouts, Joiner, J.J., and Kellen but they forget that the Chargers also featured great running backs like James Brooks and Chuck Muncie. 

Good coaches find a way to make the system fit the players that they have at their use for the season. 

If a great runner is added to a team that has outstanding success throwing the ball, the coach may be happy to feature more running. 

The challenge will be to get the quarterback and the receivers to accept and be enthusiastic about the change in play calling. Sometimes this can become a very difficult adjustment and can lead to unrest and second-guessing by the players, especially if the offensive scoring has an initial drop.

Question: Better teams usually have better players. Have you noticed major organizational differences between the various NFL clubs? How they go about business, how serious they are about winning, providing better facilities, etc. Asked another way, in general, will the winning teams keep winning down the line? Or does everyone do it about the same?

Answer: Teams who win over a number of years have a tremendous advantage over the teams who lose year after year. These teams know how to win and do not expect to lose when they go out on the field. There is a stability on the winning teams that includes players, front office and coaching staff. Winning teams are constantly upgrading their facilities and providing state of art equipment for the evaluation of their own personnel and that of their opponents. There is an agreement between the coaching staff and the personnel people over the type of player the team selects and signs. Finally, there is a commitment to winning from ownership. You will find that winning teams spend right up to the cap while under achieving teams will usually go through the year with cap money available. Without the backing of the owner, the team will not have success.

Question: How long should a Fantasy Owner stick with a cold player? What do the NFL coaching staffs do? Any rules of thumb?

Answer: Unfortunately once the roster is established, it is harder for a NFL Head Coach to make this type of adjustment than a Fantasy Owner. On an average I would say that a change would only occur if a player had three weeks with poor production. This time will vary with the time of the year. Coaches may be more forgiving in the beginning of the year than near the end. A deciding factor in making this decision will always be the ability of the backup that you will be putting into the game. For a Fantasy Owner, I would also consider two factors; were there injuries that caused the total team's production to falter and the strength of the defenses that they have faced. If the last opponents had strong defensive teams, you might stay with a player if the schedule coming up offers less competition on the defensive side.

Question: How much of an impact does a NFL head coach have upon individual player production? Can the coach significantly change an NFL player's Fantasy Value?

Answer: This is really going to vary from team to team. There are head coaches who literally give the control of the offense and defense to the respective coordinators. In this case the impact of the head coach will be minimal. On the teams where the head coach is immersed in the offense and may even be calling the plays from the sideline, the impact can and will be much greater. Many of the head coaches who have their background in the West Coast offense will take an active roll in calling the plays. These coaches who actively control the offensive attack can be a factor for a player's value, but they will still use the best weapon available to them to win the game.

Question: What should Fantasy owners be looking for in the preseason? Is it important? Which week, if any, is more important, I've heard the third preseason game is the one that determines which fringe players will become starters.

Answer: This is a very important area that Fantasy Owners should understand and evaluate. There is a great difference of approach to the pre-season by the various teams. There will be teams where winning or losing is not important at all. You can identify these teams by their substitution, which is set and does not change regardless of he score of the game. A veteran will play a set amount of plays then come out and never go back in the game. On other teams with a large number of veteran players, saving them will be of primary concern and you will not see much of them until the third game when they will get most of the playing time, usually during the first half. The third game is important because any injury to a starter will have two weeks to heal before the opening game of the regular season. Teams who have lost the previous year will be the teams most inclined to go all out and try to attract attention by winning pre-season games. They will have a tendency to play their starters longer and often the starters will be running up pre-season statistics against second and third team players. There is very little correlation between winning in the pre-season and having success the rest of the year.

Question: Coach, a big issue in Fantasy Football is will a wide receiver get better stats if: (A) He's the only really good WR on his team or (B) if he has other good WRs to help take the pressure off him. Clearly a logical argument can be made for both A and B. Coach Bass, you have owned the #1 defense in the NFL and also coached on offense --- what do you think?

Answer: From a defensive standpoint shutting down a one receiver offense is much simpler that stopping an offense with other good receivers. Even playing zone defense, you can often be in position to assign one defensive player to play man-to-man on one receiver if the others are not a challenge. The answer to the question would seem to me to be that if a player is the only good receiver on a team and he is playing a defense that is ranked low in pass defense then he will probably have good statistics for the game. With the same situation and facing a good defense, his numbers will suffer. Generally, teams with multiple good receivers will usually have their statistics average out over three or four games, but never will they have that tremendous drop.

Question: I heard if you watch what a coaching staff does in critical plays like 3rd and 3 with the game on the line, that's when they run their best plays and feature their best players. If true, this would really show what a coach thinks are his best plays and best players. It sounds logical, but is it true? Do coaching staff's usually save their best plays for critical calls? If it is true, I'll be sure to make notes of those plays so I can see if my Fantasy Players are featured or not.

Answer: On third and three with the game on the line, the play called will be the best play the offense has for that particular situation, but not necessarily what the coach feels is the best play using his best player. In preparation for a game offensive plays will be broken down into the following categories; 1st & 10 plays, 2nd & 10 + plays, 2nd & 6 - 9, 2nd & 5 -, 3rd & 11 +, 3rd & 7 - 10, 3rd & 3 - 6, 3rd & 3 -, and goal line. In addition, the favored play for each down and distance situation may vary by the position of the ball on the field. Each category will have a number of plays that the coaches think can be successful. There will usually be certain plays that are repeated week after week because they are successful in that situation. Third and three is only one grouping and while it may reflect a coach's choice for that down and distance it will not provide a key for all third down situations or who a coach projects as his best player.

Question: What should Fantasy Football owners look for via the media to tell what a team's game plan will be (on offense and defense)? Any tell tale signs? Also, how much can you trust rumors in the press? Coach you have been privy to the real information, do the folks in the press usually get it right?

Answer: Any information in the media concerning a team should be suspect. The exception would be injury reports that are mandated by the league. A number of teams now limit the amount of viewing time that media personnel have at a given practice resulting in the media having very limited knowledge of a team's actual offensive or defensive game plan. After a reporter has covered a stable team, one that has had limited changes in the coaching staff, for a number of seasons, he will have some inside knowledge about the team personnel and their method of playing offense and defense. Usually this knowledgeable person will be reluctant to provide any meaningful information that might aid an opponent and hurt the team's chances of winning.

Question: Does anticipated cold weather really change a NFL game plan? How so?

Answer: I am assuming that the question concerns playing outside and not in a new dome stadium. Cold weather will have an affect on different teams on different levels. If the team is coming from the south or west or is a team that plays in a dome, cold weather will affect the way they approach the game and play. Extreme cold weather accompanied with ice, sleet, rain or wind at kickoff will change the game plan dramatically. When I was coaching with the Bengals, we played a game in Buffalo where neither team could punt when going into the sleet and wind. Our game plan changed dramatically that Sunday. In really bad weather most teams will go into a "let the other guy make the mistake" mode and will try to feature more of a running game coupled with select short passes. If your quarterback comes from a city in the north and is at home playing in the cold then the game plan may be cut down but will still feature all phases of the normal attack. Northern teams may also be negatively affected when forced to play outside on a very hot and humid day late in the season, especially in the second half of a game.

Question: On defense, how do you go about slowing down a team's best receiver? If you focus on a given receiver, who on his offense benefits the most - RB, other WR, a TE, etc?

Answer: On defense we have few options. First, we can double the receiver, assign two defensive backs to cover him either short and long or in and out. Next, we can roll up on the receiver, get a hit on him and try to disrupt his pattern and the timing of the pass between the quarterback and the receiver. We can also assign one defensive player to move up into press coverage and run with the receiver all over the field while the rest of the team plays zone or man-to-man pass defense. The receiver that benefits most when a defense sets out to take a top receiver out of the game will often be the next receiver to the inside. In a normal formation, if the star is the flanker, the tight end will emerge. If it is the split end, it will be the running back that benefits the most. When the star is the outside receiver on a two wide receiver set to one side of the ball, it will usually be the slot man who has the potential for a big day.

Question: Let's say a receiver hauls in 8 balls one week and the next week only 3! Is that usually by design? Mostly ad-hoc? Just luck? Best honest coach!

Answer: Coaches will usually not plan to reduce a specific player's productivity. What usually happens is that as the game develops it becomes very obvious to the staff that a vastly inferior defensive player is covering another offensive receiver on the team. Immediately the plan may change and the offense will try to exploit this mismatch. If they have success, the receptions for the other receivers can be greatly reduced. Also a good defensive team may take a top receiver out of the game thus limiting his receptions for that week.

Question: If you're starting your 2nd string running back, in general, does that change an NFL offensive game plan? The defensive game plan? Can you usually predict this in advance?

Answer: The biggest change in the offensive game plan will be to focus on the particular abilities that the new running back brings to the field. You will still have a tendency to call the same number of running plays on particular down and distance situations, but you may change the actual play that you call. Often your second running back will be a better inside or outside runner and those would be the running plays that you would feature. One of the biggest areas for potential change would be in the passing where the 2nd string back may not be as good a route runner or receiver and so receptions for this position would be reduced. The defensive game plan would not necessarily be affected unless the second stringer is a poor blocker. In that case you might see more blitzing, especially in long yardage where the back would have blitz pickup on the blitzing linebacker. Past history should give you a better chance for predicting the change on offense much more than on defense.

Question: What should the Fantasy Football player look for when examining a NFL box score?

Answer: Being new to the Fantasy Football world this is a little hard for me to answer but I can tell you what I felt was important as a coach. The first is third down conversions for the offense and stops by the defense. Teams that consistently convert on third down are teams that are going to move the ball and gain yardage. Next is yards gained per pass attempt and yards given up by the defense. These two often go hand-in-hand. I was never impressed with teams who threw for a high completion percentage but for few yards. A five-yard completion on third and ten is good for the quarterback statistics but really does not help the team to win. I would check both offensively and defensively the yards gained per rushing attempt. Teams that do not gain yards running the ball become one-dimensional and allow the defense to be in a much more dictating position. Finally, is points scored and points given up. While this does have importance in the Fantasy World there will be teams and individuals who gain massive yardage but do not find a way to score touchdowns and must be satisfied with only a field goal.

Question: What are some of the things a coaching staff looks for when two players are battling for the starting job at training camp? What do NFL staffs usually do to break a tie?

Answer: Players may start out even but by the end of two-a-days and pre-season games there will be separation. During this time as a coach you are looking at the way each player takes coaching and adjusts to changes and new situations. Obviously you are evaluating the way they perform during every practice and every game. At the same time you closely watch the way they work in the classroom and their ability to comprehend new material that is added each and every day. You try to get a feel for their toughness and how they handle minor bumps and bruises. Players who live in the tub seldom make the club. If it is real close it may be a gut feeling that the staff has or the experience of one player over the other. On many NFL teams the coaching staffs will meet with the personnel people and vote on who to start or release. Usually in these situations the Head Coach's vote will usually count for 51 % and all the other votes for 49 per cent. Most assistant coaches will vote with the Head Coach so the decision of the coaching staff is unanimous.

Question: Assuming the backup-QB is average, if a team's star QB goes down to injury will that team's RB get better stats next week? I know the team overall won't be as good, but won't the RB now get more work? Does it all balance out? Or, will the opposing defense usually be able to focus in on the RB now and close him down? Overall, that's the truth?

Answer: Assuming the backup quarterback is only average, I would think that the running backs statistics would be less rather than more. This is based on the fact that the defense will probably change their defensive design to include more defenses designed to specifically stop the running game. In addition, I feel that it would be logical to assume that the team's third down conversion rate would be less with the backup in the game resulting in fewer offensive plays being run.

Question: I always liked to draft my Fantasy players from winning NFL teams. But, of course, bad teams also have great individual NFL players. Someone told me if project two RBs would get 10-TDs, they would rather have the RB on the bad team (not the good team). The reason, being the bad team can only get better, and the good team can't really do much more. In addition, the good team probably has someone waiting in the wings -- the bad team may not! Actually now I'm not sure what to think now? What's the real deal Coach Bass?

Answer: There is no guarantee that a bad team will only get better. Often bad teams do not improve but continue on their downward spiral. If we base our selection on the backup strength in the position, we must be assuming that our running back is going to be injured. There is a greater chance for a star running back to be injured on a bad team than on a good one. Remember that a running back's statistics are usually based on the strength of the offensive line, the commitment of the offensive play caller to run the ball and the strength of the team's defensive team. When a team has a weak defense, you need to factor in the fact that they will probably be behind early in the game and that they will be forced to abandon the run in favor of the pass in order to try to catch up.

Question: Physically and mentally, how much does it really hurt a NFL veteran if he holds out of camp? Also, in general, does team management or the coaching staff (directly or indirectly) hold that against him (the fact he held out)?

Answer: Staying out of training camp does not hurt an established veteran player if he is the type of player who normally keeps himself in shape. If he is the type of player who has a tendency to gain weight in the off-season the result can be devastating especially at the start of the regular season. Also, missing training camp may hurt a veteran player who is on the down side of his career. Very few, if any, coaches hold it against a veteran player who stays out of training camp. The feeling is that this is the business part of the game that everyone has to live with and the player is welcomed back with open arms. This is not always true for team management, especially on teams where the general managers view contract negotiations to be a personal contest between the team management and the player's agent.