Video: Xavier Woods: "Not possible to go full-speed."

[Hadenough]

Anyone who thinks you can run full speed on every play hasnt played sports at a high level. You have to play controlled or you over run plays, injure yourself, your own player. People are mistaking not going full speed every play for not giving 100% effort. Too much is being put into what he said.

 

[SackMaster]

True. But offensive skill guys rotate all the time, so the idea that defense subs far more than offense isn't true.

At this point I just feel like someone is more concerned with me being wrong than the actual facts being put out there. So here goes....

Common sense should be able to tell you that the offense subs in-and-out much less than the defense, if for no other reason than OVER HALF of the offense does not sub in-or-out unless there is an injury or the player is benched. But if the QB or any of the Offensive Linemen in the game are the true starter, and not a backup playing for an injured starter, then you can all but eliminate the benching half.

• QBs
  • Dak has played 99% or better of the offensive snaps every year but his rookie year when he dropped all the way down to 96%
  • Even QBs that are fragile like Carson Wentz, plays 99%-100% of the offensive snaps when he is able to play 16 games
  • I think we can all agree, this is a no-brainer if you have what is considered a "franchise QB"
• O Line
  • Every year Fredbeard played = 100% of the snaps
  • Zach Martin has played 99%-100% of the snaps in 5 of his 7 years, with the two other being 96% and 82% (he missed 2 games that year)
  • Tyron Smith, in the only 3 years he has played 16 games, 100% of the snaps
  • La'el Collins, when he became the starter at RT = 100%, 100%, 89% (missed 1 game that season)

I'm hoping that his is common football knowledge. QBs and OLine RARELY come out of games. The only real non-injury or non-benching situation I can think of is pulling the starters with a big lead or big deficit late in a game.

So right there, you are looking at 99%-100% being the norm for over half the offense if they are at least relatively healthy.

Now on to RBs.

RBs:

• Elliot is a mid-to-high 80's snap count guy with 83%, 84% and 89% in the last 3 seasons following his suspension during year 2, with his rookie and 2nd year being 67% and 55%
  
  • But many believe Zeke subs out a lot, so lets look at some of the the other Top 5 Rushers last year
• Derreck Henry = played only 59% of the offensive snaps last year and has gone, in order with 25%, 40%, 41%, 59% and 74% this year so far
• Nick Chubb = again much lower than Zeke with 36%, 69%, 44%
• Christian McCaffrey = 70%, 91%, 93% and 42% (only has played 2 games this year)
• Chris Carson = 14%, 43%, 65%, 56%
  • So outside of Elliot and McCaffrey, RBs only play 50% - 60% of the snaps. I was kind of surprised by this because again, many complain that Zeke subs himself out too often, so I guess that is not the case, like AT ALL

WRs:

• Cooper (* = Dallas) = 86%, 89%, 70%, 31% / 48%* (trade year), 75%, 85%
  
• Gallup = 69%, 75%, 88%
  
• Lamb = 75%
  • So far this year, our "top 2" WRs are playing 85%+ of the offensive snaps, with the 3rd being in "only" 75% of the time. Clearly we play a lot of 3 WR sets. But lets look around the league
• Michael Thomas = 75%, 82%, 88%, 89% and 21% (1 game this year)
• Julio Jones = 79%, 27%, 80%, 85%, 68%, 75%, 77%, 70% and 48%
  
• DeAndre Hopkins = 89%, 95%, 97%, 97%, 93%, 99%, 91%, and 95% (WOW!!!)
  
• Jarvis Landry = 62%, 84%, 94%, 90%, 88%, 94%, and 70%
  
• Mike Evans = 77%, 79%, 83%, 81%, 84%, 70% and 85%
  • So outside of Hopkins who is an absolute monster, if a WR is healthy, I think Mid to High 80% is not out of the question.

TEs:

• Witten (just for old times sake) = 98%, 99%, 99%, 99%, 96%, 98%, 75% and 32%
  • * Snap counts only go back to 2012
  • I would use another Cowboys TE, but even in the year Witten took off, we did not have a definitive "starting" TE
• Travis Kelce = 0%, 66%, 92%, 87%, 85%, 95%, 92% and 86%
• George Kittle = 54%, 88%, 76%, 49%
• Zach Ertz = 41%, 50%, 68%, 75%, 69%, 92%, 80% and 92%
  • So again, if they can stay healthy TEs can hit high 80% to low 90% with relative ease if they are a quality starting TE

So, assuming we play 3 WR sets, with 1 TE and 1 RB most of the time: You are looking at 6 of 11 offensive players playing 99% of the snaps. 1 of 11 playing 55% of snaps. 3 of 11 playing ~80% of the snaps, and 1 of 11 playing ~85% of the snaps. Overall, that means the starters on offense are playing ~ 88% of the total offense stats.

Now a quick breakdown of the defense:

• DE = ~80% of snaps (Lawrence has yet to pass 72%)
  
• DT = ~75% of snaps (The only DT I looked up that was even semi-consistently over this was Aaron Donald)
  
• LB = ~85% of snaps
• CB = ~85% of snaps
  
• S = ~95% of snaps

So when playing nickel defense with 2 DE, 2 DT, 2 LB, 3CB and 2 S, you are looking at your defensive starters playing 84% of the snaps.

So 88% vs 84% isn't huge but it is clearly different. And that is not adding "every down" RBs like Elliot and McCaffery, who by themselves bump the offense up to 91%.

One could even say I was being WAY TO generous with the Defensive Line percentages, but I wanted more of a "best case scenario" with those two positions than the "average" player.

In any case, yes, the defense substitutes in-and-out way more than offensive does. Especially if you don't have RB that only plays half the snaps.

 

[fivetwos]

Anyone who thinks you can run full speed on every play hasnt played sports at a high level. You have to play controlled or you over run plays, injure yourself, your own player. People are mistaking not going full speed every play for not giving 100% effort. Too much is being put into what he said.

I know what he meant and said it earlier in this thread. I just cant stand him as a player to such a level that I felt like running with the bad look, figuring that makes him closer to being gone....

Then I realized it probably makes it more likely he will return. No one else will want him and he will need to take a discount.....a Stephen Jones special.

And of course that second contract validates that 6th round pick that they did so well on.

No franchise knows how to double down on dumb like this one.

 

[nightrain]

When you have regressed and are underperforming as an athlete, last thing you want to do is start justifying lack of hustle. Naturally, players don't go 100% on every play, but their effort damn well better be at that 100% level, particularly when they are getting dominated.

 

[RonnieT24]

Did both. Big difference between the two. Of all of the sports except for baseball I think football is by far the easiest to play for someone that is young and in shape. In regards to being winded that is. You get way more rest than play time. More so for NFL players. But again, you have to be in shape.

Of the sports I can think of that tire you out, and I'm probably missing a few. You mentioned one, Wrestling, that can be wicked. Boxing, full court basketball, hockey, certain positions in soccer. But football? I didn't think it was possible to get spent playing that sport. Tennis and half court basketball is more tiring. But then again, if all you do is play video games all year long until football season, yeah, I can it being a problem for some players.

Then you didn't play very hard. Like I said.. go out with a stopwatch and time yourself for 60-70 sprints and write down your time in those sprints as time goes on.. take a minute or two rest in between each. .Let me know how many you get to before your time starts to become MUCH slower. And all you're doing here is running. By the way, it's not about being "winded." Football requires more than aerobic conditioning. It also induces muscle fatigue from the effort and strain of changing direction, stopping and starting, struggling mano-am-mano against very large and very strong people trying to stop you from whatever it you are doing .. Then on top of that you have to crash into large and strong people 40-50 times a game and just for good measure you get to crash to the turf with them 30-40 times. Fun and games right? The body suffers injury and then expends energy recovering from all of this. You don't just get tired.. you get beat up.. And standing on the sideline for a few minutes does not allow for full recovery. The old saying that nobody is 100% after the first quarter of the first game of the season is true. Except for the guys under 25 most guys have barely recovered from the previous game by Saturday walk-through. You don't get back to 100% until the next season.

By the way.. given that football was so easy for you.. which team did you play for and how many years were you in the NFL before you retired?

 

[Flamma]

Then you didn't play very hard. Like I said.. go out with a stopwatch and time yourself for 60-70 sprints and write down your time in those sprints as time goes on.. take a minute or two rest in between each. .Let me know how many you get to before your time starts to become MUCH slower. And all you're doing here is running. By the way, it's not about being "winded." Football requires more than aerobic conditioning. It also induces muscle fatigue from the effort and strain of changing direction, stopping and starting, struggling mano-am-mano against very large and very strong people trying to stop you from whatever it you are doing .. Then on top of that you have to crash into large and strong people 40-50 times a game and just for good measure you get to crash to the turf with them 30-40 times. Fun and games right? The body suffers injury and then expends energy recovering from all of this. You don't just get tired.. you get beat up.. And standing on the sideline for a few minutes does not allow for full recovery. The old saying that nobody is 100% after the first quarter of the first game of the season is true. Except for the guys under 25 most guys have barely recovered from the previous game by Saturday walk-through. You don't get back to 100% until the next season.

By the way.. given that football was so easy for you.. which team did you play for and how many years were you in the NFL before you retired?

I understand what you're saying, but sorry, I never got tired playing football. It just isn't that kind of game. But in my youth we didn't have anything else to entertain ourselves with, so I ran 3 miles every other day. I guess the NFL is different? Maybe it is. Maybe I'm just forgetting. But one thing I do know for sure. We didn't play for 11-15 minutes in a 3 hour time span.

 

[cern]

Members of the press and some former cowboys have expressed outrage about wood's comment. But nothing from the current players. I wonder what jimmy would have said.

 

[SDCowboy]

I would immediately bench him for at least a game for those comments.

 

[DenCWBY]

I'm still laughing at the "starting safety" deal.

Dude is nowhere near a starter.

This!! Half the defensive starters do not play NFL caliber defense. They are consistently losing one on one matchups. I place some blame on coaching but can only do so much.
MM needs to quit hiding behind that mask and rip some ***. The honeymoon is over fat man.

 

[Flamma]

This!! Half the defensive starters do not play NFL caliber defense. They are consistently losing one on one matchups. I place some blame on coaching but can only do so much.
MM needs to quit hiding behind that mask and rip some ***. The honeymoon is over fat man.

BigMac is another genius. During the Earl Thomas talks, he liked our safeties. What was it that he liked? Their personalities? Don't tell me in practice they were looking good against Lamb, Cooper, and Gallup.

 

[fansince68]

Fatigue makes cowards of us all.....

who said that.....

Mike Tyson

 

[Vtwin]

Then you didn't play very hard. Like I said.. go out with a stopwatch and time yourself for 60-70 sprints and write down your time in those sprints as time goes on.. take a minute or two rest in between each. .Let me know how many you get to before your time starts to become MUCH slower. And all you're doing here is running. By the way, it's not about being "winded." Football requires more than aerobic conditioning. It also induces muscle fatigue from the effort and strain of changing direction, stopping and starting, struggling mano-am-mano against very large and very strong people trying to stop you from whatever it you are doing .. Then on top of that you have to crash into large and strong people 40-50 times a game and just for good measure you get to crash to the turf with them 30-40 times. Fun and games right? The body suffers injury and then expends energy recovering from all of this. You don't just get tired.. you get beat up.. And standing on the sideline for a few minutes does not allow for full recovery. The old saying that nobody is 100% after the first quarter of the first game of the season is true. Except for the guys under 25 most guys have barely recovered from the previous game by Saturday walk-through. You don't get back to 100% until the next season.

By the way.. given that football was so easy for you.. which team did you play for and how many years were you in the NFL before you retired?

Sure, anyone is going to fatigue while running 60-70 sprints. "Full speed" is relative though. Full speed on sprint #1 is going to be faster than full speed on sprint #70 but you can still give maximum effort and go full speed on every one of those sprints.

In my experience, just playing football and hockey through high school, not giving maximum effort would have you running/skating those 70 sprints in the next practice. Floaters and slackers would be called out by the coaches and teammates.

I found hockey to be far more exhausting than football. Pre-season hockey practice would kick my butt even coming off a full season of football practice and games.

 

[TheJynxedOne]

Heartless.

 

[Cmac]

Jimmy would have cut him immediately.

 

[RonnieT24]

I understand what you're saying, but sorry, I never got tired playing football. It just isn't that kind of game. But in my youth we didn't have anything else to entertain ourselves with, so I ran 3 miles every other day. I guess the NFL is different? Maybe it is. Maybe I'm just forgetting. But one thing I do know for sure. We didn't play for 11-15 minutes in a 3 hour time span.

Then you probably stopped when you thought the play was over and never hustled to pursue a play 40 yards away from you. It's not theory.. the body goes into oxygen debt after about 7-8 seconds when sprinting full speed. For those who don't know what oxygen debt is that is when your body is burning up more oxygen than your lungs can take in and it starts to have to pull from other sources for energy. That's why guys who just ran for 10 seconds are doubled over at the end of a 100 meter sprint. If it doesn't happen to you then you are by definition NOT sprinting full speed and NOT exerting full effort. The best conditioned sprinters on the planet start to slow down at about the 60-70 meter mark of the 100 meter dash. You saying you were in better condition than Olympic sprinters? Or are you saying you ran at a nice easy pace back and forth across the field, never getting to full speed and never giving full effort. Seems like you would fit in nicely with the Cowboys defense if that's the case.

 

[RonnieT24]

Sure, anyone is going to fatigue while running 60-70 sprints. "Full speed" is relative though. Full speed on sprint #1 is going to be faster than full speed on sprint #70 but you can still give maximum effort and go full speed on every one of those sprints.

In my experience, just playing football and hockey through high school, not giving maximum effort would have you running/skating those 70 sprints in the next practice. Floaters and slackers would be called out by the coaches and teammates.

I found hockey to be far more exhausting than football. Pre-season hockey practice would kick my butt even coming off a full season of football practice and games.

I believe this is what Woods was trying to say but he allowed himself to be baited into saying it the wrong way. But he even said at the end of the interview that you still give maximum effort every play but it won't always be at "full speed." It's not humanly possible.

 

[Flamma]

Then you probably stopped when you thought the play was over and never hustled to pursue a play 40 yards away from you. It's not theory.. the body goes into oxygen debt after about 7-8 seconds when sprinting full speed. For those who don't know what oxygen debt is that is when your body is burning up more oxygen than your lungs can take in and it starts to have to pull from other sources for energy. That's why guys who just ran for 10 seconds are doubled over at the end of a 100 meter sprint. If it doesn't happen to you then you are by definition NOT sprinting full speed and NOT exerting full effort. The best conditioned sprinters on the planet start to slow down at about the 60-70 meter mark of the 100 meter dash. You saying you were in better condition than Olympic sprinters? Or are you saying you ran at a nice easy pace back and forth across the field, never getting to full speed and never giving full effort. Seems like you would fit in nicely with the Cowboys defense if that's the case.

To be honest, and it's probably why my opinion is the way it is, is that I played almost exclusively wide receiver. Mainly due to speed. My only claim to fame was that I was never run down by anyone. Even if they had the standard angle. I was always the fastest guy on the football field. But playing WR does often give you plays off so to speak. Which is part of the game.

I always had good endurance however. I never thought that was a big accomplishment since I was young and healthy. So I was surprised to see a lot of guys with their hands on their knees gasping for breath after a few laps or some insignificant exertion. No internet or video games besides Atari and Intelevision, so what were they doing all day?

 

[Flamma]

Then you didn't play very hard. Like I said.. go out with a stopwatch and time yourself for 60-70 sprints and write down your time in those sprints as time goes on.. take a minute or two rest in between each. .Let me know how many you get to before your time starts to become MUCH slower. And all you're doing here is running. By the way, it's not about being "winded." Football requires more than aerobic conditioning. It also induces muscle fatigue from the effort and strain of changing direction, stopping and starting, struggling mano-am-mano against very large and very strong people trying to stop you from whatever it you are doing .. Then on top of that you have to crash into large and strong people 40-50 times a game and just for good measure you get to crash to the turf with them 30-40 times. Fun and games right? The body suffers injury and then expends energy recovering from all of this. You don't just get tired.. you get beat up.. And standing on the sideline for a few minutes does not allow for full recovery. The old saying that nobody is 100% after the first quarter of the first game of the season is true. Except for the guys under 25 most guys have barely recovered from the previous game by Saturday walk-through. You don't get back to 100% until the next season.

By the way.. given that football was so easy for you.. which team did you play for and how many years were you in the NFL before you retired?

There's another thing you're not considering when it comes to football as opposed to other sports. You're talking about 40-50 times this and that, when does that ever happen? That scenario in football doesn't exist. If you're a defender your fat lazy *** is on the sidelines watching the offense. You're not doing anything for long periods of time. The least you can do is go full speed the 5-6 plays you have to run before the offense gives you another 30 minute break.

 

[RonnieT24]

To be honest, and it's probably why my opinion is the way it is, is that I played almost exclusively wide receiver. Mainly due to speed. My only claim to fame was that I was never run down by anyone. Even if they had the standard angle. I was always the fastest guy on the football field. But playing WR does often give you plays off so to speak. Which is part of the game.

I always had good endurance however. I never thought that was a big accomplishment since I was young and healthy. So I was surprised to see a lot of guys with their hands on their knees gasping for breath after a few laps or some insignificant exertion. No internet or video games besides Atari and Intelevision, so what were they doing all day?

Bingo.. when the tank was empty.. you took plays off. What NFL and really all high level players do is try to conserve energy when they are able to ascertain that a play is over or that their man isn't going to participate in a particular play you just join him in sitting the play off. I was also generally the fastest guy on the field except for the 5 or 6 all American sprinters who were on my high school team. Even though those guys could outrun me in a 100 meter dash my claim to fame was quickness, balance and change of direction. Since I played my college ball in the Ivies, I didn't run into a lot of guys faster than me there. But since the other teams knew it any time I split out wide the safeties would literally back up to 20 yards off the ball and start pointing at me.. Actually pretty damn frustrating. But I digress.

I stand by my assertion. NOBODY can run full speed AND be involved in collisions with big strong dudes 40-50 times a game. We all get tired.. Recovery time is the key. That's what conditioning gives you. Every person is different.. Some buys can go stand on the sideline for 5 minutes and be ready to go full speed for another 8-10 plays.. Other guys need 10 minutes to recover.. Still others need 20..