Arians: College O-linemen 'not fundamentally ready' for NFL
College offenses have been under fire form NFL coaches and scouts for the last few years because of their perceived overuse of spread systems and how they don't prepare players for the next level.
Quarterbacks don't get experience dropping back or playing under center, recievers' route trees are limited, tight ends don't learn to block, and running backs are valued for speed over power and balance. Or so the arguments go.
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians believes it's the offensive linemen who suffer the most.
"They’re just not fundamentally ready," Arians told ESPN. "They’re going to fail."
Arians drafted offensive tackle D.J. Humphries in the first round last year, but stayed in line with his philosophy and didn't allow the lineman to play as a rookie.
"If he had to play, we knew he’d fail," Arians said. "But he got better and better and better in practice each week. It’s really hard when you have 11 or 12 padded practices to get a lineman ready to play and get him taught."
The Cardinals could use a new center and have been linked to taking Alabama's Ryan Kelly at the end of the first round, but Arians wouldn't likely trust him to play in his first year. The coach is too concerned with the amount of adjustments from college.
"Don’t expect (rookie offensive linemen) to play the first year very well because it’s such a different game," Arians said. "So many of them now have never been in a three-point stance, have never heard a quarterback call a play in the huddle, to be able to decipher the info and be able to go to the line and use an actual snap count and a hard count, it sounds pretty basic but that’s the problems we’re having with linemen now.
"That’s why some teams said, ‘We’ll just take defensive linemen because they’re just as far along' because you’re just starting all over anyway."
Arians doesn't believe the spread system totally cripples offensive linemen, saying it makes them better athletes, but neglects the fundamentals.
"It’s fundamentals that we’re going back to now and have to teach," Arians said. "We never had to teach it before. Great athletes - the athletes are much, much better - but the fundamentals are worse than they’ve ever been."