Adapt or die is a phrase people use when discussing changing their ways. While the National Football League wouldn’t die, some of the ways the NFL has evolved in the past decade put it in a better position than before.

College Offense Graduates to the Pros

A common belief for years among NFL teams is that collegiate offensive schemes would not work in the NFL. That’s why dual-threat quarterbacks who were college superstars would go undrafted, and 6'4", 235-pound quarterbacks would go in the first round despite having a shaky career.

That way of thinking has gone to the wayside because the college playbook is prominent in the NFL. Read options, jet sweeps, motioning wide receivers, and 10 personnel (one running back, four wide receivers) are common on Sunday.

It started with the “Wildcat” in Miami, shifted to the Bay and Colin Kaepernick’s 49ers, and is now why Lamar Jackson is a former MVP winner.

Young Coaches

Back in the old days of the NFL, head coaches were gritty, tough, and often former players themselves. Coaches like Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, and Don Shula hardly exist anymore, considering many coaches are younger than some players.

With the rise of prolific offensives came the trend of innovative young coaching. Sean McVay’s immediate success with the Rams made the Belichick coaching tree a thing of the past, and the McVay takeover began. After reaching the Super Bowl in his second season, the current run of young coaches who had prior experience working with McVay started.

Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur, Zac Taylor, Brandon Staley, and now Kevin O’Connell were former McVay assistants that man the sidelines as the head honcho. If it keeps working for some teams, NFL owners will continue running toward the fountain of youth.

Aggressive Play-Calling

It seemed unrealistic when we played a Madden video game that we never punted and went for it on fourth-down. However, thanks to the influx of young coaches, analytics and aggressive play-calling are now the norm.

The previously mentioned Brandon Staley scoffed at the idea of punting regularly, going for the fourth-down conversion an astounding 34 times. In some seasons, every team combined didn’t attempt 34 fourth-down conversions. With percentages and math on their side, this trend will continue, which is something that should make us grateful.

Emphasis on Player Safety

With CTE coming into the public eye, it became clear that the violence of football can have a long-lasting effect on some players. The league reached a $765 million settlement with ex-players struggling with life after football due to concussion-related issues. As of this writing, the NFL has paid over 1B to over 20,500 members.

In connection with the off-the-field changes, the NFL tweaked some of its rules to minimize the risk of playing the game. Touchbacks now come out to the 25-yard line, making it counterintuitive to return kickoffs where players are running at full speed. There is now a 15-yard penalty and a possible ejection for a hit to a defenseless player. Lastly, the league has made significant changes to the helmets to soften the blows throughout the year.

Another way the NFL has evolved in the past decade is opening its arms to the gambling world, sans Calvin Ridley. And you can take advantage of Pregame’s early bird special pricing to get the best NFL picks against the spread for this upcoming season. Watch your units increase as you follow the guidance of our experts at Pregame.