The word is starting to spread

More NFL coaches eyeing trendy offense

Dan Pompei Inside the NFL

May 11, 2008

Don't be surprised to see the spread spreading.

That is, NFL teams quietly are borrowing wrinkles and concepts from the spread offense that has become so popular in the college game.

No team is going to make a wholesale change in its scheme, but many will take bits and pieces from what college teams such as Florida and Kentucky have done so well.

"There is so much creativity at the collegiate level, some great concepts," Titans coach Jeff Fisher says. "What happens is, as we go through the tape to evaluate draft eligible players, a particular concept catches your eye, and you make notes."

Mostly, this will affect the NFL passing game. The Patriots made a living on spread offense concepts last year. Coach Bill Belichick has been taking yearly visits to Florida to talk offense with Gators coach Urban Meyer. And now others are starting to catch on.

We probably never will see the complete spread option offense in the NFL because the quarterback takes too much punishment when he is involved so much in the running game.

"In college the quarterback sometimes is the best athlete on the field, but in the NFL that's not usually the case," 49ers coach Mike Nolan said. "That defensive guy runs as fast or faster and is bigger and hits harder. So the collisions are a lot different.

"You can't risk losing your quarterback because you don't have that No. 2 and No. 3 guy you can go to without a big drop-off."

Nolan said he could envision teams using a specialty player to run some option plays. He mentioned Steelers rookie Dennis Dixon as a possibility—maybe play him at wide receiver but have a package for Dixon as an option quarterback.

The 49ers might be able to do it with Arnaz Battle, a wide receiver who played quarterback at Notre Dame. New 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz had such a package in St. Louis with wide receiver Az Hakim.

Some teams tinkered with the option last year. Among them were the Broncos, Jets and Titans.

The Titans have ideal personnel for the spread option with mobile quarterback Vince Young and first-round running back Chris Johnson, the fastest player in the NFL draft.

"We're not going to serve Vince up," Fisher says. "We want to protect him as best we can. But he can handle the reads, and if you can almost assure yourself of a big play, you try to take advantage of it."

Quiet trade market

A number of name players—Jason Taylor, Roy Williams and Lito Sheppard—were mentioned as trade possibilities in recent weeks. But now that the draft is history, the chance of moving those players is becoming less likely by the day.

Taylor clearly has waltzed his way out of favor with new Dolphins poo-bah Bill Parcells, but it looks like the two men will have to find a way to co-exist. The Dolphins called around before the draft to gauge interest in Taylor but didn't tell teams what they wanted. They never received a strong offer for the 33-year-old defensive end, and they didn't even field a single phone call about him on draft day.

As for Williams, the Lions did have a couple of offers on draft day. The Eagles were interested, as were the Cowboys. But neither team offered enough to get a deal done, and the Lions were not actively trying to dump the wide receiver. Now it looks like Williams will remain in Detroit. Even though his deal expires after next season, the Lions likely will put the franchise tag on him if they can't sign him to an extension.

The Eagles have been trying to trade Sheppard since they signed Asante Samuel, and their window may have closed. They emerged from a recent mini-camp with coaches talking about how nice it was to have three solid cornerbacks with Samuel joining Sheppard and Sheldon Brown.

Bears beat Packers

Even though the Bears and Packers won't face each other on the field for more than six months, the Bears might have already beaten their rivals to the north once this year.

With the 28th pick of the third round of the draft, the Packers were considering taking Arkansas defensive tackle Marcus Harrison, according to sources. But the Bears were picking 27th, and they chose Harrison before the Packers had the chance to. The Packers subsequently selected Texas tight end Jermichael Finley.

So the Bears added a player with first-round ability and prevented the Packers from doing the same. But they also saved the Packers the headache of selecting a player with off-the-field problems. It's possible the Packers one day will thank the Bears for this "loss."

dpompei@tribune.com