I disagree. Team have their WRs practice blocking far more than they did 15 years ago. Likewise, having receivers come across and block LBs would never have been done before Ward.
Are these receivers as good at it as Ward? No
Do teams teach their receivers to block like Ward? Absolutely
I question whether NFL WRs are blocking more now because of Ward or because of the rise of spread concepts and personnel groupings. If you want to RPO or play action run out of a bunch of WRs, no fullback, and maybe no TE...someone has to block a safety at some point.
What I am not smart enough to really answer is whether or not teams using WRs to block guys is because of some sort of post Hines Ward impact or just the result of a numbers game and alignment with the offensive packages that are popular across the NFL and the NCAA. Coaches want the defense spread out and to move things around horizontally to open vertical spaces in the passing game. To run out of that same group, you have to have your WRs block sometimes. Something they didn't have to do out of a "Pro Set" formation (popular at the start of Ward's career).
Long rambling story over. I think WRs are blocking now in order for coaches to keep the personnel package they want on the field flexible not because Hines Ward blazed a trail.
But I am frequently and often wrong. And am not trying to tell anyone I am right and they are wrong...I just find the discussion interesting.
@mojoUW
That is an interesting counterpoint… for the past decade. But, the trend of WRs being expected to block (like actually expected to do a good job at it) changed back on the mid-to-late 2000s.
And, Yes… that does make us old.
Well, when I say he changed the game with his blocking, I don’t mean that he started a trend of Hines Ward-like WRs, I literally mean he changed the game itself. He is responsible for an actual rule change because he was so effective and devastating at it.
If you think about it, the NFL made it impossible for there to be another Hines Ward even if another WR did come along with those skills because he’d be unable to legally implement them to the degree that Ward did.
So he did in fact change the game.
I really like this discussion and all the talk about training and practicing WRs to block well, while not getting the best results from them, and certainly not results like Ward's. To that I will posit that blocking as a WR takes real skill, but maybe more importantly it also takes the willingness to be that physical and very few WRs want to risk serious injury by physically engaging DBs, and are probably making "business decisions" when blocking. What separates Ward at this point are his toughness and durability and no one was more willing to get physical than Hines. Couple his willingness to block along with his near-indestructability and you've got the holy terror of blocking WRs, and I personally enjoyed hearing other teams bitch about him like he's a defensive back or something.
“They say you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. So I got rid of everything to see what I had.” ~ Steven Wright
My dad is older than me (obviously) and thus, he knows how good Swann & Stallworth were. I watched them, but I was too young/didn’t know football as well as I do now. My dad has stated over & over ad nauseum that Hines Ward is the best Steelers receiver to ever play. He admits that AB had more physical talent, making it a tough choice… but, he still says that if he had to choose one Steelers receiver, it would be Ward.
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Bingo!!!
Akin to the Mel Blount rule.
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Yep
Other players knew, respected, and feared Ward.