Dominate the Super Bowl

In the 2015 season, Derrick Henry swept through the NCAA with an unbelievable performance, strongly defeating McCaffrey and Watson to take home the Heisman Trophy.

After the season ended, Henry declared for the 2016 draft. Your next journey awaits at empire

From various analyses and indications, Henry, who showed absolute dominance on the college field, should have been naturally a highly sought-after player.

However, reality begged to differ.

First, Henry's large build and obvious target made him easy to catch by opponents; his high center of gravity made him prone to losing balance.

Secondly, in the NCAA, Henry could always break through with explosive power, but in the NFL, where the defensive intensity was notably higher, this move was not necessarily effective.

Lastly, based on past experience, large, strong running backs like Henry, such as Brandon Jacobs, LeGarrette Blount, Marshawn Lynch, and so on, tended to be used as one-dimensional power backs. When the ground attack strategies were recognized in the second and third gears, their strength advantages often got lost in the crowd tactics.

The so-called one-dimensional running backs mentioned here not only refer to their rushing style but also to the fact that they could run but not catch.

With this in view, Henry's weaknesses seemed more apparent than his strengths. After the nationwide championship ended, NFL scouts generally predicted his draft position to be around the fourth or fifth rounds, or even lower. Fortunately, Henry conquered the scouts with outstanding performances at the Rookie Training Camp and Alabama Crimson Tide Storm's internal training day.

In the end, in the second round at pick forty-five, the Tennessee Titans selected Henry.

However.

In March before the draft, the Tennessee Titans had already signed Pro Bowl running back DeMarco Murray as the starter, which meant Henry's rookie season would have to start from the bench.

The quarterback for the Tennessee Titans was the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota, a mobile quarterback whose strength lay in running the ball on the ground, with average passing ability; coupled with the fact that both Murray and Henry had similar styles, being running backs who excelled in rushing but not in receiving, their roles on the field completely overlapped.

Thus, Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt could only use Henry when Murray was exhausted.

Throughout his rookie season, Henry merely managed 490 rushing yards and five touchdowns, a figure that was just a fifth of his Heisman season the year before.

This, is the current situation.

The entire NFL has fully entered the era of passing dominance, with traditional power fullbacks gradually being phased out, while versatile halfbacks are increasingly becoming the main type of running back.

One-dimensional running backs are finding their living space narrowing in the league. Running backs can't just have one competency; they not only need to be able to rush and break tackles but also have to be able to catch, and on the very, very occasional surprise, even take on passing duties.

So.

Running backs are doing the hard work of four or even five positions yet receive the lowest wages in the offensive group. They can easily be let go by the team, because in the end, they are hard workers who can be replaced if not performing; why wouldn't teams opt for tool players picked in the sixth or seventh rounds for a bargain?

Reality, is just so harsh.

To be precise, the NCAA field is also slowly adopting such practices, utilizing running backs as wide receivers to disrupt the offensive and defensive balance through mismatches, with dynamic players like McCaffrey and Kamara often playing the role of receiver on their teams.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

By analyzing the data, one can understand Kamara's feelings—

In the 2016 season, he carried the ball 103 times for a rush of 596 yards; he was targeted 40 times as a receiver, accumulating 392 yards.

No wonder teams didn't notice Kamara, and no wonder Li Wei didn't remember him at all. As a running back, his performance was unremarkable; but as a wide receiver, he was quite impressive, which made him a dual-threat in running and receiving.

Of course, as previously mentioned, there are still very traditional teams in the NCAA that stick to their longstanding ground attack systems and do not use running backs as wide receivers.

The Alabama Crimson Tide Storm was one of them.

Furthermore, Li Wei had only entered the world of Football for a short year, still learning and growing even the basic running back abilities. Burns had no intention of biting off more than he could chew, so throughout the season, Li Wei never took the field as a Wide Receiver in an actual game, a realm that was foreign to him.

And now, the running backs were about to face a receiving skills test at the Rookie Training Camp—

The bustling gazes once again all converged on Li Wei.

The test items were no secret; there was no element of surprise. But the key was that receiving skills could not be trained in just six short weeks.

Perhaps this was the key reason Li Wei had been secluded in training, even more critical than bench press numbers.

After all, a running back lacking in strength and confrontation was only a slight worry. The NFL's ever-changing offensive strategies could always find a place for such running backs; however, the space for one-dimensional running backs to survive in the profession was shrinking.

So, how did Li Wei perform?

The air was slightly bubbling with tension.

Huh.

Kamara let out a long breath; he had no way out now.

His plan had been completely disrupted, things had spiraled out of control long ago. He wanted to swear but had no mood for it. If he still wanted to use Li Wei as a stepping stone to prove himself, if he still wanted to improve his draft position, this was his last chance, he had to seize it.

The receiving skills test wasn't about timing but about testing agility and precision.

The starting point was a cross-shaped block set on the ground, about twenty centimeters high, with the player standing in one quadrant. They then had to hop on one foot to the next quadrant, the second foot then hopping into the same quadrant, ensuring one foot, then the other each entered before finally both standing in the quadrant. They would continue in the same manner to the next quadrant.

Whether clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on the player's personal preference, they would start and end in the same quadrant, completing one full round.

Then, they would take off.

Ahead were three horizontal barriers, twenty centimeters high and arranged longitudinally, which the players needed to traverse in the same fashion before charging forward.

Then, three circular air-filled sandbags were set up in a Y-shaped pattern with each having a coach behind. The coaches would swing the sandbags to simulate a defender's block. The running back had to find the correct lane between the Y-shaped gaps to push through—

At the same time, they could not touch the sandbags and had to successfully dodge them.

Continuing straight ahead, another coach stood empty-handed; he would raise his hands, indicating left or right. It wasn't about dodging this time but about following the directions, with the player running a lateral parabola according to the instruction, ending near the sideline to be ready to catch the ball.

The one passing the ball would still be a coach.

After catching the Football, the players would continue down the sideline and into the End zone.

The whole process seemed simple, but it was actually quite complex.

It tested footwork, judgment, the ability to react on the spot, changing direction, catching, control of the center of gravity after catching, and the final sprint.

Time wasn't important, no one tested for time, but everyone could see the agility of the steps, the on-the-spot judgment, the smoothness of the breakthrough, and the secondary reactions, and so on. It was a comprehensive assessment of the running back and Wide Receiver's capabilities.

It was hard, very hard, but Kamara was ready.