No.

The NFL will not conform and it hasn’t. The spread has been tried at the NFL level. Guess what. Unlike in college, Every CB can break on the short route, and every guy in the front 7 can rush the QB. When the wishbone was in vogue in college the NFL didn’t adapt. Same with the wing T, or the Flexbone, Fun and Gun, no huddle, the Pistol, etc. When the 5-2 D was in vogue the NFL didn’t change.

In the end they went out of vogue for two reasons.

A. It became obvious that players running those offenses had less of a chance to make it in the pro’s, so top recruits went elsewhere…

B. Defenses finally adjusted and they weren’t as dominant at the college level anymore.

At the college level, the players come second to the teams. You can let your QB’s take those hits in the spread, when the best QB’s only start 2-3 years. In the NFL, the players come first. A franchise QB has millions invested in him, and is expected to be their QB for 8 or more years.

“Part of the problem here is the generic use of “spread,” which can mean many different things. It’s kind of like how “pro style” can mean anything from three yards and a cloud of dust to the West Coast offense”

It is pretty generic on both counts, but the “spread” is more about lineman spread further apart, less protection from TE’s/backs when passing, reads before the snap based on defensive positioning, and more shotgun based.

NFL pro-style has a TE a majority of the time, usually a fullback, usually no more than 3 wideouts, limits QB running, and usually the QB takes the snap from center, and runs play action from snaps under center.

Some NFL teams utilize spread formations at times, but not even the Pats and Colts go 4 wide more than half the time. It’s been 28 years since a QB finished top 10 in the league in rushing. It is look to pass first then run 95% of the time.

I am very intrigued by Brantley. He has compared himself to Chris Leak in terms of playing style. Hopefully that doesn’t mean the same tendency to overlook open receivers, get flustered in the pocket and look like a wet noodle when he runs the ball, but if he’s as accurate as Leak at his best, I’ll take it.

Florida does have the option as a part of it’s offense and also runs a lot of single wing type plays which make your quarterback susceptible to taking a lot of hits. There is merit to Weis’s comments. Even Tebow spent part of last year injured. How much punishment could a quarterback like Brantley (really more of a passing quarterback) take in a full SEC season? I’m thinking not much so the emphasis would be more on running the backs and the quick passes trying to get players into space.

1: Dual-threat quarterbacks need good offensive lines in order to utilize their talents on the ground. For example, Ben Roethlisberger has been more successful running the ball than Vince Young, partly because he plays with better linemen in Pittsburgh.

2: East-to-west running styles rarely work against NFL defenses. In all likelihood, Percy Harvin will spend more time at wide receiver than running back at the next level for this reason.

3: Occasionally, teams can draft spread QBs for other positions. For example, Antwaan Randle-El played quarterback at Indiana before being drafted as a wide receiver by the Steelers in 2002.

4: Tight ends who can catch the ball are in vogue. Tony Gonzalez, Jeremy Shockey, Antonio Gates, Benjamin Watson etc. are all highly utilized by their respective teams.

Part of the problem here is the generic use of “spread,” which can mean many different things. It’s kind of like how “pro style” can mean anything from three yards and a cloud of dust to the West Coast offense.

Certainly there’s a lot of bunk flying around here, but a lot of it is due to a lot of people using the same term for a lot of things. Anything from Brady’s 2007 Patriots to Farve’s 2007 Packers to Leach’s Air Raid to Rodriguez’s zone read spread option to the A-11 is a “spread” offense. It’s been around long enough now that people need to start being precise about their terms.