Sized and Specialized

Players have grown in many ways over the past three decades — in professionalism, earnings, specialization, size and strength.

High school quarterbacks learn to read defenses, and defenses use line stunts and blitz packages. Specialization takes hold early. Many major college programs have adopted pro-style offensive schemes creating players more prepared to adjust to the NFL game.

Increased specialization in the NFL and the evolution of offensive and defensive coaching strategies have led to new optimal body types for each position, with customized conditioning and nutritional programs to match.

NFL Players at most positions are bigger and stronger than their predecessors, but sizes and body styles have diverged — sometimes dramatically — based on the demands of their roles. As data journalist Noah Veltman noted after crunching the numbers on NFL player height and weight over time, “nowadays, if you’re 6 foot 3 inches and 280 pounds, you’re too big for most skill positions and too small to play line.”

One recent analysis of average player weights by position, using data from NFL.com for each player on 2013 rosters, found a range from 193 pounds for cornerbacks to 315 for offensive guards. (The difference in average heights, while not as dramatic, ranged from 5 foot 11 inches for running backs and cornerbacks to 6 foot 5 inches for offensive tackles.

Nowhere is the divergence more evident than on the offensive and defensive lines.

In the early 1980s, Washington line coach Joe Bugel told Joe Jacoby, a 6 foot 7 inch, 275-pound offensive tackle at the University of Louisville, that he had a chance to make it in the NFL — but only if he got bigger.

Washington Redskins offensive tackle Joe Jacoby was a giant among men, but he actually had to bulk up to make it in the NFL. (AP Photo/Al Messerschmidt)

With training, Jacoby increased his bench press from 300 to 400 pounds, put on 30 pounds and increased his quickness in the 40-yard dash to five seconds flat. He made the team as an undrafted free agent in 1981 and became part of one of the most famous and dominant offensive lines in NFL history — the “Hogs” — which powered the team to three Super Bowl titles.

But in terms of size, the “Hogs” wouldn’t look that imposing today. Even Jacoby — so imposing that one writer said of him, “Andre the Giant wears his hand-me-downs” — wouldn’t stand out. By 2013, the median weight for NFL guards and tackles had reached 310 pounds, according to one analysis. That means over half weigh more than Jacoby did.

One of the smallest Hogs — Hall of Famer Russ Grimm — stood 6 feet 3 inches and weighed 273 pounds. Today, he would be one of the league’s smallest guards.

For defensive ends, the need for speed and agility to rush the quarterback may mitigate some of the size increase. Ends averaged 283 pounds and 6 feet 4 inches tall, the analysis of 2013 NFL rosters found.

But defensive tackles, responsible for shutting down an opponents running game, averaged 6 foot 3 and 310 pounds. Compare that to NFL legends like Mean Joe Greene, the 6 foot 4, 275-pound tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1969-81, or Dallas Cowboy Hall-of-Famer Randy White, who played the position for the Dallas Cowboys from 1975-1988 at 6 feet 4 inches, and 257 pounds.

The impression that players at every position are much bigger and stronger than previous generations is not always true. Sometimes the ideal body type for today’s game is actually smaller. Consider the running back.

Bronko Nagurski, the ball carrier who became the NFL’s symbol of power football during the 1930s, stood 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 226 pounds. His strength and size helped him plow through would-be tacklers.

Running backs today average just shorter than 6 feet, and 215 pounds. On those terms alone, Nagurski would not be outmatched. But today’s runners use their size to hide behind the massive linemen blocking in front of them, and spend countless hours in training to develop the acceleration and lower body strength to speed through holes and fight for extra yardage.

At 6 feet 2 inches and 226 pounds, 1930s Hall of Fame running back Bronko Nagurski was bigger and heavier than many of today’s stars, like New Orleans’ Alvin Kamara (5-10, 215), but he likely did not share some of their specialized skills, strengths and abilities. (Pro Football Hall of Fame) (Margaret Bowles via AP)

Quarterbacks do not necessarily stand taller either. Stars from different generations of play — Sammy Baugh (6 feet 2 inches), Bart Starr (6 feet 1 inch) and Joe Montana (6 feet 2 inches) — would not have to look up at most of today’s stars.

But like the majority of today’s players, body mass is greater — perhaps a beneficiary of training and a reflection of the need to withstand hits from those bigger defensive linemen. The average weight has risen to about 224 — more than 20 pounds above the playing weights of Baugh, Starr and Montana.