For 2nd-Year Pros, NFL OTAs Are Opportunity to Make Big Strides in Development

NFL organized team activity sessions in late spring can be beneficial for every player on the field if there is a professional approach to fundamentals, technique and scheme install.

Now, there are no jobs won in May or June, since we can’t truly get a feel for players in helmets and shorts. It’s not real football until late July, when there will be contact to heat up roster competition.

But the teaching, self-scouting and reps can help teams build a foundation for training camp, when the pads go on.

Plus, this is the time on the NFL calendar when second-year pros start to play with more confidence, more speed and more awareness on the field as their development takes a major jump forward.

The vested veterans, the guys who have played a lot of football in this league, understand the drill during the spring practice sessions. They play fast but stay off the ground, know when to pull up to avoid a collision and focus on the building blocks of successful players—footwork, hand placement, vision and overall execution of the base schemes.

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You now want to see that same level (and tempo) of practice from the second-year guys. No more playing out of control, running into the quarterback or causing pileups during a team drill in the spring. Instead, they begin to practice like pros, and that includes scheme recognition on the field.

Forget about the days of rookie camps, when they just worried about being able to line up and survive the pace of an NFL practice. That’s when the coaches welcomed them to the league and tested their conditioning.

Tight hamstrings and heavy legs. Those are long days for rooks.

They have to learn the playbook, remember the directions to the facility, find a place to live and also play catch-up from a strength and conditioning standpoint. The rookies are behind compared to the rest of the roster, and that shows during OTAs, minicamps and daily lifting sessions.

However, for the second-year guys, there is no more combine prep or pro days. They are already settled in the facility, have a good feel for the city they play in and are expected to report to the offseason program in top shape. These guys can now train like pros in the winter and early spring months while developing speed and power in the weight room instead of working toward a 4.4 40 time.

The game itself should drastically slow down in Year 2, even for the players who did produce some numbers as rookies. They can still develop, improve and take their games to another level. I’m talking about the mental processing for every position. That means defensive backs should play with less panic in their footwork, quarterbacks should be quicker with their eyes and wide receivers should run smoother, cleaner routes with sharper angles back to the ball.

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It’s almost a natural progression for players as they enter their second year in the NFL. This shouldn’t feel like the first day of school all over again. A certain comfort level is expected on the field.

Think about a safety and his eye placement depending on the coverage call. That sounds small—almost elementary—but there is so much going on around a single play on the field. If that safety isn’t experienced with the techniques being taught, doesn’t recognize the formation or doesn't have the required conditioning during practice, he will take false steps, miss his run/pass key or bust the call altogether.

That happens a lot with rookies as part of the learning process, and it forces guys to play slower while missing opportunities on the field.

But with the second-year players, that should be cleaned up with a more focused approach to every drill and every competitive setting during OTAs. And the result is a player who can now recognize concepts based on personnel/alignment, identify specific schemes and play a much faster brand of football.

In all honesty, this doesn’t happen with all players. Every year, we see guys fail to live up to the hype as their development just doesn’t progress for a variety of reasons. But for the majority of the guys I played with, that second year is when they start to take off, gain strength/power in the weight room and challenge experienced vets. 

Again, no one is going to grab the top spot on the depth chart by making a play or two in a spring OTA practice. However, after long rookie seasons that feature a lot of mistakes and teaching moments, the players going into their second NFL seasons can benefit the most from spring workouts. 

It’s time to play fast and practice like a true professional.

Seven-year NFL veteran Matt Bowen is an NFL National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report.

Follow @MattBowen41