It's interesting in retrospect how much attitudes have changed toward Urban Meyer's offensive scheme since he was hired, what, five years ago?

Remember how many people thought said the spread wouldn't work because SEC defenses were too fast? Two Gator national titles later, you don't hear that criticism so often. I was never one who said it WOULDN'T work, but I'll admit thinking it might be too finesse-based. Which is why it's so infinitely valuable that he has a 240-pound bulldozer taking snaps. In fact, I wonder how much of Florida's offensive success running the spread has to do with scheme and how much it has to do with the Gators having two prototypes for their respective positions in said scheme. (Tebow at QB and Percy Harvin wherever me might line up on a given play).

Anyway, the Orlando Sentinel did a big takeout piece on how elements of the spread have -- fittingly -- spread to the NFL. The New England Patriots used a spread-based offense to break all kinds of league scoring records two seasons ago. You hear about more and more teams adding "Wildcat" looks modeled after that of the Miami Dolphins -- including the Denver Broncos, who the Sentinel story says have ex-UGA back Knowshon Moreno playing the Ronnie Brown role.

What this story indirectly points out is that we're seeing a change in the NFL mindset similar to what we saw in the SEC four or five years ago. All the big brains you might see discussing NFL football on ESPN (among other places) would have said the same thing a couple years ago. Then Tom Brady and Randy Moss gashed the league's secondaries like they've never been gashed before. And then Ronnie Brown gashed the Pats for five touchdowns in one game. Now the copycat league is following those teams' leads. I doubt we'll see an NFL team turn to a Meyer/Tebow-style spread because of the damage it could do to a quarterback. But who knows, really? With the right player and the right innovative mind calling plays, the question is probably not whether it could be effective as much as whether it would be worth the risk.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-sportsurban-meyer-spread-25062...