NFL football is not easy.
In NCAA games, a player's talent is what matters most. Players with better talent can use their physical advantages to pass, catch, and advance. The playbook often takes a backseat, which is the main reason why no-huddle offenses are so successful in college football—no huddle, no discussion, which means no pre-planned plays, just charging forward.
But in NFL games, pure talent is not enough. The play combinations are what give teams the advantage. In recent years, no-huddle offenses have also been quite successful in the NFL, but at the end of the day, it's still because top-tier quarterbacks have a firm grasp of the playbook and the pace of the game. The plays are still the core foundation that cannot be overlooked.
Before entering the league, Lu Ke was well aware of this, but it wasn't until the preseason began that this feeling became real. He then realized he was still too young and naive.
Twenty thousand plays, when used in a real game, are like a whole new world. It's so overwhelming that he felt like he didn't recognize any of the plays, and the sheer amount of information made his brain feel swollen.
Of course, Lu Ke had only been on the team for three days and had only been reading the playbook for three days. He hadn't even finished reading it once, let alone mastering and understanding it. He needed more time to learn.
What's more, the playbook was only the first step. The play calls were a different story.
"Right flat pistol tube, F shooter 60 snake eyes, 3."
This is a play call. In a real game, the quarterback will change the play at any time depending on the situation on the field. So, all plays are codes that outsiders cannot decipher.
A simple play call like that contains all the assignments for the offensive line, the wide receivers and tight ends, the running backs, the passing direction and distance, and the timing of the snap.
Imagine the coaching staff relaying the play call to the quarterback through an earpiece, and the quarterback himself doesn't understand what's happening and just says something random. Or when the quarterback relays the play to his teammates, he doesn't understand the meaning himself, or his teammates misunderstand it. The outcome of that play would be disastrous.
From the playbook to the play calls, there's so much a quarterback needs to learn.
In a real game, even a tactical master like Peyton Manning has to sit on the sidelines with his playbook, reviewing and understanding it, and then using the breaks to quickly think and plan. How much more so for a rookie quarterback?
There's a small group of quarterbacks in the league who, because they can't remember all the plays, wear a special little wristband. It has a protective cover, and when they open it, they can see different combinations of play calls. Before each play, they can read the play themselves, confirm it with the coaching staff's play call, and then set up the play.
Tom Brady did this in the second half of his career.
Not only that, but to prevent their play calls from being deciphered, teams update their codes every season. This means that the playbook is brand new every season—at least most of it is updated.
Every year, there are rookie quarterbacks in the league who get cut because they can't remember the playbook.
As an undrafted rookie, Lu Ke had been on the team for a very short time. The amount of information in the playbook was so vast that even a genius with a photographic memory wouldn't dare say they could remember and understand all of it. What's more, these plays have to be used in a real game.
The preseason, for the team, was a process of practicing and adapting to plays. For Lu Ke, it was a ravenous learning process.
Just look at Colin Kaepernick's performance in the first game. A devastating "3-28" loss, with only one field goal scored, and almost no opportunities throughout the entire game.
Lu Ke was now a little glad he was sitting on the bench. If he were thrown onto the field now, he would be completely lost. He would probably be even worse than Kaepernick and wouldn't even understand the coach's play calls.
So, the bench life can be quite spectacular.
The preseason continued. In the second game, they hosted the Oakland Raiders. In the third, they hosted the Houston Texans.
Putting aside Lu Ke and J.J. Watt's reunion in Houston, Lu Ke's biggest takeaway was from the playbook.
The thick and complex playbook seemed like an impossible task at first, but now, Lu Ke was already on his fourth read, and he was getting a deeper understanding of it. The progress was clearly visible.
Not only that, but he was always learning more from each game and finding more questions, which motivated Lu Ke to actively look for more game films to observe the changes in game plays from a professional quarterback's perspective.
The games of Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers were the most valuable to study, not just for the play combinations but also for their sharp instincts, their mature use of plays, and their successful leadership of their teammates. There was so much to learn.
But their games were not the same as the San Francisco 49ers' system, or rather, Jim Harbaugh's system. Lu Ke could deepen his understanding of plays, but he couldn't apply them to the 49ers' games. In the end, he had to go back to his own team's practices and games. So, Lu Ke also found joy in the tactical meetings.
In addition to learning plays, Lu Ke's daily training was still ongoing during the preseason. His persistent effort paid off little by little. After entering the league, Lu Ke was like a sponge, quickly soaking up knowledge and experience and rapidly adapting to the pace and atmosphere of the professional league.
For an undrafted rookie, missing two months of adjustment time meant they had to work twice as hard to catch up.
Before going to San Diego for an away game against the San Diego Chargers in the fourth week, Lu Ke had once again completed his daily training tasks. Coupled with the previous fourteen-day task cycle, Lu Ke now had two more base points.
The first base point was added to running with the ball. This skill went from sixty-nine to seventy, which meant that even though Lu Ke's toughness might still be lacking, he was no longer a rookie when it came to moving around in the pocket.
The second base point was added to elusiveness, going from sixty to sixty-one. There was still no fundamental change, but the accumulation of small changes is still crucial before a big breakthrough.
It had been exactly one year since Lu Ke's first encounter with Little Seven. With the help of the Football Superstar System, Lu Ke's stats had undergone a massive transformation compared to a year ago. He was a completely different person. Here are Lu Ke's current stats:
Physical Fitness: 64/100
Mental Toughness: 83/100
Tactical Awareness: 70
Willpower: 80
Speed: 67
Strength: 49
Acceleration: 63
Agility: 71
Jumping: 49
...These are the base stats.
Throwing Power: 79
Short Pass Accuracy: 71
Medium Pass Accuracy: 65
Long Pass Accuracy: 82
Pass on the Run: 70
Play-Action: 45
Ball Protection: 59
Field Vision: 70
Running with the Ball: 71
Elusiveness: 62
Stiff Arm: 54
Juke Move: 54
Fake: 54
...These are the quarterback skill stats.
Receiving Ability: 38
Route Running: 15
Jump Catch: 15
Catch in Traffic: 15
Instant Burst: 15
...These are the receiving skill stats related to the quarterback position.
Injury Resistance: 77
Endurance: 80
Recovery Speed: 75
...These are the injury-related stats related to physical fitness.
The most noticeable change was undoubtedly the complete transformation of the quarterback skill stats, which was a result of Lu Ke focusing his points there. Although his footwork metrics were still not great, his passing ability as a quarterback was now fully developed, and his overall quarterback skills had caught up.
Of course, his physical fitness was still only average, and the stats related to it hadn't improved much. Lu Ke started to seriously think about how he should allocate his points when he got them again.
Were his top skills, which were at seventy, good enough for the professional game? Should he prioritize adding points to those skills to reach eighty, the standard of an excellent quarterback? Or should he prioritize improving his weaknesses, like his physical fitness, running, and ball protection?
It was a difficult problem. But there was no doubt that in one year, Lu Ke's growth was both impressive and astonishing. The future was promising.
In the past two games, against the Oakland Raiders, Lu Ke played for seven offensive plays. Against the Houston Texans, Lu Ke only played three. But Lu Ke didn't mind at all.
His bench life was so colorful that the professional league was truly in front of him. He temporarily forgot about Colin Kaepernick's existence and was more focused on a competition with himself. He also temporarily forgot about Parys, Braylon, and the others, who were just annoying flies. On the contrary, the sincere and pragmatic Lu Ke had made quite a few new friends on the team, both rookies and veterans.
Before the away game against the San Diego Chargers, Jim Harbaugh announced that the starting quarterback would still be Colin Kaepernick. This time, he would also play the entire game. This was the last chance for Colin to practice before the regular season started, and time was running out for him.
For Lu Ke, this was another great learning opportunity. The San Diego Chargers' quarterback, Philip Rivers, was an excellent quarterback in the league, and his skill level was consistently among the best.
Although he had never won a Super Bowl, his strength should not be underestimated. Some people even called him the Kobe Bryant of San Diego, not for his stats but for his status in the city.
So, Lu Ke was ready and couldn't wait.
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